Absolutely Controversial Videogame Topics

[digitalpress]

I'm working on a project with some friends where some debating will be videotaped. My friend is the director and came up with what seemed like a dozen or so really good topics to debate. The questions were very topical and relevant. Problem is, everyone on the panel pretty much took the same side. That doesn't make for very interesting debate.

We're re-working the topics for round 2 and as I'm writing down some possibilities I thought "I know the people who KNOW controversial topics". Hint: that's you guys and gals. Once again, I'm asking you to do my work for me.

So, off the top of your head: topics where there is absolutely NO WAY that four intelligent people could all take the same side on.

Go.

[Steven]

Collecting sealed video games: Horrible waste of money, or no?

[Rev. Link]

I once started a thread here about whether or not downloaded games, like XBLA games, "count" as part of a collection. That thread went back and forth for a while.

[Steven]

Some others:

-Is the term "hardcore gamer" valid, or just plain stupid/egotistical?

-What is "old school" exactly? Does it have to be 2 generations back? 3? 4?

-Does video game violence really adversely affect the young kids who play them? (popular but perhaps stale long-standing controversial issue)

-2D vs. 3D games

-Are games harder today or "yesteryear" ?

-Are games more creative today or "yesteryear" ?

-Is there an age or time in one's life when they're "too old" for gaming?

-Was the Dreamcast really as good as many folks claim it to be? (a fun one, I think. HUGE fans and then those who never got into DC)

-"Games were better 'back then' than they are today." Agree/disagree with statement?

That's all I got off the top of my head. Maybe you can pluck a couple ideas from this batch. Good luck with the project, and if available, would like to see the end product some day online.

[SpaceHarrier]

*Has the emergent sandbox genre ruined gaming or expanded it to a new plateau?
*Which games will have the more lasting appeal in the long-run, I.E. 15 years from NOW: today's games or 16-bit and earlier/simpler games?
*With the coming advent of digital data downloads and somewhat suspicious hardware longevity, will we end up with an entire "lost generation" of games in the future?
*When can pirated games/ROMs be justified? I.E. as archival information for disappearing arcades

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

As the game industry progresses technologically, it's the same story every few years -

a cyclical cycle of the gaming community being "blown away" by that console generation's graphical tour-de-force title of system (or high-end PC) processing power, a game that you could stare at for hours and never see anything that would make you feel like you were watching a "video game" ...

... and then subsequently being "equally impressed" within that same year/console cycle by some low-tech game with innovative gameplay, perfectly balanced play control where the same amount of time is willingly invested because it's "so damned fun" to play.

It's a debate question as simple as "Do graphics make the game?" or "Does gameplay make the game?" with close to 30 years of complex examples of games that support each statement respecitvely, and examples that make them completely dismiss-able.

It's the argument that will never go away ... and the one that will continue to evolve WITH each succesive console generation.

[super nes]

How about if getting a game complete or not is worth it. Ya i know i suck at starting debates...

[TonyTheTiger]

I don't know how popular the "no" answer will be or how many people are willing to argue that angle but "Are video games art?" is always a fun little debate.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I don't know how popular the "no" answer will be or how many people are willing to argue that angle but "Are video games art?" is always a fun little debate.

Seconded.

Especially when people like Hideo Kojima have publicly said "no" to that question.

[TonyTheTiger]

Not that he needed my help but I actually defended Roger Ebert when he started getting bombarded with "OMG U EV1L M4N!" Not because I necessarily believe that games are not art but rather because I'm not necessarily sure they are.

[Daria]

Hah.

What makes an RPG?

[Jorpho]

The relative merits of FFVII. Will the discussion never die!?

Or, in more general terms: the superiority (or lack thereof) of "Japanese RPGs" over "Western RPGs".

The precise definition of an RPG. (Oops, Daria just beat me to it.)

The ethics of abandonware. (Maybe SpaceHarrier already mentioned that.)

The ethics of Nintendo's "monopolistic" post-crash business tactics.

[98PaceCar]

The biggest thing I can think of is does violence in games influence people's actions or at least de-sensitize them to violence in real life and potentially lead to violent acts on the part of the gamer.

