On the occasion of the gala that will take place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on February 9, we study the world of videogames.
The 92nd edition of the Oscar Awards will take place this Sunday, February 9 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California, one of the most media places in the United States and that is also the scene where some of the most unforgettable moments of the E3 in the video game industry. Cinema and video games have much in common; not only because they are two forms of audiovisual cultural expression, but because both have existed for years an extremely close relationship.
There are few video game studios and great creatives who have recognized having used all kinds of films to design their works; as well as the actors of known prestige those who have participated in interactive leisure developments to lend their voice, movements or knowledge.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Hollywood will choose this Sunday the winning movie of what in video games we understand as GOTY; Although there are multiple categories. In the absence of knowing if Joker, of Todd Phillips, with 11 nominations, The Irish, of Scorsese, Once upon a time in … Hollywood, of Quentin Tarantino, Parasites, of Bong Joon-ho or 1917, of Sam Mendes, take away the great statuette, we review today on FreeGameTips those video games based on Oscar-winning films; a selection of fifteen names with a great feature behind.
Statues of the Oscars at the Dolby Theater at the 2019 gala | CHRIS PIZZELLO (GTRES)
We will leave great names, including the long list of PIXAR movies that have made combo in both sectors; as well as Back to the Future, Rocky or The Golden Compass. Not surprisingly, here is our list.
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather are major words. Francis Ford Coppola directed in 1972 one of the most transcendent adapted screenplay productions of the medium. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino dazzled on screen, although it was the first who won the Oscar – which he rejected as he was against the treatment of the Indian people in Hollywood. In total, three awards including best film and best adapted screenplay.
But what about video games? Beyond a PC adaptation simply called Godfather in 1981, it was not until 2006 when a video game based – with an official license – was released in The Godfather. EA Redwood Shores (dissolved in 2017) would take over the work, a production between Electronic Arts and Paramount Pictures for PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, PC and PSP.
The Godfather
On paper, the approach was appealing to the Anglo-Saxon audience by having a luxury cast that would lend their voices to the video game: Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, James Caan as Sonny Corleone, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen and Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio Only Al Pacino failed. At the marketing level, the game had the approval of Mark Winegardner, author of the novel The Godfather Returns.
Although today the memory is already somewhat diffuse, the promotion of this video game was very powerful. In fact, EA enthusiastically promoted it by incorporating the MobFace program, which allowed to create all kinds of physical and cosmetic features with a gangster creation tool.
Although he drank from games like Mafia and the Rockstar Grand Theft Auto saga, the result remained in a remarkable title, halfway between what he would have liked it to be and what it eventually ended up being. Not surprisingly, that recreation of the New York spirit from 1945 to 1955 is still defended by many.
Star Wars – Original Trilogy (1977-1982)
The original Star Wars trilogy in the world of cinema is also the most famous for many fans; not only for nostalgia nor for being the one who generated the phenomenon, but for many other things. Among them, the recognition of the Academy, which considered in its day that Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) should have 12 nominations. There were 7 statuettes that took the tape of George Lucas, many of them technical awards.
Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1978), did the same with a total of 4 nominations and two victories in the corresponding gala; Again, special effects and sound. Finally, in Episode VI he closed the original trilogy with The Return of the Jedi (1982) in a poker of nominations where only one of them, Best Special Effects, allowed Lucas's universe to say goodbye – temporarily – to the big screen.
The world of videogames has been a participant in this recognition through a multitude of videogames. Many. However, and as paradoxical as it may seem, it has been LEGO who has respected that trident of tapes more concretely.
In his day, yes, we had the video game corresponding to each tape. For starters, between 1983 and 1988 the epic arcade machines received an adaptation of Star Wars; although machines like Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple II, DOS, Macintosh and Amiga also had a cover with that name . In Nintendo territory, Star Wars (1987) and Super Star Wars (1982) were the revulsive of the NES and SNES players, respectively.
Of the current times, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (2006) for PC, Mac, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and GameCube is the most recommended and accessible option to breathe that universe back into our homes.
