Can Video Games Be Properly Represented in Hollywood Cinema?

Since the 1970’s video games have cemented themselves into the pillars of mainstream popularity. The industry has grown and branched out in countless ways, spreading to multiple areas of entertainment such as arcade machines, consoles, and PC gaming. Video games have also seen success in literature and graphic novels, with many games collaborating with authors to expand upon their stories. But with all the avenues they’ve managed to expand their reach through, video games have always struggled to translate over to the film industry. But why is the rich source material video games have to offer commonly tarnished in the finished film product?

The video game to film scene has been in effect since the 1990’s, but despite its longevity as a film genre, the movies that have been made to show for it have been mostly lackluster. Hollywood’s inadequacy in the genre has been characterized in a multitude of areas, but to truly represent video games on the big screen, they must learn to reshape their narrative indifferences and diversify structural formats.

One of the most central hindrances to merging the two forms together, narrative indifferences significantly hold Hollywood films back from connecting to their video game counterparts. In the lens of a video game, the narrative aim is to slowly build up the story and pull gamers in by allowing them to feel immersed in the world presented around them. Likewise, video games will allow players to not only play a variety of characters/character types (to see different viewpoints) but will grant them the freedom to customize and improve their characters, which gives them their own stake in the storyline they’re experiencing.

Hollywood films, however, take a different narrative angle, condensing complicated and intricate storylines into 2-hour packages with the hope of simplifying everything for the viewer. Story scripts and background information are often scrapped and cut, as filmmakers trim fat from their films to not only meet time restraints but to negate viewers from getting drawn away from a central plot. These largely differing viewpoints break the bridges between the video game and film genre, as both want to tell the same story in a vastly different way.

One long time gamer and film lover David Nho, shares his opinions on the narrative dilemmas between both.

“I think a lot of the narrative differences fall down to the difficulty directors have in translating direct dialogue and plot points from a video game into a Hollywood movie,” Nho says.  He continues, describing that the obstacle normally results in “highly admired scenes and lore from video games not always making it into the movie and upsetting the main audience (the gaming community).

But narrative identity doesn’t have to change entirely for Hollywood films to grasp the tone of video games. When asked about how movies can mirror the narrative structure of video games, Nho suggests that filmmakers familiarize and lean more on the game itself for content and plot framework. He references movies such as “Ready Player One” (2018) which he believes is a prime example of balancing gaming immersion and rudimentary principles of Hollywood films.

“I believe video games can be properly represented in film, but it mostly depends on the director and his/her experience on the videogame. If the director is familiar with the game and is a fan, it really impacts the authenticity of the film.” Nho believes this distinction is essential because most video game films drift away from the main idea of what the game is about.

When video game films are structured firmly around their source material, they’ll be able to better associate with their target audience and provide the authenticity they often lack.  As for gamers like Nho, they’ll find themselves more invested in projects that actively incorporate aspects of their gaming experience.

One video game show that has recently optimized the balance of narrative indifferences is “Arcane” (2021). The animated series was released on Netflix this past year and was instantly admired by both the gaming community and neutral viewers. The show was based on the nearly 15-year-old online game League of Legends, that’s still active today.

As a long time League of Legends player himself, Nho spoke to the success of the show and how it could set the standard for future video game to film/show projects. “Arcane is a perfect example of an enjoyable video game film adaptation and proves that they can be executed well. The show is thorough with the characters, lore and is also accurate to the gameplay as well as the story line.”

Furthermore, Nho hints that a structural shift in how they direct and produce their film products may yield more polished video game to film adaptations. He mentions that animation may be better route for video game film adaptations, as they can be more visually accurate to their origin and better showcase the art style of their respective games. In addition, he feels that making more TV series adaptations instead of movies adaptations may be more beneficial for the genre as TV series can be more suited to establishing and maintaining the long-term story lines many video games have.

Breaking narrative indifferences and implementing structural diversity will unlock new creative doors for filmmaking if they’re just willing to take a chance on it. Their reliance A-list actors carrying live action blockbusters as video game films has routinely produced the same results. The necessity to try new things doesn’t mean films need to lose their fundamental makeup and charm. As Nho would say “Hollywood adaptations will always be different from the original source, that’s what makes them Hollywood.” But the differences between video games and films/TV doesn’t have to dictate or tarnish how influential the final product will be once the two come together.