Along the same lines, you can go with the idea of censorship in games as it exists in music and even movies. Do games like Manhunt or GTA go too far?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

When somebody like Roger Ebert (a man who's opinion I absolutely respect, even if I don't always agree with him ... when it comes to cinema) makes a statement about something he admittedly has less exposure to than we "enthusiasts" do. (That being video games)

I still respect his point of view, but I will call it one of limited frame of reference, and limited point of view.

Roger Ebert may have an understanding of video games, and I'm certain that he's played more than a few in his lifetime ... however, anybody who hasn't had the privilege of watching the evolution of games closely (doing so with their hands on the keyboard/mouse/controller) simply can't make a statement that holds as much water as one who has.

We who grew up in and participated in gaming culture in the 70's and 80's, all the way through the crash, and into the post-crash-NES and beyond are THE most fortunate in terms of having the best perspective on whether or not games are "valid" as art forms.

Are games art?

As a graphic artist, and an art teacher, I believe they are.

The denial of games as a complex, layered art form which contain in their production many facets of traditional art and design, modern digital art, as well as writing, music, voice acting, directing (and so on and so forth) is just a stigma which comes largely from an (again) under-informed generation of "scholars" who "make the rules and write the books" about these types of things.

The denial of things that contain this many layers or aspects of design as an "art form" is simply the same stigma that most forms of modern art have suffered from for years before finally being "accepted" by scholars as "art".

Arguably, comic books as a graphic-art medium were always "art", but it took about 75 years for the medium to find a school of artists within it's ranks to "elevate" it to a level of scholarly acceptance. Now they're called "graphic novels". (Do you think that has more to do with the fact that the medium has CHANGED THAT DRASTICALLY in that time, or simply because the people who "make the rules" about these things are now people who grew up reading comic books? Because, they haven't really changed at all. They're still printed on paper, and they still have word balloons and panel borders.)

Games are certainly on their way to being universally accepted as an art form (a large faction of enthusiasts have already embraced them as such) ... they've just about hit their half-life on their way to having the "scholars" who "say so" about these things being ones who grew up playing Super Mario Brothers, Halo, or God of War.

I suppose the short-short is that when it comes to debating whether a game is or isn't art (whether we're talking about the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man or GTA IV on XBOX360) it's really about PERSPECTIVE and UNDERSTANDING of the medium and how it can be related/compared to NON-VIDEOGAME art and media (movies, graphic art, animation, etc.).

....Whoops, sorry, you just wanted debate TOPICS ... that was pretty much stream of conciousness. I started spewing and I just couldn't stop.

[CartCollector]

What makes an RPG?

Long boring stories, tedious battles, and level grinding.

Now that that question has been answered definitively, on to some of my own:

-What is "hardcore" and what is "casual?" Are there some games that are neither?

-Is the Wii a short-lived fad or the wave of the future?

[Queen Of The Felines]

- Video game grading: Good or bad for the collecting hobby?

- Will professional gamers ever get the same respect as professional athletes?

- Boobs! No debate, just talk about boobs.

[Famidrive-16]

MC Kids or Global Gladiators?

^ very controversial topic, please discuss.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Baer or Bushnell : which was the more integral/significant participant in the 70's/80's home console boom?

[dao2]

How badly has Halo maimed the FPS genre? :P

[Tommy]

Games that play a part in shaping society. Kids that go and kill someone and say "GTAIV made me do it"? I know this is a long drawn out issue as it stands but with political powerhouses impeding on video game producers, how much will they affect the outcome of let's say GTAV?

[Fuyukaze]

Should gaming (PC, handheld, or console) be considered a valid form of entertainment reguardless of age or should it be considered more for a younger age group?

[jcalder8]

With all the outrage that happened over the new Resident Evil trailer I'd say that race in video games would be a good topic.
Should or does race affect what makes it into video games.

If you're looking at this gen topics:
Has the problems that MS has had with their hardware negatively affected their sales, has this spread to other platforms?
Is the Wii a giant step forwards or backwards for the general gaming public? what about the hardcore? Will the Wii hold it's appeal in the coming years?
What is wrong with the PS3?

