Games turned into books.

[zombiejoe]

Simple question.

If your favorite games where turned into books, would you read them? For example, I would read a Bioshock book if one was made, or a Dead Rising book, if one was made.

How about you?

 

[enzilewulf]

It has. Halo trilogy.. My favorite was Reach.

 

[Rednog]

I have read books based on some of the games I like, the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Halo books are all a good read.
Also while not a videogame but a cardgame, the Magic the Gathering books can be quite fun too.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

I think I'd be all for a Bioshock book. Too bad I already know the twist. That kinda defeats the purpose.

 

[nuqneh1]

No. I don't think anyone could write a good Half Life book. If it was a novelization of Fulllife Consequences though...

 

[AlternatePFG]

No. I don't think anyone could write a good Half Life book. If it was a novelization of Fulllife Consequences though...

That would possibly be the greatest work of literature ever created.

OT: Honestly, I don't like most videogame novelizations. They seem somewhat unnecessary to me.

 

[Terminate421]

It has. Halo trilogy.. My favorite was Reach.

I liked the Cole Protocol better but we are on the same level here

 

[Space Spoons]

I think I'd probably read a book based on Red Dead Redemption. Might read like a less (or more, maybe, it is a Rockstar game) intense Blood Meridian.

Incidentally, I've read a few books from the Star Wars: Republic Commando series and enjoyed them greatly, though I never played the game they're based on. Interesting twist there.

 

[Palademon]

Hmm...TimeSplitters the novel...Yes.
Although the first game didnt really have a story.

 

[Mikeyfell]

not really
my current favorite games are all Bioware RPG's which have interactive stories
some of my older favorite games, Jak 2, and Ratchet and Clank are full of humor that would be lost if it wasn't presented in a visual medium....I mean, you know what i mean.
Half life or Tales of Vesperia might work better than others

but I would read the crap out of the Rock Band 2 book
that would win a Newbery award for sure

 

[ThePantomimeThief]

I don't think you could make a book out of Doom though. There's only so many times you could say "And he ran across the room, and shot some dudes" before it got old.

There's been books on Doom already actually, I dunno how good they are since I avoided them like the plague.

Anyone for Super Mario Bros: the Novelisation?

I've heard the Elder Scrolls novels are good. I think a Fallout novel would work pretty well too.

 

[Neverhoodian]

OT: Honestly, I don't like most videogame novelizations. They seem somewhat unnecessary to me.

Well, it is pretty redundant when books simply rehash whatever the player did in the game itself. Book adaptations of video games shine when they explore in more detail the universe the game is set in.

Take the Halo novels, for instance. As a fan of the games, many of them are thoroughly enjoyable reads because they chronicle locations and events that aren't covered in the games, such as the Master Chief's training and combat record prior to the games in The Fall of Reach or the origins of the Human-Covenant war in Contact Harvest. About the only Halo book I genuinely disliked was The Flood, which re-told the events of the first game. While it did attempt to add something new by adding secondary plot threads with other characters fighting on the Halo installation, most of the text boiled down to boring, dry descriptions of what I had already done in the game. It went something like this:

"The Master Chief walked into a room. There were four Grunts and an Elite. The Chief fired two short bursts, dropping the Elite and causing the Grunts to panic. He fired his pistol four times, hitting three out of the four Grunts. He adjusted his aim and fired once, finishing off the remaining Grunt."

When a video game novel's written like that, it becomes a real snooze-fest.

 

[Serenegoose]

I think that games, being designed as an active medium, are going to be very difficult to translate to a passive medium, like a book. I can't think of any game I'd like to read, in all honesty.

 

[Blackmagic1515]

Technically mine has. Well, they made a Kingdom Hearts manga anyway. It wasn't too bad.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I'd read a Longest Journey book, sure. Although it'd probably be a direct transcript from the game, as it's a point and click.

I don't think you could make a book out of Doom though. There's only so many times you could say "And he ran across the room, and shot some dudes" before it got old.

And a Worms book would most definitely not work.

They already wrote a Doom book. Several of them in fact. More than a decade ago.

 

[acklumos]

I liked Resistance: The Gathering Storm.

 

[hecticpicnic]

most games im thinking off are all ready based on books
i don't know im really into my books and i don't think any game would translate well into books because games with good storys tend too have them intergrated into the gamplay
at least not books i like, well prince of persia wouldn't be that bad

 

[hecticpicnic]

actually MGS would be a fairly good book and(i know to obovious)ff7 would be OK,its story is more developed than ff6 and the dialog is better than ff6(my fav and best story)it would just translate best into a book

 

[Furious Styles]

A book based on the bioshock universe would be good, one that told the story of the fall of rapture

 

[procyonlotor]

Every videogame book I have read has turned out to be unadulterated hackwork. From Blizzard pocket novels to Halo, I hated all of them. Some of them where actually laughably bad. Now, I am convinced any company that lets its games get turned into books is showing remarkably bad taste.

(I'm looking at you, Blizzard and Bioware!)

Strangely enough, books that get adapted into videogames are surprisingly good. See The Witcher and Metro 2030. People should try this more often. But not with The Lord of the Rings, please. Its time has passed. (And they were adapting the movies anyway.)