With the recent news that the Microsoft’s Halo TV series has legitimately been greenlit by cable network Showtime, we figured it was about time to have a ponder about which other videogame franchises would make for fantastic TV shows.
I’m deadly serious about Halo as well. A total of 10 episodes of the show have been ordered by Showtime, who have claimed it’s the network’s “most ambitious series ever.” Halo will be “an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future". Hopefully, they can do a heck of a lot than 343 Industries has been doing.
Anyway, I’m wittering on about Halo when the real matter at hand is what else could be perfect for binge viewing. The main obstacle we face is that videogame stories have a tendency to, well, suck, but it hasn’t stopped Halo so I don’t think we should be afraid of dreaming big. Get these videogame worlds and plots into the hands of TV scriptwriters and who knows, maybe wonders could happen.
I’ll get things going with a few of my choices, but then I’ll hand it over you lot and you can let your ideas run wild.
For mine, I’m not really going to go with what are necessarily the best game stories ever, but more the worlds that I believe could coax out an engaging multi-season TV series. The first is obviously Super Mario Bros… Nah, I’m kidding. Sort of. We don’t need to live through any more aborted attempts at that. No, my first choice would probably be Life is Strange. Just like the game, it could be an anthology in the vein of American Horror Story, with each season tackling a weird and wonderful tale. This gives the creators pretty much free rein to do whatever the heck they want, although I’d probably prefer something a little less teen-focused.
The second, and this is a stone-cold hit and I won’t be told otherwise - Yakuza. It’s just perfect. A hard-boiled crime drama stretching from the 80’s up to the modern day, absolutely loaded with slow-motion yelling scenes and proper kung-fu off every week. Just to keep it lighthearted there’ll be occasional sojourns into karaoke bars or a one-off episode where the gang goes bowling. Sign on the dotted line, Sega.
That’s mine, but what about yours? Which games do you think could form the perfect basis for a sprawling TV series?
Login or Register to join the debate
PC Specs
I would actually like to see a Deus Ex tv series because in the game series for Human Revolution and Mankind Divided there is a lot of missing story out there because for in Human Revolution there was no visual story for when Jensin didn't take the shot to kill some augmented kid in Mexico Town all we get is the talk between him and his old buddy and the other thing is the events that happened before Mankind Divided does have some mystery which is never really fully explained.
But one thing they should do it is Jensin being interrogated about his past.
PC Specs
And then have some stories help to fill in the blanks because that would be interesting to watch i find.
PC Specs
that is like asking what anime I'd like a live action version of...
...the answer to that is: no... just, no.
PC Specs
I think Vampyr would be really good too
PC Specs
GTA lol
PC Specs
Bring Agent 47 to TV. You can make a really good TV series without a high budget and will have the time to develop the story. Something the movies failed at miserably.
PC Specs
Id say its METRO 2033 the best bet. While the game was great, it doesnt hold a candle to the horror of the book itself. I honestly think its something that can be adapted to a TV series
My other guesses would be Dragon Age Origins, or OUTLAST or Spec Ops or maybe even the most twisted FPS i ever played; a TV series based on the PS2 game "BLACK"
PC Specs
Metal Gear Solid, Drakengard / NieR, Tomb Raider(from the 2013 game to Shadow of the Tomb Raider), Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X. would love these series if they got an TV series adaption.
PC Specs
League of Legends definitely (despite what everyone is saying about the game it has one of the best stories i've ever read.. and its only expanding)
also Hitman and Splinter Cell (would just love to see series of those games)
PC Specs
the sim. a 10 y/o boy trying to be God.
PC Specs
Is this really a serious question and not a joke?!
PC Specs
Mass Effect (1,2,3 and Andromeda) and Uncharted.
PC Specs
I believe the Metro games could work as a series or a feature film even.
PC Specs
I'll say watchdogs, whicher , the crew 2
PC Specs
I think watch dogs would make a great TV series
PC Specs
The real question is who do you make the protagonist, Aiden or Marcus?
PC Specs
T-Bone...
PC Specs
Aiden would be better.
PC Specs
Syberia Trilogy
PC Specs
None,because it's all hype and after they s@ck,like assassin's creed and warcraft.
PC Specs
The problem is that movie studios suck. I watch like 2-3 movies a year, at best. On the other hand there is a lot more good TV out there. There's been a lot of good TV faithfully adapted from books that's been quite good, and I think some of the better studios could do the same with video games. There is zero reason we can't have a Witcher series that's as good as Game of Thrones.
PC Specs
I think survival games could be good for story telling. Subnautica, Rust, even Terraria. Sometimes in my head I'm already making up my own little stories as I play them. I think Fallout would be really good too, if they had the writers from the first two.
PC Specs
I don't even know why I neglected to mention this before, but your post got me thinking... Bioshock would be an awesome TV game series to base a TV show on. I would be very interested to see that.
PC Specs
Yes, definitely.
PC Specs
the witcher trillogy , mass effect, watch dogs ,fallout, deus ex and cyberpunk (I know this game hasn´t released yet, but i love the setting :))
PC Specs
Witcher tv series is coming to Netflix, but not with Geralt. Mass Effect has so much potential.
PC Specs
Witcher TV is going to be live action and focused around Geralt. It's just going to be based on the books, not the games. There's probably going to be some awesome characters from the books that you've never seen in the games. Milva, Cahir, Regis (he was in Blood & Wine), and Borkh Three Jackdaws (gold dragon and father to Saskia the Dragonslayer from The Witcher 2).
PC Specs
Wow, everything I read last year said Geralt would not be in it, but it would focus on other Witchers. Glad we get to see more of Geralt then.
PC Specs
none they all end up really awful
PC Specs
crash,spyro,halo,Castlevania,splinter cell,call of duty, battlefield,outlast,stalker ,crysis