[PapaStu]

Prototypes!

You've just paid teh 2k monies. Its yours? Its the worlds? Are you as bad as they say for keeping it holed up in your personal collection.


BTW, i'm with Kris's 3rd ider.

[Press_Start]

-Is the Wii a short-lived fad or the wave of the future?

One name...Johnny Chung Lee! :king:

Don't know who that is? Google search his name with Wii hacks. Recommend looking at his Head Tracking project.

A few topics to ponder:

Is the 360 beyond redemption when it comes to its hardware problems before MS's next-gen console?

With controversy of violence and racism in video games stirring up, is it about time for the video game industry to tone down the graphic violence and "behave" by creating products veering away from games like GTAIV?

What argument for video games is prevent itself becoming legally accountable for violent acts by teenagers and people of young age?

What is the best VG company?

[maxlords]

I've always liked issues that relate to the real world, not just arguments within gaming:

Sex and gender issues in gaming - i.e. examine the way women are represented in gaming as either a matron type or a lush sexy almost underage sexpot consistently. What sort of stereotypes are game makers setting in the way they make their gender distinctions? What sort of societal norms for behavior will this create as the gaming industry continues to grow? Should we not be looking to create positive role models that break barriers in traditional thinking as to societal roles? (This will be a tough one in a room full of guys...it's hard to make people understand HOW important this is)

With an industry well on it's way to being THE top entertainment industry...should developers be more spcially responsible to create realism and limit the way violence is glamorized and portrayed in games? Should the industry have better watchdogs than the ESRB, an organization which is roundly ignored by the vast majority of both parents and consumers?

It was mentioned earlier, but the whole subtle racism thing in RE5...which I would assume was unintentional (after all they ARE in Africa). Is it symptomatic of the way the Japanese have always been very xenophobic and should that still be expressed in games? There are lots of examples of it in the older games (Famicom, SFC, etc)

Should (and for that matter can) religion be a viable gaming device? Not just in lame games like Bible Stories, but serious analysis or artistic license taken to traditional religious concepts and or stories? How far can we bash religion in a game? Look at the way all the religious icons were taken out of Western releases of Castlevania. Is that acceptable? Should be not be able to play games that unfold like Stigmata or The Devil's Advocate? Why aren't these being made?

Why are children allowed to buy M rated games...EVER? Even used? Should they be?

Should there be graphic sex in video games as part of the story? There is in movies...

Does the current HEAVY focus of the US on military buildup, military support, and external threats cause a trend in gaming to make games like Call of Duty 4, Ghost Recon, Metal Gear Solid, Battlefield: Bad Compant, etc etc more popular? And do these games in turn convince young people that the military is overwhelmingly positive and bias them towards the US military, either in a voting sense or inspiring them to join up? If so...are these people under the impression that these games are an accurate representation of real war? With the caliber of current US soldiers (doing things like taping kills on their cell phones and emailing em to friends...I know people who have done this and much worse...recently) should this be a type of gaming that we support? Should we reconsider pushing this kind of game regardless of how it sells?

[Raedon]

Team based Hardcore PC gaming fans vs MMORPG fans.

So steeped in who is harder with more core that at LAN parties like QUAKECON, MMORPG servers are blocked; Thus, censoring the MMO taint before it can spread an evil STATS infection to the TRUE hardcore gamers.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Will online gaming of any kind ever come close to replacing the social space that gamers once occupied in the arcade? And should it even try?

[Sabz5150]

The biggest thing I can think of is does violence in games influence people's actions or at least de-sensitize them to violence in real life and potentially lead to violent acts on the part of the gamer.

Blaming video games for violence is like blaming guns for crime.

That shuts a LOT of people up.

[cityside75]

How about the pros & cons of emulation and roms, and specifically when (if ever) does a game become "public domain."

Along those same lines, you could discuss the pros and cons of hacking tools like the R4 for the DS and custom firmware for the PSP.

[98PaceCar]

Blaming video games for violence is like blaming guns for crime.

That shuts a LOT of people up.

