In its desperate attempts to avoid original creations and find something else to adapt, Hollywood has occasionally looked to the games industry. Generally though, the wrong games have been picked, or the right games have been adapted in the wrong way. Alone in the Dark, Mortal Kombat, Doom… Currently films based on Space Invaders and Asteroids are being planned. Inspired. But there are some huge properties on consoles that would make huge properties on screen. Good ones, too.

David Jaffe, creator of the famously cinematic game series God of War, has stated that the process of adapting games into films isn’t easy – games are highly inspired by films, so adapting a game essentially creates a non-progressive process of film -> game -> film. It’s true, but I still think that if films based on games manage to strike a balance between adaptation and original ideas, they could turn out well. There is room in these universes for new stories. And just to quickly disclaim, I am not saying that any of the games in my list need films. Obviously, the majority of the ones present here have self-sufficient stories that work well in the gaming medium. I just think it would be great to see adaptations of some of these, especially compared to the ones we’re being given by the film industry at the moment.

So…movie studios, producers, everyone…are you listening? THESE are the films we should be seeing. No more Dead or Alive, please. Why haven’t we ever seen a properly good film based on a game? Here I’m going to suggest some games that could make great movies.

10. Borderlands

Borderlands was an absolute gameplay-fest; providing tonnes of sidequests, lots of guns, lots of EXP, and stats flying all over the place. You could play the whole thing co-op with your friends, too. What the game didn’t really offer though, was an original plot. In a nutshell, hunters on a wasteland-like planet are looking for a thing called “The Vault.” You go to look for “The Vault.”

Why make it into a film then? Well, what is present in Borderlands is a level of humour that most games don’t offer. The expansion The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned even made me laugh out loud at times – which is an unprecedented thing to happen while playing. I can’t really quote any of the humour here, because it’s all “contextual.” But…something just makes me think that David X. Cohen and Matt Groening could be called upon to turn it into a very funny film. Or any of the crew from Futurama. An over-the-top sci-fi action-comedy with writing in the vein of that (hilarious) series, that could also spoof on the over-abundance of post-apocalyptic films flooding cinemas at the moment. A shot in the dark? Probably. But it’d be more interesting than the Tekken or Street Fighter films, at least.

I wouldn’t suggest adapting Borderlands as something other than my proposed idea of a genuinely funny comedy with exciting gunfights, explosions, and large creatures thrown in. Otherwise it’d turn out a little bland.

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Len Wiseman, director of Live Free or Die Hard and penetrator of Kate Beckinsale has signed up to direct Gears of War according to Variety. Wanted and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift writer Chris Morgan is currently writing a re-draft of Stuart Beattie’s version.

“Gears” is Microsoft’s second biggest seller after the “Halo” franchise, and gamemaker Epic always intended to branch the property out into various media, such as films and novels, with an extensive backstory it developed for the property.

New Line had initially aimed for a summer 2009 release for the pic, but further development on the project will now likely delay that plan.

Gears of War joins God of War, BioShock and Price of Persia in the game-to-movie adaptations. It’s becoming a new trend in Hollywood, and its good to see people who aren’t Uwe Boll directing these types of movies.

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There are quite a few popular games being adapted onto the big screen at the moment. There’s Prince of Persia which will begin filming soon, and BioShock which will be directed by Pirates of the Caribean director Gore Verbinski. Now God of War could be getting the film treatment, as a journalist recently revealed that Brett Ratner might be involved. Film Junk found the scoop at the very bottom of this article.

I have never been a hardcore gamer, so I’ve never had the chance to play God of War. For those of you who also haven’t, here’s a quick outline of what is it about.

God of War centers on Kratos, a celebrated soldier who is haunted by his past transgressions and his debt to the Gods of Olympus. It could have just been your typical hack and slash game, but the cinematic approach and highly entertaining story line earned it a reputation as one of the best around.

Brett Ratner is best known for directing the Rush Hour movies, and failing to improve the X-Men franchise with X-Men 3. He isn’t exactly the best man for the job, but then again he isn’t Uwe Boll.

Any God of War fans have an opinion on this?

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