D.I.C.E. 2013: J.J. Abrams and Gabe Newell Tease Portal Movie

Encaen

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May 6, 2005
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D.I.C.E. 2013: J.J. Abrams and Gabe Newell Tease Portal Movie



The guy who tells Captain Kirk what to do may soon do the same for GLaDOS.

Whether you're a serious gamer, or just have a passing interest in nerd culture, you've almost certainly heard of both Gabe Newell of Valve fame, and J.J. Abrams, known for his work in TV and movies, such as Lost and 2009's Star Trek. Though their choices of medium are obviously different, they're both looking to tell stories at the core of their work, and the opening keynote, titled "Storytelling Across Platforms: Who Benefits Most, the Audience or the Player?" has brought some of the best that both interactive, and non-interactive storytelling has to offer, and a possible tease of what the future may hold.

In fact, one of the most tasty tidbits from the talk was mention of a possible collaboration between Abrams and Newell. "There's an idea we have for a game that we'd like to work with Valve on," said Abrams. Which Newell followed up suggesting a possible Portal or Half-Life movie. Yes, just let that sink in for a bit. A tongue-in-cheek comment? Perhaps, but we can't help but fantasize over the possibilities.

During the keynote, both men made their biases of medium pretty clear. Where Newell was naturally in favor of the free agency provided by videogames, Abrams was more critical of the unfocused nature of storytelling through games. "It's under the player's control how much of this world they're going to explore," said Newell. Where Abrams' thoughts are that "players are often driving the scene in the wrong direction."

They did agree on one point, at least, namely that nothing matters "if you do not love and care about the people in the story," said Abrams, with hearty agreement from Newell. Through various mechanisms, you'll get to "experience moments that you might not think are the point, but frankly are everything," said Abrams. Newell continued, saying "Games and movies really take advantage of the power of discovery."

If you'd like to hear more from Abrams and Newell, you can check out the presentation here [http://bit.ly/10MKScD].

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ohnoitsabear

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Feb 15, 2011
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Title is incomplete. The quote specifically said Portal or Half-Life movie, and judging by the quote, it doesn't seem like it's something that is in full production now, but something they're seriously looking into. Still, I have a feeling that we're going to see something big come out of this relatively soon.
 

revjay

Everybody's dead, Dave.
Nov 19, 2007
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Starring chris pine as a lump of plaster and they could make GlaDoS completely out of lens flare. Please Gabe show some restraint and don't do this? Please?
 

Cry Wolf

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Seriously, why is J.J. Abrams suddenly so fucking popular? The guy has made little of note, and even less of quality. Please, people with money looking to produce new content in Sci-Fi franchises, go find somebody with even a modicrum of talent. This guy is not it.
 
Jan 12, 2012
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When did J.J. slay the Asimov-Dragon and become king of all sci-fi? Seriously, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Portal? It's too much for one man, especially when we don't exactly have a dearth of great directors *coughsomeonehireDelTorocough*.
 

KeyMaster45

Gone Gonzo
Jun 16, 2008
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Good god, control over Star Trek, Star Wars, and a Valve property? No one man should have all that power.

One director to rule them all.
One director to bring them all together,
and in the lens flares bind them.
 

Frostbite3789

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The video game that has a super minimalist plot that's about solving puzzles?

Yeah, just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same thing. No, that doesn't need a movie.
 

Lieju

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Jan 4, 2009
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KeyMaster45 said:
Good god, control over Star Trek, Star Wars, and a Valve property? No one man should have all that power.

One director to rule them all.
One director to bring them all together,
and in the lens flares bind them.
I'm currently trying to form a group of 9 adventurers to go push him into a volcano. Want to come?

"players are often driving the scene in the wrong direction."
It's almost like interactive-mediums are different from movies or something...
Really, Portal doesn't need a movie adaptation. A story set in the same universe, maybe.
 

Raidenko

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Aug 25, 2010
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Well,will you look at that J.J. Abrams is trying to top Michael Bay at the childhood rape discipline in movie making. He is shaping up to be the Electronic Arts of movie makers or something. I'm going to be legit scared if he gets control over making a Neon Genesis Evangelion movie.
 

Sixcess

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Feb 27, 2010
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Encaen said:
"It's under the player's control how much of this world they're going to explore,"
Player control? In a Valve game? Since when?

As much as I admire Valve's work it has to be said they design some of the most linear games around. I don't think I've ever felt free to explore in anything by Valve.
 

jFr[e]ak93

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Apr 9, 2010
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I'm sorry... what's everyone's problem? JJ isn't exactly Christopher Nolan, but really... he's not THAT bad. Star Trek wasn't nearly as bad as people seem to keep saying it is. It's probably not going to change anyone's life... but a lot of classics are like that.
As for the lens flare... meh. I don't mind it. It CAN get kinda over the top sometimes, but never rage educing.

OT - I honestly think this is a really cool idea. For Portal. Not Half-Life. Keep him away from that. But Portal? His aesthetics in Star Trek would line up with Portal perfectly.

Really Portal would make an awesome movie.
 

deathbydeath

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Jun 28, 2010
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KeyMaster45 said:
One director to rule them all.
One director to bring them all together,
and in the lens flares bind them.
This.

Also, this too:


Seriously, who thought this was a good idea? 'cause it isn't.