True, but Joe is looking for topics to debate and I know it will be easy to find folks on both sides of the fence for this one.

Plus, if you ever make it to anything like the NRA national convention, let me know if the folks outside protesting stop when you talk to them logically. If they were logical, there would be no debate. They are coming at it with an emotional slant, which causes the issue. The only way I was even able to make them take pause was when I told them that it was actually the bullets that kill people, not the guns. I guess you could bludgeon someone to death with a rifle, but that's kind of the hard way to do it. :)

[Tommy]

I totally agree with 98, not only is it a highly debatable arguement for a damn good one to boot.

[rbudrick]

What is a man? Miserable pile, or secrets?

To whom are all the base belong?

Beef: Min or calmed? Gud or nipples?

Congradurations or congraturation?

Achievement points: stupid or dumb?

DP Guide 8 or Chinese Democracy: Which will come first?


Blaming video games for violence is like blaming guns for crime.

That shuts a LOT of people up.

It does? When did videogames start shooting real projectiles? Oh, you meant people get paper cuts with the instruction books. Never mind.


-Rob

[SegaAges]

Mainstream Gamers vs Hardcore Gamers vs Collectors

Mainstream = Halo, Smash Bros, EA Sports, and closed minded to pretty much everything else, you guys know who I am talking about.

Hardcore = Will play anything, smash through it, then return it for in store credit and get another and do it all over again

Collector = Same as Hardcore, but keeps the game

These are only examples! They could be anything here. What defines who is who? Is there really a definition?

This is one that be and my brother have all the time (it is our continuing one, everybody has one like that with somebody):
How do video games, in a whole, improve society?
Do video games degradate the mentality of society as a whole by over-exposure to violence, sex, drug use, foul language, etc?

I love that one, because me and my brother have been known to actually switch sides on each other and argue and then one of us says a piece of information and then we will switch back. That one gets super crazy, because then you can get philosophical and stuff.

[SegaAges]

EDIT: removed by myself

Sorry, it was completely off topic bro

[Jorpho]

Hardcore = Will play anything, smash through it, then return it for in store credit and get another and do it all over again

Hardcore can be defined in many ways, but I doubt you will find many who will agree with this very, very strange definition you have concoted, sir.

(Hardcore gamers are playing Barbie Horse Adventures now?)

[Rob2600]

Topic for debate:

What is a mature game?

Is it one that involves gratuitous violence, crime, cursing, and explosions? Or is it one that involves strategy, puzzle solving, patience, and restraint?

[Daria]

Let me retort that entire thing you said with 1 word:
Madden

That's like saying art doesn't exist because some people paint pictures of sad clowns and cute puppies. So to you I say:

Madden=/=Rez

[CosmicMonkey]

SNK vs Capcom? Because we all know Garou > Zero3.....

Is downloadable content the future? As in, no more hardcopies of media, it's all streamed or downloadable via that magic set-top-box. Of which there likely will be two choices: Sony and Microsoft.

[Mayhem]

The cake: Lie or real?

Which of the three current console manufacturers would you expect to be the first to go software only?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Uh, he wanted topics, hahaha. but for fun, after this I will keep it to pm's Joe, I just want to say a 1 word response to this and then Frankie, me and you can take this to PM's, i swear. Let me retort that entire thing you said with 1 word:
Madden

Whether a digital artist is rendering a highly detailed fantasy landscape, a highly realistic military weapon, or a football staduim (in the case of Madden) it's all the same.

The "art" side of a game like Madden would come from the medium it is created in.

You don't have to like the content, you don't have to agree with what it's saying, but to deny that it's art shows a fundamental issue in understanding what art really is.

[TonyTheTiger]

That's like saying art doesn't exist because some people paint pictures of sad clowns and cute puppies. So to you I say:

Madden=/=Rez

Funny you should say that. Because I actually am leaning toward the theory that art indeed does not exist. Or, at the very least, nobody seems to be able to agree on a definition. That's mainly why I can't conclude without a shadow of a doubt whether or not games are art. Give one definition, they are. Give another, they aren't. So because I can't be certain one way or the other, I'm constantly second guessing everything.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Funny you should say that. Because I actually am leaning toward the theory that art indeed does not exist. Or, at the very least, nobody seems to be able to agree on a definition. That's mainly why I can't conclude whether or not games are art. Give one definition, they are. Give another, they aren't.