Star Trek (1979)
Star Trek has, so far, a total of thirteen films; of which six correspond to the original series, four with the new generation and three in the reboot timeline, directed by J. J. Abrams and Justin Lin. The first one, Star Trek: the movie, premiered in December 1979 with Robert Wise in the direction. More than two hours long for a film that would open a trip to the stars that lasts until today. Wise's USS Enterprise ship was awarded an Oscar for best direction plus two other statuettes.
How could it be otherwise, Star Trek was a commercial reef for other sectors such as videogames, of which there are more than 25 titles on all types of platforms and with many genres; to highlight, strategy and simulation adventure.
If we move away from the games launched within the canon of the series, the first official video game that took as reference the first 1979 film was produced by Milton Bradley for Microvision. This shoot ‘em up coincided with the premiere of the film and was, in essence, a Matamarcian. Interestingly, different licensing problems led the game to lose the name of Star Trek and simply stayed in Phaser Strike; in other countries its nomenclature changed radically, like Shooting Star in the United Kingdom.
Alien: the eighth passenger (1979)
Again, on the eve of the beginning of the 1980s, a movie where aliens and interspace issues would embrace movie theaters would hit theaters. Ridley Scott would make it clear that his work as a director was no joke, and that British cinema was going to give much to talk in the coming years. Alien's historical importance is superlative; even in film schools. At present, products derived from this name, videogames are still being launched.
In the Oscars the recognition for better visual effects was his main award, but in other competitions there were more his awards. We could make a separate report only of titles based on the Alien, Predator and Alien vs. universe. Predator, but we keep that idea in the drawer for a moment. This time, we will focus on the titles that were based on the movie. The first one, in 1982, three years after the premiere of the film that engendered all this phenomenon.
It was in Atari 2600, like many others, the system chosen for the Fox Video Games work to take shape. A puzzle title in the purest Pac-Man style where the player controlled a human who had to collect all kinds of eggs while raffling alien monsters. From there, games on Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad … So to the current home consoles, and canceled games, which there were also. Alien: Isolation, by Creative Assembly, is the last great video game released around the franchise, with a Predator: Hunting Grounds that is waiting for light this year 2020.
Indiana Jones in search of the lost ark (1981)
Surely it is no accident that Steven Spielberg's name appears several times in this report. Indiana Jones in search of the lost ark was the first film (within the canonical line) of this production by George Lucas, considered by multiple magazines as one of the best films of all time and, undoubtedly, one of the most influential. Harrison Ford became an international hero and, to a greater or lesser extent, the youth of the time began to feel a special interest in archeology.
Of the nine nominations he won at the Oscar Awards, the Academy awarded him five of them. This time there was no luck for John Williams when it came to the best original song, but the Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Sound and Art Direction. The thorn nailed to Spielberg was the statuette for best director, but the legacy that had this name in the marketing universe was massive.
From books through other television adaptations and video games, where we have to highlight the one that was specifically based on this film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, released just a year later, in 1982, for Atari 2600. The title, designed by Howard Scott Warshaw (which also programmed the ET game), included puzzles and mysteries, enough to get rid of the fierce criticism that the alien's video game would receive just one month later.
Beyond this, Indiana Jones has had a multitude of video games, including adaptations to the LEGO universe. The last one, Indiana Jones Adventure World, was curiously launched on Facebook. There have been few requests for new games based on the saga; We may have surprises in the next generation.
E.T., the alien (1982)
Talk about E.T. is to make it the highest grossing film in history at that time. Those born in the eighties will remember this as one of the first films of science fiction most shocking for what it supposed and for the importance it would have in the middle immediately. Steven Spielberg, knowing the potential of that imaginary friend idea, materialized a personal idea in an extraordinary film, in the literal sense of the word.
The 55th Academy Awards ceremony wanted to recognize that work with even the Best Film Award, which Gandhi would end up winning, but that was not an obstacle for John Williams to receive his corresponding statuette for the Best Soundtrack. Williams was accompanied by the sound team with the Oscar for better sound, better sound editing and better visual effects.
The E.T video game in Atari is the best known and emblematic; not so much for its quality but for the history that exists behind the title. 1982 is the date on which a title was launched that we could describe as strange, where the player had to lend a hand to the protagonist to find three parts of a phone hidden in a forest. Although the American giant expected the game to be a success because of the name behind it, reality hit this mediocre recreation forcefully and the result was a failure in both sales and criticism; to the point that Atari's financial situation was delicate in that fiscal year.
