Why Are Movie Games Bad?

We've talked before about the bad reputation films based on video games tend to have. However, the same can be said about video games based on films. These games often messy, filled with bugs, glitches, and poor optimization. The concept of a video game based on a newly released film seems to have mostly died out in recent years, but it's still an interesting concept to explore. Why is it so hard to adapt a film into a video game, and what issues seem to always plague them?

The biggest issue that most movie based games have to deal with is time. These games have to be ready to release when the film releases and that can cause numerous problems. These games rarely have enough time to be properly playtested and game braking bugs often go ignored to meet the release date. Video games often take about 3 to 4 years to properly develop, which is long compared to the 2 years it takes for a film. This means that the game developers have to due twice the work in half the time that's expected of them. The possibility of losing focus and overlooking glitches goes up dramatically.

Another contributing factor is a lack of passion for the project. These movie games are often mandated by corporate to be made by the game company for profit, whether the developers are interested in the project or not. This can often lead to a development team going through the motions and results in them releasing a generic and soulless game. Personal passion often plays a big part in the quality of any form of art and video games are no exception. If you force your development team to make a game they don't really want to make, it probably won't result in a masterpiece.

The final contributing factor to the low quality of movie video games is the lack care for quality control. The companies pushing these games out know that they'll sell well, regardless of quality, because they are connected to a popular film releasing soon. When you get right down to it, there's really no reason, from the financial end, to make these games any good. These are often viewed as products first and art last which is never a good sign when you are trying to make something of quality.

All of these factors led to movie games getting a reputation as bad as the films that are based on games, it's quite ironic. It's interesting that these two art form rarely mingle well together. However, these games do have the capacity to be good, they just need the proper time, love, and care to make them good. They need proper deadlines for quality testing. They need development teams who want to work on the game. They need publishers who want to release a quality product and not just a product. These games have the potential to be memorable and fun, but more often then not they are just soulless and bad.