As well as being a discipline, a trade, and a craft (amongst other things), art is indeed a philosophical concept.

Ever since modernism, the evaluation of art has become more ... problematic, which is where I think your issue may lie. The whole "What is art?" question got turned on it's ear in the face of modernism and post-modernism.

While you have leaned to one extreme that art may not/does not exist, as an artist and art educator, I sit squarely on the polar opposite, I believe that art is inescapeable, and exists everywhere, from the most minimal and mundane to the most elaborate creations, art is everywhere, it surrounds us, and everything we look at is in fact art. Video games would most likely fall into the scholarly category of modern multimedia art, or even pop-art, but again, I find it nearly impossible to deny their "right to belong" when you lay out the creative process that goes into crafting them next to any other non-interactive media like animation, film, or graphic art.

[DreamTR]

Fighting Games: Online vs Offline.

Can someone measure skill and find the best players through latency playing online fighters, the most susceptible to massive gameplay differences offline to online?

[TonyTheTiger]

I think you're right about my problems with the word. For example, the reason why Roger Ebert said that games are not art is because they are interactive. The short of it was that he said that though games can be perfectly entertaining and even very good, they are not art because art by definition requires the audience to be at the mercy of the creator.

Now that's his personal definition. He draws the line between "art" and "not art" at, let's say point A. Go to somebody else and his or her line is drawn at point B. And so on and so forth. With so many lines who's to say what the "right" one is?

Likewise, if some people try to offer up a definition of art there's always an example that messes them up. For instance, if someone says, "If something is functional or serves a practical purpose then it is not art," all you have to do is bring up architecture and watch them backpedal.

There's an old philosophical argument about a heap of straw. If you follow the logic, you end up concluding that a single piece of straw is in fact a heap. You have a heap of straw. Now remove one piece of straw. Is it still a heap? Now do it again. Still a heap? If the logic continues, eventually you get to a single piece of straw and it would in theory still be a heap. But nobody would practically consider a single piece a heap. So the alternative is that somewhere along the line there is a cut off between heap and non-heap. It might be 10 pieces of straw or 100 but the reason it's a conundrum is because the word "heap," just like the word "art," is notably vague.

As far as video games go, I've asked if board games are art. Is Monopoly art? If not, then why are video games? If it is then why can't video games be? If an interactive medium can be art then what about basketball? Is the guy who created basketball an artist? Eventually, you either get to a point where you have to say "no, there is a line somewhere and it is here" or you have to say "yeah, everything is art with the exception of maybe some universal truths like 2+2=4." Either way you run into trouble.

Really, I think my #1 problem with art (the word/concept itself) is that people seem to get all uppity about it. I think that if we're going to call something "art" then that word should be used as simply a descriptor. Like if we were to call a ball "round." But too often do I see people use the term like it's a badge of honor or indicative of some level of quality. Therefore, if you then say "this is not art" they immediately take it as an insult whereas if I were to go around calling a ball "square" people would just look at me funny and move on.

So I guess the problem is not necessarily whether or not video games are art but rather why so many people seem to need them to be. Whether they are or aren't they're just as good or bad. I think that when people freak out over Roger Ebert they're just showing that the industry/constituency has a deep inferiority complex and feels a need to belong to some exclusive club that appears to be "high class" or something. Saying something is art should be a matter of fact, not a case of status seeking.

Also, back on topic:
Should Nintendo have gone forward with the SNES CD Add-on?

[Jorpho]

Did someone mention achievements already? I seem to recall the question of their value was a rather hot button.

[Nescollector]

Topic for debate:

What is a mature game?

Is it one that involves gratuitous violence, crime, cursing, and explosions? Or is it one that involves strategy, puzzle solving, patience, and restraint?

Great question :)



What's the appeal with such violence, is it really what the public (gamer) wants, or what the people that control the industry are pushing on us.