As a summary, the amount of accumulated units – and without view of being dispatched in the western market – was such that Atari decided to dispose of them in the most discreet and silent way possible. They could have burned them but those thousands of cartridges never sold were buried in a desert in the state of New Mexico.
We would have to wait until 2014 when an excavation team managed to find the remaining original units of these cartridges … which would now be sold at the price of gold. (The country)
Terminator 2: The Last Judgment (1991)
We travel to 1984, this time James Cameron, another talludo in these lides. This film, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, led us to a not so distant year 2029, a photograph that presented a society governed by artificial intelligence, Skynet, whose war with human resistance was hanging by a thread. All or nothing. The impact was massive, but it was the second part that really made a dent in the great annual event of the cinematographic world.
Terminator 2: The final trial was much longer than the first part, a sequel released in 1991 where story arches were closed and others opened, which would continue in the third part released in 2003. It was here that international awards fell easily , to the point that the android T-800 CSM-101 received four Oscar Awards: better visual effects, sound, makeup and sound editing. He only missed photography and assembly
That year 1991 the video game Terminator 2: The Final Judgment, which shared nomenclature with the film to be based entirely on it, would also come to the arcade machines. The production was carried out by Midway Manufacturing Company and allowed to play up to two people at the same time in the cabinet. There would also be a version adapted for SNES and Mega Drive in 1993, a cartridge now quite priced if searched with a box in good condition.
The problem is that the game, according to those who could play it at the time, was a bad version clearly, without the essence of the film or a gameplay according to a video game of the time. The adaptations of a cinematic success did not always work out well; Not everything goes. That time, unfortunately, there was no luck.
Jurassic Park / Jurassic Park (1993)
The original Jurassic Park movie is today one of those films that is studied in any type of higher education related to the cinematographic arts. Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, John Williams … Names that made a movie an entertainment franchise capable of everything and that extends to this day. Because beyond this first and its sequels in 1997 and 2001, that leap of fourteen years to the reboot of the series and the fallen kingdom in 2018 make up a saga with books, toys, merchandising and video games everywhere.
Its influence in popular culture, as well as in the cinema itself thanks to its animal recreation system through the CDI, were later a mirror in which others would look. In addition, he loved critics and the Academy, which wanted to celebrate this success with a total of three awards in technical and sound work.
If we focus on the videogame adaptations published at that time, in 1993, we see that Ocean Software received the official commission to handle a total of three different versions: NES, Game Boy and PC. For its part, SEGA did the same with a video game for Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear. While the Nintendo console version focused more on being an action adventure in a top view, the SEGA version grabbed the genre of two-dimensional platforms. A year later, in 1994, SEGA finished supplying the coverage of this film with a point and click title for Mega CD and a track shooter for arcade machines.
Matrix (1999)
The first Matrix movie was also a before and after in science fiction; just at a time where technological changes and the change of millennium shook hands with the eternal promises we heard in the nineties about a society magnetized with technology. The trilogy of the Wachowski sisters with Keanu Reeves as the protagonist raised many questions in the behavior of the human being and devised a fictional universe that began to attract the attention of other media of popular culture quickly.
The criticism of the first film was almost unanimous: a great film. The 1999 Oscar Awards had Matrix as the main protagonist in the technical awards, with the award for Best Editing, Sound, Sound Editing and Visual Effects. For the saga fans, Warner Bros. announced last December that we will have Matrix 4 in theaters next year 2021; although there are no concrete details about the possible participation of the original actors.
Reeves is one of those actors who love video games. His participation in Cyberpunk 2077 with the role of secondary protagonist is serving to attract the attention of people who, perhaps, would not have noticed the existence of the CD Projekt title.
Enter the Matrix, of Shiny Entertainment, had the distribution of Warner Bros. as editor in the western market. The title, designed by David Perry (Earthworm Jim), was released in May 2003 as an action adventure based on the movie universe; specifically, between the facts of The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded. He told an alternative story that failed to penetrate too much between the press, although as the first video game of the several that there were, for PC players, PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube it served to calm the cravings for more Matrix in the cinema.
