We all know the old saying that games don't make good movies and movies don't make good games. Everyone has their own opinions on why this is the case. But who's right? Surely Leigh Alexander, news director for Gamasutra, is getting close with this blog.

It sure looks like scriptwriters and producers consistently aren't "getting it" when it comes to what's lovable about a video game they're trying to translate to the big screen. On the other side of the canyon, audiences are unlikely to understand Resident Evil or Final Fantasy VII when it's presented as film, outside of its native context.

But is it really that film production is just not taking games seriously enough? That the film industry doesn't understand how sophisticated games really are?

Perhaps to an extent; unfamiliar with the language of games, films often mistranslate a title's appeal. That's what happened with Silent Hill, which might have been successful as a well-acted psychological thriller – but turned out mediocre, if we're being kind. It reproduced the game's visual style and feel almost unsettlingly, even chill-inducingly, going as far as to incorporate pieces of Akira Yamaoka's original soundtrack.

But it completely missed the boat on what makes Silent Hill appealing – its psychological subtlety – and instead zeroed in on the series' most obvious elements, stripping them of their context and highlighting their ridiculousness. It might have been possible to make a complex, mature Silent Hill movie if it had focused on the right things.

The dominant problem, though, is that the narratives of games are unfortunately not nearly as sophisticated, intelligent, affecting or entertaining as we think they are.

Story can be important to games, and sophisticated story is arguably key to advancing the medium beyond toy status. But it's not always necessary to an excellent video game – just look at the strength and success of Resident Evil even despite its ridiculous plot lines. Resident Evil 4 is so good, for example, that it manages to be awesome even though it features an annoying Napoleon-man chasing Leon with a gigantic mechanical version of himself – and he's a lot more appealing than the girl you've got to rescue. That's a seriously solid game, right there.

Euphoric via kotaku.com »