The Big Picture: Off the Charts

[Spydiggity]

More than likely it'll be along the lines of National Treasure hopefully without Nicolas Cage's horrible acting.
If you own a PS3 and haven't at least played Uncharted 2, I'd recommend it. It earned its title of game of the year in 09.

It only got GOTY cuz it didn't have any competition. Personally, i would have given it to Assassin's Creed 2 which was a much better game. Better story, better free-running/platforming, better action, better puzzles, same voice actor...

As for Bob's argument that MGS has a good story..HA! i have never seen a more convoluted, repetitive, unrealistically over-the-top-yet-underwhelming story in a game. Except for maybe in some Final Fantasy games. Japanese game-stories are being given way too much credit here. Yeah, some of them are great fun to play and that makes the story worth following, but come on...lets face it: there might be 5-10 great stories in all of gaming, and just as many of them come from the west as the east. I think we're about to see another one from Rockstar in a couple of months.

 

[Osmadiel]

Personally I'd be more excited about perhaps a Mass effect film. directed by Ridley Scott or David Fincher. or a Fallout film Directed by Peter Jackson. Although, this could be good provided the script has a bit more going on than the game scripts. The games are a great ride I loved every minute of it but I'm pretty sure if you watched the cut scenes stitched together they'd make for a pretty generic experience.

 

[carpathic]

Man...I heart huckabees was one of the best movies of all time. Perhaps it will be a good movie....(uncharted)

 

[Caligulove]

I still think the endeavors into Video Game Movies are pointless and still a bad idea.

Why would you want a movie of Uncharted? Or even of Mario- which Bob thinks has potential to be a great movie? How..exactly? It's the same problem with people comparing VG movies with adapting novels or comics, when it's an entirely different beast altogether. There will never be the same kind of immersion and connected feeling from actually playing a game.

There are apparently plans to make Half Life and even Mass Effect movies.. why? I understand that potential to make money there, but I don't understand the fans wanting to actually make some kind of great, moving film about their favorite game- you already have the game. Especially in the sense of Mass Effect, why would I want to experience Mass Effect all over again, but 95% shorter a condensed story and likely far less fleshed out characters. Add in being unable to play through moments I remember fondly and it just sounds horrible.

The whole point of making video game movies just seems like a futile attempt to somehow validate a medium that does not need to pander to an older entertainment medium for validation.

 

[gphjr14]

More than likely it'll be along the lines of National Treasure hopefully without Nicolas Cage's horrible acting.
If you own a PS3 and haven't at least played Uncharted 2, I'd recommend it. It earned its title of game of the year in 09.

It only got GOTY cuz it didn't have any competition. Personally, i would have given it to Assassin's Creed 2 which was a much better game. Better story, better free-running/platforming, better action, better puzzles, same voice actor...

Personally I enjoyed the platforming and movements of U2 in comparison to the parkour of Assassin's Creed. They tried to break the pace with buying stuff and rebuilding a villa but it was essentially the same as 1. My favorite part was the finding of the Assassin's tombs, though it would've been need if you could some how use their weapons after you found them. Although ACII story was better, the overall experience of of U2 appealed more to me. Again these are just my opinions.

 

[Geekeric]

I must remember to have sympathy for ol' Bob in the future, as I realize talk about the movies will always take second place on this website. Think PC gaming is dead, Bob? I got news for you: the movies are also dead; why do you think so many movies are out in 3D these days? People are starting to see that they can interact with a medium like video games, while watching a movie is, well, doing nothing.
So, why make a movie based on a videogame? It's painfully obvious, isn't it?
Try not to be mad at me, Bob; I still think you're a genius.

 

[9Darksoul6]

Bob, the problem I have with your point if view is that you don't believe gameplay be translated into movie-language; if making videogame-based movie means only to have same visuals (and narrative; maybe, as you said), then, I ask, why bother making one?

I think this is also the only reason movie studios don't give a crap about videogame adaptations. A good Uncharted movie, for instance, would not only sound and look like Uncharted, but also, and more importantly, feel like Uncharted - that's what fans are truely worried about.

 

[MFreak]

This is the first time I considered turning off one of your videos before it was over, ever.