Shrek (2001)
Although for two decades it has been more than common to watch video games based on animated films, with special attention from Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, the truth is that everything has several inflection points. If in the epic of SNES and Mega Drive we had names like Aladdin and The Lion King, among many others, with the change of the century it was Shrek, by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, who hit the table not only with recognition of the international public but also by the Academy.
It was that year, at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony of 2001, when a category dedicated exclusively to animated films was first introduced into history. There were several candidates to raise that dignified statuette, but it was Shrek who received that recognition and who definitely seduced those most responsible for that recognition. 90 minutes of a movie full of adventures, humor and fantasy, elements easily translatable to the world of interactive leisure.
Thus, the production of Aron Warner would also be taken to the world of videogames in an exclusive agreement with Microsoft, because the video game itself based on this film was released only on the first Xbox back in 2001 … on the occasion of its launch. The showcase was powerful for a newcomer. The Redmond company was opening up in the hardware world to compete with SEGA, Nintendo and PlayStation; and one of his third party tricks was this Shrek title.
This condition of exclusivity did not last long, however. The DICE game, published by TDK Interactive, would arrive in Europe in 2002, while later that year GameCube would receive an improved and expanded version under the name of Shrek Extra Large. In Europe, we had to wait until the end of 2003. The result of this platform game, unfortunately for those who relied on the cover in their day, was somewhat disastrous, with criticisms full of suspensions or notes that did not exceed 5 out of 10 .
These reasons were not an impediment to launch a total of three spin offs based on this first film. We haven't mentioned the Nintendo laptops so far, but it was mainly because TDK had prepared an exclusive Game Boy Advance kart game, Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway. Sony, which had also been left out of the initial equation where there was only room for Microsoft, would have to settle for Shrek: Treasure Hunt, a mini-game title with one of the lowest grades in recent years.
The Lord of the Rings – Trilogy (2001-2003)
The film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, based on the homonymous novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, made those original 557 minutes with a collection of $ 2,917,000,000 raised to become one of the most successful fiction creations of all time. Peter Jackson is one of the top responsible for that success, an eight-year project that, of course, had its corresponding adaptation to the game in various ways; even today, with adaptations derived from that universe.
In total, seventeen Oscar Awards where the third part took the biggest role imaginable. If The community of the ring won four statuettes and The Two Towers honored his name with a couple of awards, The Return of the King broke with everything and returned to each with eleven Oscar Awards. An outrage where he won all the categories in which he was nominated.
Turning to videogames, the adaptations of the Middle Earth universe has had multiple interested publishers: Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Vivendi Games … It was from 2001 to 2003 when the videogame-based flame was revived where EA was who took the license of the movies. Vivendi Games, meanwhile, gained the power to produce games, but based on the books of Tolkien Enterprises.
Notably, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, by EA, where the facts of the two films were narrated to date with an adventure with playable hack and slash. The title saw the light on PS2, Xbox, GameCube and GBA in 2002 under the development of Stormfront Studios, a team sadly dissolved in 2008 after not being able to cope with the economic vicissitudes of the moment. It was a small studio, of about thirty people, but experts in receiving orders for video games based on movies.
King Kong (2005)
Again, Peter Jackson. This adaptation of the 1933 classic wanted to reinterpret the concept of remake to redefine it as a reboot: take a phenomenon of yesteryear and reconvert it with some changes. The result was, at least in criticism, a success without palliatives. With Naomi Watts as the main protagonist and 187 minutes of footage (200 if we have the extended version), this movie caught the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Hollywood from the start. He did not get nominations for the best acting, directing, or best absolute movie categories, but his sound, visual effects and sound editing were extremely convincing. A movie of those that are enjoyed in the cinema for what you see, for what you hear and for what was transmitted at all times.
That description fits, also with little room for doubt, in the video game sector. Peter Jackson's King Kong is the name chosen to transfer that feature film to the electronic leisure sector with a title released during Christmas, when the big names were put up for sale. He caught at the end of that generation and did it with a Ubisoft ready to turn everything upside down: there was going to be a version for absolutely all systems.
