Games turned into books.

[Chancie]

Yes, I would, but if they were of my favorites (Drakengard, Resonance of Fate, Rule of Rose, Shadow of the Colossus, or Okami), I would be so skeptical of it and so harsh that I probably wouldn't enjoy it all that much just because I love those games so much and many times, when you take one media and try to convert it to another, the end result is never as good as the original.

So, I'd read it. Would I really like it? I have my doubts.

 

[oreopizza47]

I would read a Kingdom Hearts novel. I goddam love those games, hands down. The manga doesn't count, but I like that too.

 

[Delock]

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.

I'd have to say I agree with you for the most part, however, the secondary plot threads were actually interesting IMO. Probably the best moment in one of those scenes would be the ODST drop which would finally become one of the best moments in cutscenes for the series later on. However, for the most part, it was boring to anyone who'd played the game.

I'd also have to mention Ghosts of Onyx as being one of the worse ones, though I can't quite place my finger on why. It felt really hard to read through compared to the other 3 and didn't get me as immersed as the others. Strangely though, I liked the characters and the situations they were in happened to be exciting, but the book just didn't do it for me (though it might have been because I had read all 3 previous novels shortly before that one, and I might have been Halo'd out).

As for other series, I didn't really like AC2's book when I read it in stores. Mass Effect was okay (not must have like the Halo books, but not bad). However, the Republic Commando books were great (though I've been told some Star Wars fans violently disagree. Oh well, sucks for them). The same author went on to write the Gears of War books, the first of which I read and was interesting enough to get me through a long car ride, but I don't know if it's something I'd recommend to everyone.

 

[Blue_vision]

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.

I agree. Just kind of picking more off of a preestablished fanbase. I find that for most book adaptations, such as the star wars expanded universe. I love science fiction and fantasy books, even the obscure ones, but things like expanded universe seem weird and alien to me, just in the realm of serious star wars fans/geeks rather than a general sci fi/fantasy audience.

 

[Benmonkey7]

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.

Pretty much this. Books shouldn't just tell what the game told again, they should add more story to it, like the Halo books did.

I read the Halo book Ghosts of Onyx and it was really good and had a story that wasn't in the game. In fact, I think a lot of games should have a book that can provide more story in things that weren't in the game. Like a Portal book could be written that described things before Chell was around or one that takes place between Portal and Portal 2. Or a Fallout book. Actually, I think there is a graphic novel that is gonna be in the New Vegas collector's edition, which seems like a really cool idea to me. Books add more story to a game's universe.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Nedoras]

I thought the Devil May Cry novel was okay, it's basically a prequel to the first game.

 

[hecticpicnic]

gta4 wouldn't be all that bad its just nothing i would be loking forward to

 

[DustyDrB]

Drew Karphyshyn has done good work with Mass Effect and Star Wars books set in the Old Republic.

 

[Tanis]

I would, as long as it's not poorly written.

There's some FANTASTIC Star Wars books out there.

 

[masseyguy911]

Well I don't know about a game turned into a book doing well...
But what Bioware did with Dragon Age, having 2 books giving some back story into the world, I liked that.

 

[silversnake4133]

I might. The only problem here is when I think of a book or a comic modeled after a video game, I would expect to see the actual game elements reflected in said book. And while some actually manage to pull it off with a few creative tweaks from the author, most are usually the ramblings of a fanboy that surprisingly managed to get permission to have their book published. I mean, in some of the books that were modeled after games, I'm always turned off at the onset of the author's OC being heavily involved in the plot and somehow either fawning over the main character or fucking around in their business. (A few DMC books dealt me this harsh blow).

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask manga was a bit of a rip off for me because of how rushed it felt. The art work was beautiful, the action was intense and the characters were perfectly matched up. But the story threw me off and I can distinctly remember shouting "WHAT!!? Link doesn't talk! This is blasphemy!" when I read Link's first bubble of dialogue to Epona while traveling in the woods.

But back to the novel books on games, I don't mind reading them too much. But when I read a book based on a game, I usually expect the same plot to be involved somehow. If I wanted to read fanfiction, I'd go on ff.net.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

I don't know. I suppose they can have merit, but the idea to me just seems a little tainted.

 

[Mr.Petey]

I would, as long as it's not poorly written.

There's some FANTASTIC Star Wars books out there.

Take the budget from Lucasarts used into making those dire prequels and use them into making film version of say...the X-Wing saga, as the post Return of the Jedi expanded universe do make for some very good stories!
Coruscant wasn't conquered in a day after the Emperor kicked the bucket...twice (I'll say no more)

I'd like to see some either graphic or text novels made from the Ace Combat series. For instance, in Ace Combat: The Belkan War, you can view a short epilogue on the pilots you shot down. Some survive and move into modern civilian jobs whilst others just linger in prison during the years following the conflict.
I think a couple of these stories, plus the squadron ones portrayed by real actors would make for some interesting reading

 

[Judgement101]

Diablo II books would be SWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT

 

[TheSkaAssassin]

books I'd like to see

Bioshock series
a mirrors edge back story
HAWX (i assume it'd be like Top Gun)

 

[The_Echo]

There are two books being written for the Elder Scrolls series. I'll definitely be checking them out.

And the Kingdom Hearts manga adaptations are quite good.

All I need now are books based on Sly Cooper and Spyro. (The original Spyro trilogy, of course!)

 

[Paulie92]

I'm not really interested in reading games as books, I've seen the Assassins Creed/Halo books and just never felt the urge. I think it's the story is told by YOU doing stuff is a good portion of what makes it entertaining, so a book would just bore me

 

[matsugawa]

I heard there was a book based on the original Asteroids arcade game, which actually sounds rather interesting. I'm also tempted to re-visit the Doom novels, if only for a laugh and nostalgia.

Overall, though, I think games turning into novels is a bit of a dangerous game; if it's a newer game, the book is just going to be a linear transcript that will offer nothing in the way of literary enjoyment, but if it's an older game (like, say, Asteroids), back when games didn't have much in the way of story, the book would have so many gaps to fill in the only reason to attach itself to the game would be the bankable popularity of the license.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I've seen books based on video games that I was really interested in but decided not to read because if games turned books are anything like games turned movies, I would be very disappointed. But anyway, Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 are apparently books, but from what I read out of them they seemed like they were just basically exactly how the games went.

But I've seen Resistance books and a graphic novel, Silent Hill and Prototype graphic novels, Gears of War books and comics (the comics were actually pretty good but I never got around to reading the book), and tons more.

And I would read a BioShock book if it was done well.