Uwe Boll has recently announced that he will stop making films if an on-line petition to that effect reaches 1,000,000 signatures.  I have not signed this petition or the counter-petition started by Mr. Boll, and I don’t plan to.  I will cast my vote by never seeing Boll’s takes on somewhat popular games, such as the already-awful Postal.

It does raise the question, though, of why game-to-movie translations are so often complete failures, both financially and artistically.  Obviously, it is difficult to adhere to a canon and create meaningful art within that space, but I believe that the roots of this problem are more basic.

No game titles come immediately to mind that would easily translate into (worthwhile) films.  For me, the appeal of gaming has almost never been due to the haphazard plots.  I remember being sincerely confused a few years ago as to why anyone ever thought that Mortal Kombat would make a decent film.  As far as I can remember, the main selling point of that game was that you could end the match in a horribly gory or hilarious way.  I do not recall a single word of the text that scrolled by after you completed the game.  I do, however, recall one infamous glitch in MK2 that allowed you to hack up your infantilized opponent.

Games, to me, have always been about exactly this sort of serendipitous experience that arises from the freedom to explore and inhabit a world in whatever ways the user is capable.  Aside from hidden messages in Disney classics and other such Easter eggs, the medium of film does not allow this brand of exploration.  The value of gaming is in the interactivity that allows the user to define the experience.

I will be disappointed by any film based on a beloved property that fails to capture the ecstasy I felt as a child when, say, correctly inputting a Fatality code in Mortal Kombat after hours upon hours of trying.  Gaming is a skill, not a passive activity.  I would not want to watch a film based on guitar playing or reading, both acquired skills that I also enjoy.

Maybe games and films should loosen their relationship and work with their corresponding spaces instead of within them.  The emotional response to playing a game is different than that of watching a film.  Although Mr. Uwe Boll does claim to be “the only genius in the whole fucking business,”  I’m afraid all the titles I can think of that have made the jump seem to be attempting to piggyback on the success of the games that preceded them.  Such is life, but hopefully one day someone will get it right.  Supposedly the new Prince of Persia film is going to be good; I have my doubts.