While the Montpellier division was going to handle the version of PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and GameCube, from Ubisoft Casablanca they would do the same in NDS, while Phoenix Games Studio would do it in PSP. The highlight of the game is that it was directed and designed by Michel Ancel, Rayman's father, which sparked the interest of the enthusiasts of that character. An action adventure without much flaunting, although with a very positive critique; unusually positive That 82 out of 100 in Metacritic for the version of domestic consoles attests that it was successful in concept and execution, a video game that, even today, continues to transmit some of the magic that soaked those who once had the opportunity to play it Fifteen years younger than now.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man's Chest (2006)
2003 was the year in which the universe of Pirates of the Caribbean became an indelible reality in the memory of thousands of young (and not so young) fans of the Walt Disney factory. An idea inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction of the Disneyland theme parks that, at the hands of Gore Verbinski, materialized in a resounding success at the box office. It was not until the second part, however, that was recognized by the Academy of cinema with an Oscar.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man's Chest (2006) received four nominations and was awarded the Best Visual Effects award for the team of John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel and Charles Gibson. This would set a precedent rarely seen as a film for the youngest audience awarded without the need to incur animation, terrain clearly dominated even today by Pixar.
His video game, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, was commissioned by Buena Vista Games for Griptonite Games and Amaze Entertainment for GameBoy Advance, Nintendo Ds and PSP. Without fear of being wrong, it was one of the most chosen gifts in that hot summer of 2006 for the holidays; a game that, despite its mediocre criticism, brought with it a few hours of entertainment while we assumed the role of Jack Sparrow in a casual action adventure.
Avatar (2009)
The universe of science fiction has had in the cinema dozens of contenders candidates to seal their name in the history of the seventh art. It has not always been recognized by the Academy in the way that many critics would have liked, but Avatar, known in Spain as Avatar, by James Cameron, not only broke all kinds of historical records at the box office as it was the first film to exceed 2,000 millions of dollars in collection (leadership taken by Avengers: Endgame in 2019) but by making those plastic glasses that allowed simulating 3D to have a grace period both in movie theaters and in our homes.
The 81st edition of the Oscar Awards wanted Avatar to be a candidate for nine statuettes, of which he won three, all of them technical. James Cameron was left without a prize, although he took home a record that few would have imagined.
James Cameron's Avatar: The Game was the direct adaptation of that phenomenon with the Dunia Engine in a third-person action adventure. Ubisoft had a great commercial anticipation and was able to see the potential of this production, so he delegated to Ubisoft Montreal to handle a game that would have a version on virtually all existing consoles at the time: PS3, Xbox 360, computer, Wii, PSP , Nintendo DS and even iOS devices, where an incipient iPhone began to warn that it was also a viable option for the development of video games. To the best of our knowledge, the game managed to sell 2.7 million units, more than many current successful video games under the AAA category.
Mad Max: Fury on the road (2015)
George Miller was not expected to be nominated for ten Oscar Awards, but in the 88th installment of these awards held in 2016, the production of Doug Mitchell and Miller himself struck the table by making a post-apocalyptic film with tires, sand, action and blood won no less than six statuettes, including almost all prizes referring to the technical part. His 90 in Metacritic left the Warner Bros. tape as one of the best rated films of the time, although when it was known that Charlize Theron was going to be the protagonist, not everyone saw it fit with a role that, finally and According to the critic, he overflowed.
The videogame sector could not be left without an adaptation of this phenomenon at the box office; essentially because it is a concept so easily adaptable and moldable to the average adult audience that it enjoys a command in their hands.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment also had the opportunity to take advantage of the rise of open-world video games in which at that time it was an emerging new generation. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One began to carburete and the public was receptive. Instead of making a 1: 1 movie-based title, just as it had been in the previous five years, WB chose to rely on Avalanche Studios, the Swedish studio responsible for Just Cause, so that Mad Max's name was one of the big names of that Christmas. This is the short story, but the long one includes the pre-production of two other Mad Max video games developed by Cory Barlog (God of War) and Interplay Entertainment, respectively. The result was a double cancellation for different reasons.
Thus, the only one who saw the light was this action adventure that we rated in its day with a 7.8 in FreeGameTips. With a great recreation of the Paramo, storms and an excessive viscerality, the game's leadership and its strategy system ended up convincing on the playable level. Its history and the design of the main missions failed, which deprived the game of an even higher rating. With the passage of time, the community remembers with affection a game that did not tarnish, fortunately, the brilliant impact of the film.
