Which games should be novelised?

[FlipC]

With the current push to cash in on a game's success with a tie-in novel what game past or present do you think would present an interesting story if they replicated it in book form?

I suggest "Second Sight", thoughts?

 

[PurpleSky]

No games should EVER be novelised.

Think about it man!*

 

[dududf]

Portal.

I dunno it just feels like it had potential in novelizing.

Any other game I can think of that could be novelized, was because it already has a novel, or was based off of a novel.

 

[Imbechile]

Planescape Torment end of discussion. The game is already a fucking novel because the game's script contains around 800,000 words. Playing the game is like reading a novel.

 

[TheComedown]

Half Life, it's not like we know much of the story already. Dystopia is always fun.

Half life could work, except Freeman doesn't talk. Well even then it would only work if it was set in the Half life universe, but completely set away from Freeman, Vance, Dr Kleiner etc. Maybe from the point of view of an aperture science scientist in the weeks following the Black Mesa indecent would be cool.

 

[FlipC]

Planescape Torment end of discussion. The game is already a fucking novel because the game's script contains around 800,000 words. Playing the game is like reading a novel.

Agreed, but I can't see something similarly wordy such as Deus Ex or any of the MGS series working. This is also my answer to

No games should EVER be novelised.

Think about it man!

What good games remain interesting if you strip out their interactivity? Just because the current crop aren't very good isn't a reason to forget the entire concept.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

I saw a copy of Baldur's Gate 1 at Borders once. It was like $5 I think. Looked like it was only written as a dare.

 

[PurpleSky]

Planescape Torment end of discussion. The game is already a fucking novel because the game's script contains around 800,000 words. Playing the game is like reading a novel.

Agreed, but I can't see something similarly wordy such as Deus Ex or any of the MGS series working. This is also my answer to

No games should EVER be novelised.

Think about it man!

What good games remain interesting if you strip out their interactivity? Just because the current crop aren't very good isn't a reason to forget the entire concept.

*This "concept" is a gimmick to squeeze more money out of you, if you don't see that I won't insist, but it is the God given truth. They are written purely so that they can be sold along with a game in a special edition for more money or written for a succesful franchise to make even more money.

 

[FlipC]

*This "concept" is a gimmick to squeeze more money out of you, if you don't see that I won't insist, but it is the God given truth. They are written purely so that they can be sold along with a game in a special edition for more money or written for a succesful franchise to make even more money.

By that logic we shouldn't have 2001 or Blade Runner on the grounds that turning a novel into a film is just a " gimmick to squeeze more money out of you". Just because that's the way the majority currently appear doesn't mean that's how they have to.

Hence my question - what game would you want to see novelised?

 

[Subzerowings]

How would you fill in the gameplay in a novel?
"...and Kratos cast himself from the highest mountain in all of Greece."
*3 weeks earlier*
"Foul beasts! I will send you back to the depths of Hades!"
As Kratos used the Plume of Prometheus on the first two enemies, he dodge rolled and used a combo of two light attacks on another ghoul.
Yeah...
I don't think that works.

 

[Axolotl]

Has the metal gear series bean novelized?

Yes, at least the first 2 have been.

 

[JWRosser]

The book based on Assassin's Creed 2 (Assassin's Creed: Renaissance) was alright, but it was a literal novalisation of the game, word for word. It just kind of missed out the hours spent running around pointlessly on rooftops and killing people. Also it only focused on Ezio - Desmond was not even in it, apart from the very end when he's mentioned...which means anyone who just was reading the novel and did not play the game was like Whaaa?

 

[Red Bomb]

How would you fill in the gameplay in a novel?
"...and Kratos cast himself from the highest mountain in all of Greece."
*3 weeks earlier*
"Foul beasts! I will send you back to the depths of Hades!"
As Kratos used the Plume of Prometheus on the first two enemies, he dodge rolled and used a combo of two light attacks on another ghoul.
Yeah...
I don't think that works.

This made me lol so hard.

But in all fairness depending who the writer is will depend on how good a possible book would be. The Witcher was orginally a Polish book and I would never think it would make a good novel (too much running about and such. LONG). But it worked.
The Saboteur would make a good book (yes I know there is already one based on the actual guy the game was based one)
Bioshock or Mass Effect could work too I think...

 

[FlipC]

There is an official GoW book ya know

I'm not sure about BioShock as well as another silent protagonist you'd have to get past -
"Now, would you kindly find a crowbar or something?"
"That's a good idea" I thought

as well as -

The bottle glowed an eerie blue. "I wonder what would happen if I injected this substance into my body" I thought. "Let's find out".

That's a potential problem, you need to rationalise a whole heap of weird behaviour such as not using your small arsenal of weapons to break through that wooden door.

 

[warthoggunner]

Lost Planet

Not the game, but the universe/world/whatdoyoucallthat is cool.
Vital Suits, Big Monsters. Could be fun.
Maybe a story about some young snowpirate.

 

[Eponet]

The Sunless Citadel. A good old fashioned dungeon crawl is always fun to read.

 

[Eponet]

No games should EVER be novelised.

Think about it man!*

You can't adapt a game into a movie but you CAN adapt a game into a novel. I don't know why, but it works better for novels.

Games are usually span a much longer period than movies do, resulting in a lot of things being cut out of them. Novels tend to have more content.

 

[mageroel]

Before the movie (and the drawing-style game didn't happen - EVER) I'd have said Prince of Persia. Now, I think we've seen most of the epicness of the dagger of time and stuff. Maybe they can come up with a bunch of new trilogies (and they probably will) that are actually great too, such as the "first" trilogy, otherwise known as PoP: after the feathery aiming weird potion eating 3D version of the PoP games, but I think we've seen enough for it to be not interesting enough to write a novel about it.

 

[PurpleSky]

*This "concept" is a gimmick to squeeze more money out of you, if you don't see that I won't insist, but it is the God given truth. They are written purely so that they can be sold along with a game in a special edition for more money or written for a succesful franchise to make even more money.

By that logic we shouldn't have 2001 or Blade Runner on the grounds that turning a novel into a film is just a " gimmick to squeeze more money out of you". Just because that's the way the majority currently appear doesn't mean that's how they have to.

Hence my question - what game would you want to see novelised?

False.

Books to movies is entirely different from games to books.

Here you have an adaptation, and taking stuff a great source and squeeezing it into a movie, where in our case you have something supposedly bigger and more complex coming from a shooter,RTS,etc. game that has a few characters and a plot only made to give you new missions, in short it's bad because they need to make up, add more to a simple (VERY ) simple plot.And returning to my first part, it is more expected from something less.That's why it's different.

 

[PurpleSky]

No games should EVER be novelised.

Think about it man!*

You can't adapt a game into a movie but you CAN adapt a game into a novel. I don't know why, but it works better for novels.

I don't know which suck less,but I hate both.

To me they're just gimmicks to suck money from people that enjoyed a game very much and they are always crappy.

I never heard of a game turning into a good movie series (maaaaaaaybe RE ) or ESPECIALLY, of a game turning into a good book franchise.