Nerdy Soapbox

So following the mixed to negative reception to Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, it’s reasonable to once again ponder if movies based on video games is still worth something doing. As someone who has seen this movie and the overall serviceable yet very noticeably flawed horror movie it ultimately is, where it missteps as a movie and as an adaptation got me thinking again about this question. As cool as it is to see some of our favorites experiences, stories, characters, moments and elements from the source material brought to life in a new media, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always done well, let alone with any actual care in some cases. Whether a studio wanting to capitalize on a successful game by adapting it but refuse to give it a proper budget, filmmakers not willingly or unwillingly not understanding the media they’re adapting which can be alienating to fans of that original media, or filmmakers intentionally making bad adaptations since profit is guaranteed thus negating need to make quality media. These only being some of the very real things that happen often within the industry for these kinds of projects can make one wonder if its still worth it. Each movie more or less being a dice roll with these possibilities factored in. Though there are exceptions, some of these movies actually are made with care, perhaps hindered in one or more ways but still something made with actual artistic intent. Mortal Kombat(2021) is a good example, though not a perfect movie it’s still something that was very clearly made by a competent and passionate team who had immense passion for the material they were adapting and it really showed in the final film. Though Welcome to Raccoon City could also fall into this, having been written and directed by a filmmaker who very clearly loves the source material and a cast and production team who all mostly shared his sentiment. But where this otherwise arguable “passion project” falls short is its budget, this movie was made with a very small 25 million dollar budget which for a project of that caliber isn’t something that will work out too well and it didn’t. For all it manages to do, it still comes off as cheap in many places and overall unfinished from a lack of narrative substance which is unfortunate. Despite the popularity of Resident Evil as a video game, as a franchise, the studio and other individuals backing the movie decided a project that really had potential wasn’t worth putting the money it needed to be fully realized so it was very compromised as a result. This could be indicative of entire problem, if the parties mostly responsible for these adaptations don’t respect or care for the material enough when it comes to actually adapting them, then it is still worth getting all of these if they’re either going to be soulless products or heavily cheap budget titles that can’t fully live up to their roots. Would we be better off just keeping games as is and doing anyway with film adaptations(perhaps all kinds of adaptations even), or should we keep trying in the hope there will be people who can get them right? As long as games keep being a very popular and lucrative industry, there will be a market for adaptations and spin-offs spanning other media. One can only hope there comes time when we get these consistently right.

So last week I talked about the present deal with remakes and remasters within the game industry, and the problems with all that. Well following that I’ve been thinking more about it and the many games that still haven’t really gotten this treatment despite being perfect for it. Why is that? With so many different series and whatnot getting a new lease on life with today’s players, yet there’s so many different equally valid if not worthy of this but haven’t been considered which is curious. It is understandable for highly popular games or even considered cult classics but have since amassed an equal if not larger following. An example of this is the Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver series of games, popular throughout the late 90′s and early 2000′s with their influence still being felt in games today. But to date following it’s last installment in 2003, there have been no attempts to continue or revive the overall franchise since, outside of a few short-lived projects that were each quickly canceled. The only real presence of the name and characters being through small references, hardly what fans would actually want. In 2017, Square Enix even began a program that would allow developers access to licenses for their various I.P’s to not only allow teams to put their own creative spin on a certain series but even give new life ones that haven’t actively been around for sometime. Though interestingly, Legacy of Kain is the one brand no teams have made an effort to do something with since this new collaborative program started. The point is the means exist, the potential exists. Yes it’s great to see many games from the past come onto the scene like it was yesterday, but there’s still so many other just as popular if not important series deserving of this treatment but still nothing. Perhaps it is one of those things that takes more time than we’d like to realize, but that’s still waiting nonetheless which is challenging. But with games like Vampire: The Masquerade 2 or even S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 happening after all this time, perhaps Legacy of Kain and other surprisingly forgotten favorites will finally join this sort of classic resurgence.

