The twisted storyline of Metal Gear Solid might be beloved of many gamers, but not so much for outspoken God of War creator, David Jaffe. While he has professed his love for the series, he called the story “ham-fisted”, going on to call the plot of Gears of War 2 (which he calls his game of 2008) a rip-off of Aliens.
Speaking in an LAGTV interview about why video game movies are generally pretty turd, Jaffe said, “Metal Gear's one of my favourite series of all time, but if you really just strip the gameplay and the graphics out of Metal Gear and you just look at it as a story, it's a really ham-fisted, kind of cheesy story.
“It works great for Metal Gear, it makes Metal Gear a AAA game, but a lot of what ends up happening is we're so influenced by Hollywood in our industry that we end up making games that are so influenced by movies that when you acquire the rights to a video game and you say, 'What's the meat on the bones of this thing to turn into a film?' there really isn't a lot, because all we've done is make a game... our gameplay is really fresh and innovative, but look at Gears of War 2, one of my favourite games of the year, it's such a rip-off of Aliens, and those kinds of Michael Bay films, that it's not funny, from a thematic standpoint.”
Jaffe notes that there are exceptions – games with great stories that may produce great films, but goes on to say that it's unfair to assume good films will come from games since, “we don't have the stories to begin with.”
That's not to say, however, that Jaffe hasn't thought about the God of War film a fair bit. Right now, he would like to see Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers, Total Recall) directing the film. Since Jaffe has said of the film that, "We'll be sending the script out to a huge-name director", suggesting that he might know who the director is, that could be a hint...
Sources:
davidjaffe.biz
Entertainment Weekly
Speaking in an LAGTV interview about why video game movies are generally pretty turd, Jaffe said, “Metal Gear's one of my favourite series of all time, but if you really just strip the gameplay and the graphics out of Metal Gear and you just look at it as a story, it's a really ham-fisted, kind of cheesy story.
“It works great for Metal Gear, it makes Metal Gear a AAA game, but a lot of what ends up happening is we're so influenced by Hollywood in our industry that we end up making games that are so influenced by movies that when you acquire the rights to a video game and you say, 'What's the meat on the bones of this thing to turn into a film?' there really isn't a lot, because all we've done is make a game... our gameplay is really fresh and innovative, but look at Gears of War 2, one of my favourite games of the year, it's such a rip-off of Aliens, and those kinds of Michael Bay films, that it's not funny, from a thematic standpoint.”
Jaffe notes that there are exceptions – games with great stories that may produce great films, but goes on to say that it's unfair to assume good films will come from games since, “we don't have the stories to begin with.”
That's not to say, however, that Jaffe hasn't thought about the God of War film a fair bit. Right now, he would like to see Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers, Total Recall) directing the film. Since Jaffe has said of the film that, "We'll be sending the script out to a huge-name director", suggesting that he might know who the director is, that could be a hint...
Sources:
davidjaffe.biz
Entertainment Weekly
Companies:
Konami
People: David Jaffe
Games: Gears of War 2 God of War Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
People: David Jaffe
Games: Gears of War 2 God of War Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
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Comments
deleted 17 Mar 2009 16:29
1/2
its funny that in that article with MGS and a selection of movies mentioned yet Escape From New York wasnt mentioned.
Joji 19 Mar 2009 12:15
2/2
Yeah, he totally missed the Escape from New York thing.
I agree that MGS story isn't the greatest, but I think many people return for the characters, which always surpass many out there.
The story of God of War I pay attention to, because even though its a warped version of greek mythology, its fun to watch or play (similar to MGS I guess too). Both games would transfer well to film, if done by those that understand the games, and what does and doesn't work. There's also the option, that if huge blockbuster film aren't an option, cheaper anime or CG productions, that cater to the fans would offer another chance, like Resident Evil Degeneration or FF Advent Children.
Getting seasoned writers in to help with games would benefit the games industry and games, but would also bring its own set of problems, like Rockstar have had for the voice actor for Roman, writers will obviously want more recognition and money, a hard thing to do when working in a large team. After all all the good writing in the world, can't save a bad game.
I agree that MGS story isn't the greatest, but I think many people return for the characters, which always surpass many out there.
The story of God of War I pay attention to, because even though its a warped version of greek mythology, its fun to watch or play (similar to MGS I guess too). Both games would transfer well to film, if done by those that understand the games, and what does and doesn't work. There's also the option, that if huge blockbuster film aren't an option, cheaper anime or CG productions, that cater to the fans would offer another chance, like Resident Evil Degeneration or FF Advent Children.
Getting seasoned writers in to help with games would benefit the games industry and games, but would also bring its own set of problems, like Rockstar have had for the voice actor for Roman, writers will obviously want more recognition and money, a hard thing to do when working in a large team. After all all the good writing in the world, can't save a bad game.