[megasdkirby]

Here is one that will make many VERY angry...

"Who has what authority and basis to give a price, and or rarity, to a game?"

[Kevincal]

1. Atari Jaguar - 64 bits or not!? ;)

2. Saturn vs. Playstation which one is truly better? (hardware and games)

3. Genesis vs. Super Nintendo (See above ^)

4. Playstation 2 vs. XBOX (See above ^)

5. Best 1st party games? Nintendo or Sega?

6. The Dreamcast was very good with a solid installed base, why did developers abandon it so quickly? Did Sony or Microsoft use backhand tactics against Sega?

7. Best classic handheld? Gameboy Color, Gamegear, Lynx or Neo Pocket Color.

[megasdkirby]

Another one to get blood boiling...

"Final Fantasy VII...an overhyped, piece of trash?"

[Greg2600]

Has been mentioned, but I would say the general question in terms of collecting either sealed games, or games and/or systems you'll never play. Including ones which are terribly bad.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Duke Nukem Forever : will we see it in our lifetime?

[Spartacus]

I thought the 2007 Slamdance Guerrilla Games Competition's decision to arbitrarily remove Super Columbine Massacre from the list of finalists was controversial and disturbing, frankly. It's hosted by the Slamdance Film Festival which has showcased some pretty shocking independent films without batting an eye.

[Daria]

Funny you should say that. Because I actually am leaning toward the theory that art indeed does not exist. Or, at the very least, nobody seems to be able to agree on a definition. That's mainly why I can't conclude without a shadow of a doubt whether or not games are art. Give one definition, they are. Give another, they aren't. So because I can't be certain one way or the other, I'm constantly second guessing everything.

Art is a form of emotional communication. It invokes feelings, concepts, and general ideas. Some art may tell a full story, some may express a single emotion. Some messages are revolutionary, others shallow. Art isn't limited to medium, form, or function. It is abstract, evolving, and non-tangible. Anything and everything can be a form of art. So to say this one specific thing can not be art, when the act of submitting a urinal to an art show can is incredibly literal and narrow minded.

It's not that art does not exist, it's just that it exists everywhere.

[TonyTheTiger]

the act of submitting a urinal to an art show

Ah, laziness. I don't particularly mind the "everything is art" definition. Hell, it makes things a whole lot easier when there is no line at all. But I can't help scoff at people who use that theory as a shield when they don't actually make a real effort.

I'm reminded of a clip I saw on TV (might have been a hidden camera show or something similar). An interviewer was at an art gallery with some high profile art critics. He started talking to one of them and asked for his opinion on one particular abstract painting. The critic gushed over it and said how it would probably be worth roughly $100,000 or something. The interviewer then said, "You know this was painted by a monkey, right?" Maybe that monkey did paint something awesome. Maybe that critic was talking out of his ass. Maybe it was staged. I don't really know. But it does exemplify the problem with the definition.

Everyone's definition of art differs as much as their politics do. I'm all for calling everything art if that's the most "correct" definition. Though I wonder how open people would be to calling out the charlatans who exploit that definition.

But, of course, this brings up a brand new problem. Now under the assumption that everything is art, then a urinal, whether in an art exhibit or a bathroom, is art. So the act of submitting one as such does not seem too out of place. But, then, if everything is art...then art might actually not exist as far as having an actual use for the term. It's like a universal truth. Regardless of whether or not triangles exist, the Pythagorean Theorem would still hold true. So if art is that much of a universal truth, then it doesn't matter whether or not examples of art exist. It's just a fact of reality. Like saying "three sided triangle," pointing out that something is art is redundant because it isn't possible for something to not be art. A urinal, a bank robbery, the human heart...all works of art. But there would be little point in saying so.

EDIT: Touché, Frankie. Touché.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Ah, laziness. I don't particularly mind the "everything is art" definition. Hell, it makes things a whole lot easier when there is no line at all. But I can't help scoff at people who use that theory as a shield when they don't actually make a real effort.