What’s with all these live service games and more importantly the over abundance of them? A rhetorical question given the very obvious answer yet still baffling answer: they’re profitable, mostly at least. We all understand the schtick by now, straightforward experiences that offers dozens of hours of content with regular updates and whatnot to keep players consistently coming back. Especially in the interest of getting players to spend money on various purchasable items available, straightforward. But once we factor in all the messy practices that horrifically muck this model up and more importantly the games themselves. Yet with so many of these games already on the market and many more following suit with these very much flawed practices left unchanged is resulting in the oversaturated mess we have presently. Sure it’s understandable that the game industry would need to find creative ways to not only make games but offer them in a way will be profitable, but with that desire for profit seemingly coming before creating the actual game in meaningful way, you get a experiences that are lucrative for publishers/developers but are fruitful to players. Look at games like Marvel’s Avengers or even Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode, games that offer very little in actual content let alone a satisfying progression and gameplay loop while pushing purchasable items at them at every possible chance. This isn’t beneficial to the player, even if they were to spend money on the game like it would often intend, it’s ultimately pointless in an otherwise pointless experience. A conundrum of putting profit over the player, a losing situation because if the games are uninspired, unsatisfying and embracing greedy practices then the player gets nothing out of it which means no one will want to play it which is a lose for the developer/publisher. So why are we still getting these? Well it’s still cheaper than building entirely new experiences from the ground up, let alone very complex ones. It’s why even Assassin’s Creed has been identical with its gameplay loop and content for the past few installments. It’s easier to create dozens of hours of the same basic and redundant tasks than go all out with creative game design. An unfortunate mindset because as said before it’s a losing situation for all, one we’ll likely stay stuck with for a long time to come because despite all the issues, this game model is still profitable enough that companies keep going for it. So until that well finally dries, they’re gonna keeping taking from it what they can.

In light of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition’s very disastrous launch I feel such an event further prompts an ongoing discussion: game preservation and the otherwise mixed big it presently is. An ever growing concern that’s ultimately an unfortunate circumstance of the continuously evolving game industry and more importantly the hardware games are played on. Technology evolves, new platforms are released and previous iterations with their entire game libraries are left in the past. That’s how it’s always been, sure it’s reasonable to assume there’s a number of gamers still holding onto most if not every game and console they’ve acquired, there’s retro collectors as well. But what about the likely large majority who tend not to hold onto those things? Though none of that really matters because those games are in one way or another still left in the dust. This is where remasters and remakes come into the equation, makes total sense to update older games for modern hardware for the sake of preservation and even bringing these games to a newer, larger audience. From the business side it certainly can be as lucrative as original games. It’s a win on both sides but there’s a catch: the fine line. Yes it’s amazing to see nostalgic classics from the past updated and available on today’s platforms, whether as was or with a new coat of visuals to give it some rejuvenating flare. Or even in some instances a full-on reimagining, giving a whole new way to experience an old favorite like it’s a whole different game, certainly something special about that feeling of familiarity but enjoying it as it’s own thing. This past generation alone(PS4, Xbox One, Switch) has seen quite a large collection of ports and remakes from most of the major studios. Something that should be great and celebrated, but then there’s that aforementioned line. Think about it, of all those games released how many were lazily optimized messes, simple ports that didn’t bring new, perhaps needed quality to the experience, or a reimagining that though familiar isn’t that original game so many remember. This begs the question of passion or profit? A difficult question given the varied mixed bag of all of this. Though there are the honest passionate attempts gives older games a whole new visual flare, or an opportunity to do what couldn’t have been done with the original release, or taking a chance to give a classic title a whole new feel while keeping in touch with that original spirit. Though the opposite is just as much prominent. For every well made HD Collection there’s poorly updated console and mobile ports, for every Spyro: Reignited Trilogy there’s a Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, for every Resident Evil 2(2019) there’s a XIII. For all the good there’s certainly the bad and one should wonder how essential all of this is in the long run. If the goal really is preservation then why not simply port them in all their original glory. Backwards compatibility on Xbox for example allows for most of three generations worth games to be playable on their current consoles, using just emulation almost twenty years worth of games are available to players. Playstation offers a limited number of ports of their more iconic game from previous consoles. Nintendo even allows many of their older games to be streamed through their online service and though certainly isn’t the best option it’s still something. So why can’t something like these be the norm? Is it passion or profit? If this GTA disaster can tell us something, anything, it’s that just because we can, that doesn’t necessarily mean we should. There are a lot of games out there, it’d be nice to have a straightforward means to access most if not all of them.

Greetings all, or whomever really chooses to read this.

Welcome and hello, my name is Maxine Carney, I’m a twenty-something transwoman and a huge pop culture nerd. I won’t beat around the bush, I love video games(and really all things geek), I love playing them, collecting them, and above all else, talking about them. So on this page I shall be doing exactly that. Talking about the game industry and giving my own thoughts along the way. Whether through opinions pieces, rants and reposts, the goal is to express my passion for video games and hopefully provoke some interesting discussions as well. Gaming isn’t just for entertainment, it’s a constantly growing and evolving art form with new promising ideas and projects making progress each day. So let’s discuss the ins and outs of how they’re made, what we like and dislike, and our overall thoughts on the industry as a whole.