Crossovers in media are nothing new, for decades, we have seen the highest-rated TV and movies try to replicate their appeal within the realm of another entertainment dynamic. More recently, we have seen this move the other way, with highly successful movies and TV shows based on globally successful video gaming ideas.
However, there’s a clear distinction here, and those who have a good grasp of the most popular TV and film gaming ideas will know what we are talking about. We’ve seen remarkably successful gaming ideas that tap into the lore of amazing film characters, and we have seen some attempts fizzle out so ungracefully, that many people don’t even know there’s been a game released in the first place.
Today, we’re going to look at some of the factors that dictate whether or not a TV or film idea piques interest, and the determining reasons that ultimately decide their successful or unsuccessful course.
Where The Pie Charts Meet
We’ve seen so many other gaming ideas that look to capture the market that exists within the middle of the pie chart, where worlds collide, so to speak. In the world of gambling, these ideas have reached a new plateau of global intrigue. Developers and game designers have taken many of the ideas that made casino games so popular before the internet and revamped them to appeal to a global, digital market.
Those who play real money games online will have a unique understanding of how this type of gaming has transformed the gambling industry over the last two decades. While many casino games have also been influenced by TV and movies, the rise of live table gaming options with the bandwidth and capability to host hundreds of players simultaneously at a single table helped open the door to a whole new raft of entertainment fans.
As you can see in the link below, it is about adopting a multi-faceted approach. Gaming companies will leverage sites like YouTube as a resource for learning, whereas video gaming companies will tap into the huge online communities, speaking to influencers on social media and ensuring they tick all the boxes across media to capture as large an audience as possible. It is within this framework that crossover ideas have proven to be lucrative in the gaming world, but only for companies that understand what they are doing.
Dissecting The Fabric Of The Film
Action films, as well as sci-fi ideas, have real potential to crossover into the gaming world. We saw it with The Matrix games, the multi-platform popularity of games like The Terminator, and, more recently, the global success of The Last of Us, which has showcased enormous popularity in gaming and popular culture through the smash-hit TV show.
You only need to look at the lore and backstory of games, and the developers behind them, to get a good understanding of why some of these ideas work and why others don’t even get off the runway, metaphorically speaking. Spider-Man 2 is a solid candidate for the best crossover game, but plenty of Marvel ideas have found success.
Cult games like The Warriors might not have seemed like a good idea at first, but with the might of Rockstar behind it, the gaming powerhouse brought a level of polish that ensured the game was a huge success.
Some crossover ideas lack vision or design, or sometimes simply have too much money at their disposal. The Mummy Returns, Iron Man, and Rambo are the first that spring to mind, but on the flip side, we have GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64 and Spider-Man 2, both on the PS2 and the PS5. When it is done properly, it is a revelation.
Fitting The Moving Pieces Together
There are often multiple factors that come together for movies to find success as gaming ideas. In the case of The Warriors, it had the design might of Rockstar behind it. GoldenEye was revolutionary on several levels, from FPS success to mission-based stories, and encapsulating many of the elements that make James Bond such a captivating and financially successful movie franchise.
Spider-Man 2 captures the graphics of the game, combining an effective story mode with a sprawling city you can navigate quickly. It’s not a guaranteed model of success, but these are the similarities we see across popular ideas in this genre.
For games that fail, they can have too much money, too little vision, or ideas that have great movie quality but lack the depth or story to translate into a successful video game. The whole team is behind the vision that often makes the movies so captivating. A good game needs a solid set of designers and writers, a budget, and vision to set it apart from a movie and make it a gaming experience, rather than a glorified movie-watching experience on a console.