I'm reminded of a clip I saw on TV (might have been a hidden camera show or something similar). An interviewer was at an art gallery with some high profile art critics. He started talking to one of them and asked for his opinion on one particular abstract painting. The critic gushed over it and said how it would probably be worth roughly $100,000 or something. The interviewer then said, "You know this was painted by a monkey, right?" Maybe that monkey did paint something awesome. Maybe that critic was talking out of his ass. Maybe it was staged. I don't really know. But it does exemplify the problem with the definition.

Everyone's definition of art differs as much as their politics do. I'm all for calling everything art if that's the most "correct" definition. I do wish, however, that people would be more open to calling out the charlatans who exploit that definition.

Ah, but sir, then you'd be completely ignoring the ART of CHARLATANISM! :D

[Rob2600]

I'm reminded of a clip I saw on TV (might have been a hidden camera show or something similar). An interviewer was at an art gallery with some high profile art critics. He started talking to one of them and asked for his opinion on one particular abstract painting. The critic gushed over it and said how it would probably be worth roughly $100,000 or something. The interviewer then said, "You know this was painted by a monkey, right?"

Was the title of the painting Get Rich Quick? :)

[TonyTheTiger]

Was the title of the painting Get Rich Quick? :)

Heh. If it was I'd be depressed that I didn't get there first.

Also, another topic:

Do video games have an innate quality that prevents them from being translated into film as easily as other mediums?

[Rob2600]

Do video games have an innate quality that prevents them from being translated into film as easily as other mediums?

Maybe. With books, plays, and musicals, everything is written down. That means most of the screenplay work is done.

However, with video games, there are hardly any words. Almost everything is visual, so writers and directors have to make up screenplays from scratch...and for some reason, the ideas they come up with are usually horrible.


One video game that I think would survive the transition is The Legend of Zelda. Unlike many video games, there is a lot of text involved in that series, so as long as the writers and director don't stray from the source material, it'd turn out great. To me, this is the proper way to make a video game movie:

YouTube - The Legend of Zelda movie trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dxbywva7bw&feature=related)

[Jorpho]

One video game that I think would survive the transition is The Legend of Zelda. Unlike many video games, there is a lot of text involved in that series

:hmm: No, not at all, really.

[TonyTheTiger]

One video game that I think would survive the transition is The Legend of Zelda.

I don't know. As far as a movie adaptation goes, Zelda doesn't really have anything more going for it than Mario or Metroid do. And games with more fleshed out plots (Resident Evil, for instance) have been done and ranged from barely passable to outright bad.

Not saying it can't be done well but I don't think it lends itself any more to the transition than the others.


so as long as the writers and director don't stray from the source material, it'd turn out great.

Well, they'd have to stray from the source material. You can't have a Zelda movie that consists mostly of running around a giant field or pushing blocks to open doors. And you certainly can't have a Zelda movie where Link says nothing but "AYYAAAAAAA!"

[digitalpress]

Holy smokes. This isn't an "argue about the absolutely controversial videogame topics". I'm just asking to SUGGEST topics. If you want to argue them then start your own topics, don't clutter up mine.

Thanks to those who have contributed positively here, though. Good stuff that hopefully you'll see played out in the near future!

[maxlords]

Damn...this thread really turned into a free for all :D

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Holy smokes. This isn't an "argue about the absolutely controversial videogame topics". I'm just asking to SUGGEST topics. If you want to argue them then start your own topics, don't clutter up mine.

Thanks to those who have contributed positively here, though. Good stuff that hopefully you'll see played out in the near future!

:oops:

Guilty as charged.

Sorry Joe.

[Sabz5150]

Holy smokes. This isn't an "argue about the absolutely controversial videogame topics". I'm just asking to SUGGEST topics. If you want to argue them then start your own topics, don't clutter up mine.

Thanks to those who have contributed positively here, though. Good stuff that hopefully you'll see played out in the near future!

Did you expect a thread called "Absolutely controversial videogame topics", posted on a forum dedicated to video games, to not start arguments?

That's akin to expecting a political thread to stay on a single topic... never happens.

[SegaAges]

Yeah, I started wanting to hop into some of these right away, but it was off topic. I removed the stuff where I started up in debates to stay on topic.