The video game industry seems to be on the rise as the go-to place for movie ideas. With titles like 'Uncharted,' 'Mass Effect' and 'Assassin's Creed' in the works, it appears the next few years of movies will be rated M for Mature.
There have only been a few mainstream movies adapted from games in the past decade, but it seems to be a growing trend.
CJ Carver, a junior from Royal, Wash., loves video games.
'I think one of the main reasons we're seeing more adaptations is the advancements of video gaming systems, especially with online gaming,' Carver said.
Carver believes that the technological advances with gaming have broadened the audience for video games, giving potential movies a huge fan base to start off with. This seems highly probable considering 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' sold 6.5 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release, according to the game's publisher, Activision.
Courtesy of EA Games
EA Games' 'Mass Effect' is in the works for the big screen but has no certain release date yet.
'I think it's a good idea, I mean, there's definitely a market for it,' Carver said. 'I think some of the storylines in video games are a lot stronger than some of the movies that are coming out now-a-days.'
Carver also said he assumes there will probably be more video game adaptations as they can provide the film industry with fresh ideas. Other gamers agree that the future will bring more game-based movies.
'I think the genre itself is pushing more and more toward movies,' said Bobby Luke, a math major from Canton, Ohio. 'Games are looking more cinematic, and it's a natural result of that.'
Luke said the success of games in general only leads to more adaptations. As long as there are people willing to spend money on video games, there will be people willing to make movies out of them and more people wanting to go see them — not only gamers.
'Games are pushing to a broader class of people,' Luke said. 'If you make a movie out of a game with a great story, it will pull people into the brand that wouldn't normally play the game.'
It is important to some gamers and game publishers that the movie stays true to the game's original plotline, though. The 'Uncharted' movie lost its first director David O. Russell, famous for 'Three Kings' and 'The Fighter,' due to creative differences. Sony and fans wanted the movie more like the game; Russell wanted artistic freedom. Consequentially, fans of the game rejoiced when Russell left the project,
However, some fans want to see something new done with a game's storyline in its movie version.
'I feel like they would do better if it was a different story, but in that same world of the game,' Kelsie Liechty, a pre-graphic design student from Evanston, Wyo., said.
Liechty thinks telling a new story using the game's overall plot would be more fresh and appealing, rather than merely retelling it through film, as long as filmmakers stick to the game's basics.
'I hope they stick to the rules of the game and don't blow it out of proportion into something that never would have happened in the game world,' Liechty said.