I'm sure you've seen it, the chart of the elements. Some studied them in school, others swore to never grow up to be called Boron. If you studied chemistry at all, you've seen this chart. But for games, its new.

I started it because I wanted to be able to clarify the games I was reviewing and judging as submissions.  I wanted to spot trends and use the chart to see what areas of game deisgn were being neglected.

As I said above, "I started it", and its not close to complete.  But Rome wasn't built in a day and this chart will take some time.  So please, add to the, or argue with where I put the various elements.

Please visit the site, and offer new elements.

Go for it...  Chart of Game Elements

None

No such thing

Through the history of time there hasn't been a movie, book, TV show that wouldn't lend itself to a video game. Now lets keep in mind that these might not be GOOD games, but its easy really... but lets define our terms.

The game needs to fit into a genre other than just "based on a movie". You know they give Oscars to movies that are based on stories in other media. Lets adapt something from a TV show and see what we get... (being older myself, I'll go for some really old shows)

"Car 54 where are you?" So easy... GTA IV style game that you wander around a huge town trying to find a specific car.

"The Prisoner" You nee to escape the island without giving up any information.

"The Brady Bunch" The dog, Tiger, is missing and the player must help the family find him. Since this is based on an existing episode, (yeah odd that I remember that huh?), there's plenty of VO material we can use.

If you need more proof, please read my previous post about The Lovely Bones. I have not seen it yet, as of this writing it opens tonight, but I know when I do that there's a game in there.

So dear reader... think of every media assault on your mind and heart in game terms.  Although it is possible to turn a tragedy of the Haitian earthquake, search and rescue, but since the topic is not happy and mostly not a happy ending, the game would end on a sad note. Games that end without a happy ending, often care that feeling on through to the review and players overall feeling about the game.

An old boss of mine feels that movies have to end on a happy or at least empowering note, and that's true for games as well.

Lets start a list... of sources of game ideas.... movies, TV, newspapers, recent events... what comes to mind next?

Mac

What makes a game?  If you list the qualities you like or dislike about a game, I'll bet there is a lot of crossover with movies and music.  Since there is so UCH crossover its highly likely that a movie can be made into a game.  We've seen it go the other way with games becoming movies, but that's rare compared to the other way around.

We've all seen them, all played them... movies that have action scenes are almost automatically licensed for video game,,, I was going to say production but maybe trashing is a better word.

This brings me to "The Lovely Bones". Is this an action movie?  Nope.  Is it a love story with a tragic ending?  Nope.  Is there anything in it that would make a good game... yes!  Of course lets keep in mind that I'm under the impression that I can make a game out of anything, even beansprouts.   But there's more to it than that.

The Lovely Bones is a murder mystery where we all know who did it, its a matter of capturing him with the right evidence.  And that's where the game is.  Movies, TV and games revolve around conflict. Where there is conflict there is drama, suspense and the essence of a good game.

Some of the best games on the market hit a large demographic footprint.  A game based on this movie does exactly that.  If you have ever played, and loved like the rest of us, games like Myst or Monkey Island then you know exactly what I am talking about.

Which character do you play?  Most likely the father, but certainly the detective comes to mind as well.  Or maybe you play the dead daughter, trying to invluence the actions of your family to find the killer?  That last one hits the mark with me.

With today's advances in AI and the love that the gaming audience has of watching "what happens when I do this"...  leads me to believe that a game where I am a ghost, but able to communicate with the living, to find my killer, hits all of the marks we like to see in a hit and innovative game.

The setup is simple, your object is to make sure that the killer is captured, and you lose the game if he gets away. There can be degrees of success, does he get the maximum penalty or a slap on the wrist.

A big thing to keep in mind is, I have not yet seen the movie.  I am creating this concept on the fly and that's exactly how it should be.  If my assumptions are wrong about the basic story of the movie, then that misconception will carry on to the general public. The game buyng public will have the same wrong idea... assuming I am wrong.

Lets make a deal.  After reading this post, go see the movie.  See it twice if you need to. Then lets meet back here and see what e think o my basic game idea.  Does it work?  Is it nonsense?  We'll judge together.

As I write this, its January 6th.  Lets see the movie, at least once, and meet back here Monday the 18th. Feel free to make comments or email any time.  For you facebook people, please make your comments in the blog.

Thanks and save me some popcorn,
Mac