Goovies: Why games'n'movies don't mix

The future of Goovies

The future is cloudy for goovies at the moment. There will almost certainly be an increased stream of movies that utilise games as a platform for making money. Hollywood has a vested interest in the next-gen war too, with the disc battle looking like it will be decided by whichever console proves more powerful.

Should we be happy about more movie branded games making their way to our gaming systems? Well, there are two ways of looking at the situation. The short sighted gaming snob will argue that these spin-off, cash in games are polluting the gaming industry. Those of you who can see a little further into the future will appreciate that the whole ecosystem of the gaming industry is inter-dependent. The money generated by these spin-off titles will support our flourishing passion, allowing games developers the freedom to create innovative and exciting games.

It's a pretty much open and shut case on that side of things – you will be seeing more movie inspired games. But what about goovies? Well we know Uwe Boll will be making more, certainly. But what of the Halo movie that has caused such furore? Originally Peter 'Lord of the Rings' Jackson was going to be involved in the project – things looked promising.



You see, Halo works for me as a potential movie. Already there is a massive fan base, it will appeal to sci-fi film buffs, the story of the game itself is simple yet strong and the setting offers the opportunity to tuck into some tasty special effects. Apart from the fact that the lead role would have to wear a helmet through the entire movie (how can someone act with a helmet on… ignore Robocop).

Earlier this month, though, the film was postponed after Universal and Fox backed out. The official reason Microsoft has given is that the companies involved didn't feel they could produce a first class movie at this time. Perhaps when they told Orlando Bloom he would have to wear a helmet all the way through the movie he decided he wouldn't do it. Either way Microsoft is now looking for other backers to go in with them to make the movie. Here's hoping it works because despite everything, I still want to see goovies become a success.

There are certainly a whole host of games that would seemingly make for excellent movies. Shadows of the Colossus, Zelda, Oblivion, Warcraft, Half-Life - the list could go on. In fact, I'd love to see some imaginative suggestions in the forum, the best of which will win a prize!

So where can/will goovies work? I saw a show on television recently in which the audience was able to vote as the story progressed to decide which course of action the lead character took. I'm not talking about X-Factor here; this was a bona fide drama. Although this level of interactivity is tiny I feel it's a step in the right direction for goovies.



Here's why: films don't allow for user interaction. You sit down, watch the film and then you leave. Your enjoyment comes from having something projected upon you. But imagine, if you will for a moment, a movie which rewrote itself depending on how you thought and reacted. As far fetched as this sounds this may not be as science-fictiony as it sounds. With enhancements in graphics we could soon be at a stage where actors can happily be replaced with computer equivalents (see the Al Pacino film S1m0ne for an idea similar to this). Combine this technology with emotion recognising technology, where your feelings can be monitored by the movements of muscles in your face and potentially you have movies that can rewrite themselves to be most enjoyable to you.

It's certainly not a concrete plan, more of an idea to spark debate – food for thought if you will. So far goovies have been awful, movie-games have not been much better, and for the foreseeable future it appears they will continue in that vein. Despite this there are still positive aspects to look for on the goovie horizon and who knows, in 10 years, we could be asking the question: "When will a goovie win an Oscar?"