A Guide to Movie Based Video Games 2001 onwards by Christopher Carton - Book Review

It's been just over a year since I looked at the first volume of this movie based video games duo, and it's still a go to reference when I'm looking for gaming inspiration. A few weeks back, part two was released, picking up the subject of movie tie-ins from 2001 onwards. And times they were a changing. 

This is evident as soon as you look at the page count: just shy of 270 compared to the first volume's 200. A sure sign that a) corporate bods realised that there was money in them there reels and b) you were no longer restricted to a console or computer in order to shell out. That's right, kids, mobile phone gaming had arrived. 

Before we get to that though, check out the contents page:

As you can see, there's a good array of groupings, and although some of the titles featured in each group are linked only tenuously (I'd argue including Alexander in "Is this the Real Life?" section pushes the boundary of what could be called fantasy, ignoring the casting choices, anyway), nothing quite severs the connection completely.  

A cynic (moi, darling?) could think that this book should have been called "The complete guide to 21st Century Disney gaming", replete as it is with literally every franchise the Hoose of Moose had/has going, and you can't argue that the C-Suite MBA's don't know their stuff when it came to revenue generation. I mean, I'm not saying Star Wars as a franchise (and I hate that word) is dead, but sometimes less is definitely more. In this book, however, you get 37 titles over 23 pages! Thirty Seven! And that's not including Star Wars Jedi: Survivor due to publishing deadlines nor the five LEGO games. All told, that's equivalent to over two per year during the period covered by this book. 

It doesn't end there though, as a couple of chapters on you have "Disney Domination", featuring nine Pirates of the Caribbean games. But wait! There's more! "To Infinity" puts the spotlight on Pixar-related games, and guess who distributed Pixar movies before buying the company up? Yep, the Moose! Ok, I get it that Disney might not have owned Pixar for the first quarter of this 20 plus year focus, but if you look at the aforementioned series as well as the 20th Century Fox IP that also fills many of the pages, there is no escaping the juggernaut of the rodent-headlined behemoth. 

Still, there's plenty of room for the likes of Bond (9 titles), Harry Potter (15), Top Gun (9!) and... Days of Thunder? Yeah, I didn't know about that last one, a 2011 release coinciding with the "classic" film's 20th anniversary. The author's words, not mine, and grounds to request an intervention me thinks. Seriously, Mr Carton, a "classic"? Sheesh!

If anyone asks, here's how you milk dinosaurs...

Sarcasm aside, there is a lot to get your teeth into here and although some entries get quite the write up and a screen shot, others warrant just a quick note. That doesn't happen often, and I am sure the fans of The Fast and The Furious: Drift arcade game will be peeved at it receiving such short shrift, but space definitely feels at a premium here, so appreciate even this small gift (OK, I'll stop now). Where such brevity does occur, however, it never feels disrespectful. 

I usually say that tomes such as this are informative, and it is no less true here. Not only have I discovered the author's questionable definition of classic movies (that would make a fun discussion over a pint or two...), but I am now also aware of "gems" such as Beverly Hills Cop on the PS2. The write up is so good that I jumped onto YouTube to check it out and, yeah, it's, ermmm, a game. Definitely one of them. And if I can ever find a copy in passing, I might just convince myself into playing it, much like the concept behind the excellent French horror film, Martyrs, when pain and suffering could show you heaven. And just like that, we're (tortuously!) back to Days of Thunder...

... before screeching into the topic of video games as art. I believe they are, so reading this book, even more so than volume one, got me into a thinking mood (and that is always a good thing when you've read a book). Regardless of the approach by the actual developers and companies who created the titles featured within the pages of AGTMBVG 2001 onwards, the game's initial conception was more than likely the result of realising the quarterly revenue generation possibilities from both home console and mobile phone users - it's all about bringing in the Benjamins! Why else would you develop Beverly Hills Cop more than twenty years after its cinematic cousin's release? Unless it's a "classic", of course... True, there were some gems (looking at you, The Warriors), but also plenty of clunkers too. As an aside, given the current state of AAA games development and the huge number of job losses over the last couple of years, I am of the opinion that Indies and smaller scale publishers are the way forward. However, that is a topic that could be discussed ad infinitum. 

In that sense, this book has a greater value than just an enchiridion (ohhh, fancy!) to the movie game genre. It also charts how the games industry changed in the first two decades of this century, and how adapting a film licence was no longer an afterthought (or just a quick side hustle) but a planned exploitation of another art form, strip mining the consumer in the search for ever higher revenues. Not a great thought to finish a book review with, but a surely evidence that the author has written not only a quality guide, but also a thought-provoking one. 

You can pick up a copy of A Guide to Movie Based Video Games 2001 onwards direct from the publisher here, but also from the usual physical and online bookstores. You can also follow the author on X @chriscarton89

An 80's Naval S.A.G.A (Surface Action Group Affair).

The last Saturday in August saw another semi-regular gathering of the TWATS and in a sublime case of history repeating itself, I was in the chair for a game of Shipwreck and once again taking advantage of Steve's collection of Cold War floaty boats. If we do the same thing for the last Saturday in August next year, this could become a tradition. 

Iiiiiiin the Red corner!!!

There were five in attendance so I'd come up with an asymmetric scenario of four British destroyers and frigates against a lone Soviet cruiser. I had not counted on Steve being busy with his brushes and bring the Americans to the table. Oh well, best laid plans and all that.

