Hollywood unsure how to turn games into movies

Movies and video games seem like such an appealing combination, yet video game studios and Hollywood movie makers have been unable to turn popular movies into hit video games.

"Movie-based games almost never work," according to Philipp Dollinger, Pressakey.com game reviewer.  "No matter how cool the movie, the game is almost always lame.  Most are just bad imitations of better games already out there."

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I have to take Dollinger's stance on this topic, as most movie-based video games seem to be absolutely horrendous.  Doom is one of the best video game franchises ever, but the movie was unimpressive and frustrated most old school Doom gamers.  Max Payne, a movie based off a video game, also was transformed from a popular game into an absolutely dreadful film, with no sequels made.

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As another classic example, Brash Entertainment invested $400 million to purchase film licenses and attempt to turn them into video games -- but with disastrous results.  The company first tried to make an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" video game, then tried to create the popular  "Jumper" movie into a video game.  Both game titles flopped horribly, and Brash was forced out of business.  Pandemic Brisbane attempted to turn Hollywood blockbuster "The Dark Knight" into a video game, which also flopped.

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During Gamescom, there are apparently more video game studios that are attempting to roll the dice, and turn hit movies into video games.  I believe a game made by LucasArts, which is known for Star Wars-themed video games, can be a hit, but I'm not convinced other game studios should try and bank off the success of movie video games -- and Hollywood shouldn't try and count on the success of a video game movie.

I believe Hollywood and the game industry would be able to work better with one another if the movie studio who purchases a license decided to work with the game maker, rather than get the license and run off.

Despite past setbacks, expect Hollywood to keep filming movies based off video games, even if they leave most of us with a headache.  Have you had a positive experience with a film turned into a video game, or a game turned into a movie?  If so, what video game/movie did you enjoy?

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