Why TV Series Are A Good Option For Video Game Adaptations

See full bio

Abiyan

At Tech4gamers, I cover all sorts of gaming news. Whether it’s a leak of any upcoming game or an update, an announcement, or a rumour, I like to write about it all. Over the weekend, I sit and write features where I talk about games that I miss or want to see return.

See full bio

Movie and TV series adaptations of video games have long been practiced in the entertainment world. The same can be said for video game adaptations of movies. However, when turning video games into a visual form of entertainment, producers often fail to capture the vibe that the video game brings. 

This failure is more common when turning video games into movies. The TV series adaptation may not always work as well, but there’s a far greater chance of video games being a successful TV series than movie adaptations.

Why Video Game Movies Rarely Work?

One of the main reasons why video games fail to thrive as movies is the lack of screen time. A video game’s main story usually is more or less 12-15 hours long. When you try to compress that extensive content into a 2-3-hour movie, you will leave a lot of valuable content behind.

Sure, this length mainly includes gameplay sequences, but in today’s games, a gameplay sequence also works as a storyteller. These gameplay sequences take you through the main character’s hardships and how they overcome them to get to their destination.

Therefore, these gameplay sequences are an essential part of the protagonist’s character development, which is affected by a considerable margin when we only get one-third of the stuff. The movie often fails to make the character grow in the audience because of this, which affects the overall reviews of the film a lot.

Yeah, these adopted characters are already well known and don’t require much character development, but this can be an issue for the audience who are introduced to the franchise through this movie and aren’t already familiar with its characters.

TV Series Are A Better Option

A TV series is a much better option for video game adaptations. A TV series consists of multiple seasons, each lasting 8-12 hours(it can be longer or shorter) and having various episodes.

Each episode introduces a new set of tasks/encounters for the on-screen characters, and the story progresses after each episode. TV series can offer more screen time to develop characters and make the show’s theme grow in the audience.

The Last of Us TV series is a perfect example of why TV series is a better option for video game adaptations.

The show isn’t perfect, but if it had been turned into a 3-hour movie, it would have been disastrous as a ton of content would have to be cut out. The series’ first season is entirely based on the story of the Last Of Us Part I, and it has been portrayed relatively well.

I felt like that “IT” factor was missing from the environment as the series progressed to the final episodes, but that’s probably because I had already played the game before watching the series.

Overall, the series didn’t disappoint. There was enough time for some gruesome zombie action, emotional drama, and extra screen time for the characters to shine. This would have never been possible if they had tried to sum up the game’s entire story into a movie.

How Hitman Was Ruined In Movies

The adaptation of the world’s deadliest assassin, Agent 47, into the world of movies is another example of how movies can ruin video games. The main reason for the failure of the Hitman movies was the vibe issue, as the directors failed to match the vibe of the cold-blooded killer Agent 47 has in the games.

The overall theme of the movies felt revamped, but other than that, the format itself wasn’t just right for a game like Hitman. This game is based on several missions located in different locations, where we have to kill a target, and the story progresses further with every mission.

The game speaks for itself and is perfect for a TV series. The franchise could have been successful if the producers had chosen the correct format of visual entertainment for it.

Please leave this field empty

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Abiyan

[News Reporter]

Abiyan is on track to complete his Computer Science bachelor’s degree. His enthusiasm for writing and gaming motivates him to keep readers and gamers updated with the latest information from the industry. In his free time, Abiyan enjoys playing Dota 2 and Rocket League. Abiyan has also been cited in reputed websites such as Kitguru, Comicbook, GamingBible, Eurogamer and Gamingbolt.