Video Game Movies = Cult Classics

Have you ever come out of seeing a movie based upon a video game and felt like something was lacking? If so, you may be one of millions of Americans who feel the same way and suffer from a phenomena known as, “a change in media.” The reason for this feeling doesn’t lie in the quality of the special effects or cast chosen to play out the story (sometimes), but it is rather the difference in the motivation for wanting to play a video game as opposed to that of watching a movie. Gonzalo Frasca’s piece “Simulation 101: Simulation versus Representation” addresses these differences in value by taking a look at various pieces of media and flip-flopping them behind the shades of formats that allow for decision-making on behalf of the participant as opposed to those that simply present information to a viewer without any form of active response.

It is a well-tested opinion that most video games that are turned into movies are shunned by the eyes of the critics and many loyal fans of the gaming industry alike. When this is the case, the beckoned question becomes, “Why should a movie based on a game fail so miserably when the game itself was loved by the masses?” The answer is the limitations of forms of media. A video game is a simulation of an idea created by the imagination of a developer, while a movie production based on a game is truly a representation of that same idea. The only difference that remains between the two formats is a governed system of choice.

As defined by Frasca’s article, “Simulation is [the] act of modeling a system A by a less complex system B, which retains some of A’s behavior.” (Frasca 3) Using Frasca’s definition, it can be said that the idea formulated in imagination of a developer corresponds to system A while a game based on the idea follows system B. For example, the Halo game series must have been simulated from an idea because as our world stands today, there are no actual Spartans, Grunts, Elites, Plasma Grenades, Needlers, Warthogs, Ghosts, or giant ancient rings that are floating around to simulate. When thinking over the behavioral rules that go into Halo, one must consider the source. The game will always be inferior to the creator’s imagination because the imagination is limitless. However, the choices that are available are vastly large in comparison to a film. A game character (if programmed to) can jump, duck, turn, fly, shoot, etc. on command, but in a movie, the freedom is gone because the decisions have already been made and are permanent. In a game, you are expected to participate.

A movie production of a video game takes the original developer’s idea an retools it in order to create a presentation that will be entertaining to the masses even with the lack of the ability to choose the main protagonist’s actions. For example, the movie Mortal Kombat is based off of the Midway classic of the same name. In the game, players select characters that face off in one-to-one fighting combat with nothing more. The extent of the story mode gives the background of each of the characters but keeps the same tournament fighting style with no other differences. However, in the movie, a story plays out, following the trials and tribulations of the protagonist Liu Kang until he finally dispels of the evil sorcerer, Shang Tsung, in an act of revenge against Tsung’s capture of Kang’s younger brother’s soul. The point is that while the game may have made mention of Liu Kang’s goals for participating in the tournament, choosing him as a character was never a decision forced on the player. The movie had to make the decision for the audience because there are no means for a representation to govern the behavioral rules of choice. In a movie, you are expected to sit and enjoy.

Applying Frasca’s definition to movies based on video games makes it easy to recognize why few become more popular than cult classics. The motivations for seeing a movie are quite different from those of playing a video game when the entertainment is broken down.