Let’s Just Forget That One Shall We?!

As with any successful brand, there is always a risk of the mighty spin-offs. Be it merchandise, movies or even a TV show, finding another way to market an already existing and popular series is one way to make some serious, serious money. Of course in the gaming industry they are not shy of making a fair amount of added products which can tickle our fancy. And to be honest, it is more than expected. I have my fair share of t-shirts, figurines or a very nifty and cute pink Xbox 360 control pad (which I absolutely adore) so such products are not only necessary, they’re essential.

Just so you know I don’t begrudge the bigwig who decided how to make it more palatable for a wider audience, but what I do have a major issue with is that some of what is made is just plain wrong. Unfortunately what seems to come up as a repeated hit and miss, with a heck of a lot of misses, is when games are made into films.

A few weeks ago, I watched an advert for the films this particular channel was going to show and I couldn’t believe my eyes as to what they had scheduled. You may remember back in 1996, a live action film was made of my much beloved game, also entitled Street Fighter. So imagine how excited I was that someone out there thought to do the unimaginable and turn a beloved game into a film. Now times that by about the highest number you could think of and that about shows my disappointment.

I know there are some who may have thought that this film, although filled with a wide variety of cheese was an okay movie. But to a die hardcore fan like myself, just thinking about it, pains me so much. Even to this day my pain for this film remains. If I get the chance to voice my opinion about the film I always say what I would change to make it be the awesome film it should have been.

Films like Tomb Raider, Max Payne, DOA: Dead Or Alive and the upcoming Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time, always make me feel a little uneasy and I do watch them without trying to get my hopes up. And there have been times that I was pleasantly surprised at how the film has turned out, and dare I say it, I actually enjoyed them. So all I ask of the person who says yes to this is really think about it. Will you be able to convert the story that we know back to front and get the characters right to make it into a blockbuster that we crave? For I am sure we can all agree, that there are a lot of fans out there that will fight tooth and nail to defend their game, just make sure the film is just as good.