 

[vortexgods]

But there are plenty of good movies that have been made out of games:

Crazy Taxi = Taxi Driver

Team Fortress = The Osterman Weekend

Bioshock = The Fountainhead

Super Mario Brothers = Super Mario Brothers

And the list goes on and on.

 

[El Gostro]

Oh so if a game if WESTERN DEVELOPED then it's story telling is sub par as ooposed to the wonderfully beautiful cinematics and boobie anime chicks compelling characters?

"JRPG & the west" needs to be a psychology major...

 

[kotorfan04]

Wait a second, so you are knocking Western game stories when it seems like quite a few Japanese games have been rehashing the same story for years. (I am looking at you Nintendo) Not saying all Japanese games are awful (They aren't) and I am not saying all Western games have awesome stories (Again, no) but could we try to reduce the generalizations and general levels of bile for western based games? Maybe I am reading into this too much, probably am.

OT: Except for my little nitpick I found this episode to be pretty good.

 

[SiskoBlue]

I loved Uncharted 1 & 2. They're Indiana Jones (the good ones) in game form. To a certain extent it's pointless making an Uncharted movie because it's so movie like you're either restricted to one-to-one recreation or a completely different vision. But two things made me doubt Russel T Davies.
1. He immediately suggested Mark Wahlberg. I like Mark Wahlberg, and clearly Russell does too. But I don't see him fitting in the Uncharted world. If he used him it's clearly because he always uses Marky Mark, and NOT because he was the perfect actor for the role.
2. The uncharted fanbase that crossed over with Firefly clearly spawned the Nathan Fillion suggestion. I like Nathan Fillion. And it's uncanny how close his usual characters and acting style is almost identical to Nathan Drake. Then again that doesn't mean he's perfect either. Still you'd think 30,000 people supporting him with an internet peitition should draw at the very least attract the attention of someone connected to the film, say the director. When approached by a Nathan Fillion fan Russell T Davies had no idea who Nathan Fillion was. This tells me he clearly is interested in making a film, with Mark Wahlberg, and has no interest in the Uncharted "universe" or the fans they're hoping to market to.

So I'm waiting for the third strike to give up any hope that the movie would have anything to do with the game.

 

[El Gostro]

Do remember Indiana Jones himself was kind of a dick, so really the difference with Drake (andI havent played a single Uncharted game) would be the time paradigm...

 

[beema]

Have to agree with Bob this round. If there really were a faithful adaptation of Uncharted, it would come off like a crappy b-movie Indiana Jones ripoff at best. Because like he said, Uncharted is pretty much a modern Indiana Jones, only with a douchebag (good call on the Dane Cook pic, btw). The story is chliched, the dialogue is cheesy and predictable, the characters are all pretty damn shallow. There is nothing outstanding about any of it when put in the context of film. Hell, I don't even think the story in Uncharted is great relative to other games. I never understood what everyone was fapping about with it. Yes, it is a very polished well-produced game and it is a ton of fun to play. Greatest story ever told? I think not.

So while I think it's stupid that the name "Uncharted" may have been purchased for movie rights simply for marketing purposes and no intention of being faithful to the game's story, worse things could happen.

Congress ussica

 

[rddj623]

I think you're right Bob. This has the potential to be a good adaptation. We'll see if that pans out. It certainly has a good director.

 

[rayen020]

why does everyone think dane cook is a douchebag? I think of much bigger douchebags that are unreasonably popular. Daniel Tosh for example. He is not funny, i've watched his stuff and i have been stone faced or annoyed face. the only smile i had during his routine is when i got so bored i played solitaire on my computer and i started out with three aces. And maybe it's just cause i really liked waiting and therefore everyone in it and i think his live show stage setup is awesome, but could we please pick on someone else for being a douchebag, cause frankly, i've heard Dane Cook is pretty decent in real life.

 

[munkymp3]

The Great Gatsby in 3D...I had not heard of this. That's disgusting. I miss when 3D was just an event. Not this...shitstorm. I'm not a fan of the book (nor the older movie) but I do appreciate the important contribution it made to Western literary history and culture so I don't appreciate Hollywood stomping all over it like this by trying to get in on this 3D "phenomenon".

If you're ever interested, get the PS2 for LittleBigPlanet. It's great