Aaaaaand in the Blue corner!

Instead, we had a straight forward slug-fest, albeit it with a little room for tactical shenanigans. Andy and Shaun took control of the Soviet surface group made up of a Kirov-class battlecruiser, two Sovremmeny-class destroyers, an Udaloy-class destroyer and a Krivak II-class frigate. Paul and Steve had the American fleet, centred around an Iowa-class battleship, two Ticonderoga-class cruisers, a California-class cruiser and a Perry-class frigate. Yep, each side has a sacrificial target, but would they use them wisely?

In the middle of the area of operations were two small islands and each side basically had to get past the other. There were no aircraft to get in the way of the ship to ship combat. 

The Krivak in the distance looks kinda lonely.

The early turns were a selection of single and double moves to eat up the distance between the two forces, with the Americans switching on the Iowa's surface search radar but neither finding anything nor being detected itself. During this period, the Americans stayed in formation whilst the Soviets pushed the plucky little Krivak II out in front and eventually warmed up its radar, yet still detecting nothing. Someone had been thinking...

Turn 9 (these were very quick movement turns at this stage of the game) saw the Americans detect the Krivak's emissions and loft four speculative Harpoons from the Iowa. This led to the first combat phase, and with the Krivak beam on to the approaching US ships, it was able to use both its SA-N-4 mounts to take down the quarrelsome quartet in two combat turns (CT's). 

Back to the movement and the US go to flank speed. The Krivak got a radar fix the US's port wing consisting of a Tico and the OHP, yet still the US still hadn't picked up a hard lock on the Krivak. Even so, more missiles went a-flying. 

A pair a piece from the Iowa, port Tico and the OHP should have been enough, yet some deft Soviet missile fire (and some absolutely cracking dice rolls from Shaun) saw the last of the Harpoons downed without too much sweat, whilst the Soviet return of four SS-N-14's at the port Tico did raise eyebrows as the last of them was taken out by the cruiser's Phalanx. 

Vampires ahoy! (and guess who can't count!)

It was time for the gloves to come off, and with a good data link back to the main fleet, the Krivak did what it was supposed to do and let the gang know exactly where the Iowa, port Tico and OHP were. Each of the Soveremmeny's fired all eight of their SS-N-22's, one octet at the port Tico, the other at the OHP (overkill, I know, right?). The Kirov, having none of this "which is better?" bollocks, rippled all 20(!) of its SS-N-19's (no nukes in game, btw) at the Iowa.

Our American friends decided that the Krivak had lasted long enough, tasking the OHP to fire the last of its Harpoons at the offending frigate. Since they had not detected the main Soviet fleet, that was their only possible response. This began that last CT phase. 

The eight Harpoons were whittled away by the Krivak's dwindling supply of SAMs, with all but one of the SSM's succumbing to defensive missiles. It was at this point that the fortunate frigate ran-afoul of the flurry of fire, and some duff chaff dice rolling led to a single hit, bad enough to cripple the ship, yet not destroy it. Heroes of the Soviet Union medals all round me thinks. A tally of the remaining SAM rounds revealed a total of 2 remaining for the front mount - it was that close. 

Hard right turn, Clyde!

The American's were too busy to celebrate their first (and only) win as they had to deal with the incoming horde of SSM's. Both Tico's got in on the act, with the port ship proving the most capable as expected as they were an actual target, and it was never really in doubt that they wouldn't avoid some Sunburn issues. 

However, as the port Tico was busy saving itself, that left the OHP on their own, and that single arm launcher counted against it. They managed to down four of their Sunburn's, yet ineffective Phalanx and chaff dice rolls meant that it took four direct hits. The Krivak had been more than avenged as the Soviet claimed the first sinking of the game. Yet the game wasn't over yet...

Vampires ahoy! (With the right count now!)

There were still the issue of twenty "Shipwrecks" (not 22 according to one photo... oops! That was corrected before anything important happened though), and despite some truly fantastic AEGIS directed defensive shooting, nine still made it to CIWS range on the Iowa. Phalanx accounted for two of those, as did chaff, but the remaining five found their mark. Even with "on the fly" amendments for the presence of an armoured hull, there were too many well rolled hits and the Iowa was gone. And with that, the two fleets parted to lick their wounds, with the Soviets definitely the better off. 

Oh, Heavens Preserve us!

This was another fun game using Shipwreck and the addition of Steve's naval know-how demonstrated the benefit of having an umpire and players who know their stuff. Tis a game more than just about dice rolling. 

That being said, your humble umpire did offer both sides the opportunity to expand the game (to either or both side's benefit) via the liberal application of a fine single malt (there were several behind the bar) to the umpire, yet neither side did. Has there ever been a more fitting example of fair play from two competing sides? Probably, but hey, if you don't offer, you'll never know! Also, damn them!

A tough little ship, that one!

One thing that was was quite clear was that when the vampires were loose, there was a lot going on and much to keep track of, leading to my muttered comment of "Next time, can we do f-ing muskets?" 

I might return to the asymmetric scenario for our next naval game, but that'll be a while off yet (next August bank holiday weekend, gents?), as there are many more periods we can play with before a return to Cold War naval is warranted, and a benefit of being in such a varied group of TWATS.