New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.
All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
Comments
@MrEd Good work on setting up the stats page for the new thread! I read something about JSON versus parsing HTML instead - what changed?
Congrats on that. But, do join the convo every now and then. We still got the old hype team with Frank, TrK, MrEd, Sycot, Codelock. Sorry if I forgot to add somebody else.
VIDEO GAME TRIVIA - GAMES BASED ON TRUE STORIES
Civilization
The Civilization series cannot be accurately called a history simulator as many like to claim. You can't properly re-enact important historical events or see what it was like at the fall of the Roman Empire, no. Instead, each nation is represented as deeply realistically as possible, when it comes to pronunciations, language, clothing, attitude, and even bonuses.
Haha will try! I appreciate the invite
Glad to see you're doing well.
Yah, I been good. Just looking to have some fun before I get busy with RL next month.
Next up, we have a few TV series that are based on video games. Stay tuned.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
The Witcher
When Netflix shared the first look of Henry Cavill in his white Geralt wig back in 2018, there was some concern. Was this really going to look good and not like mediocre, try-hard cosplay? Turns out The Witcher looks incredible, avoiding the pitfalls that other current fantasy series make. The Witcher looks dirty, it looks worn, it looks real. It looks lived-in, which is in a way what people want out of their video games — to live in them. With the series, which only got better in its second season after ditching a novel but confusing multiple timeline setup in the first season, Witcher makes audiences feel like they’re really a part of this world. We’re invested in Geralt’s relationships with Ciri and Yennifer and on the edge of our seats when he slays a monster. We’re just not holding the controller.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Arcane
Arguably the new benchmark for adapting video games into series, Netflix’s Arcane is set in the sister cities of Piltover and Zaun, one small area of the world of Runeterra in the massive League of Legends esports universe. French animation studio, Fortiche, collaborated with the creatives at Riot Games for several years crafting a story that worked for both invested League players and viewers with no exposure to the game at all. The series was created using a unique mixture of computer animation and illustrated backgrounds that’s visually arresting, but also allows for nuanced performances which transcends most other CGI animated series. It also has a voice cast of top tier character actors including Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Jason Spisak. The premiere series has been nominated for nine Annie Awards, which celebrate excellence in the field of animation.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Castlevania
The Castlevania video game series is one half of the origin of the term “Metroidvania,” a genre of side-scrolling video games that have players exploring a labryinthian setting with secrets to find and new areas to open up once you’ve gotten the right equipment. It’s simultaneously very mission-focused (“kill Dracula”) and meandering (“oh, can I go back and explore the acid section of the castle now that I have the right gear?”). Castlevania, Netflix’s goregously animated adaptation of the third Castelvania game in particular, translates this paradox to the screen expertly.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Carmen Sandiego
In the late ‘80s, a lot of school-aged kids ingested their geography lessons via the popular computer game series, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? The premise is that Sandiego is an international criminal mastermind traversing the world with agents from the ACME Detective Agency hot on her heels. In the ‘90s, the game leveled up onto TV screens via the very entertaining, and informational, PBS live-action game show that ran for five very successful seasons. The game also birthed the catchiest of theme songs by Rockapella. And then in 2019, Netflix brought the character back to TV in the stylish, 2D animated series, Carmen Sandiego, with actress Gina Rodriguez voicing the international woman of mystery. It also does the character proud with globetrotting adventures and a more contemporary spin.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Pokémon
The long, long, looooong running Pokémon anime made me cry when I was like seven years old, especially when Ash said goodbye to his Butterfree in the episode “Bye Bye Butterfree.” I haven’t watched all of the 1,100+ episodes since then, but that’s enough to put Pokémon on a list of best video game TV shows.
In a way, it almost feels unfair, because Pokémon has been a multimedia franchise almost from the jump, and the anime almost feels separate from the games. Nevertheless, it is a based on a video game, and it’s impressive that Pokémon has managed to keep pace with the newer games and stay fresh for each new generation of Pokémon (and Pokémon audiences.)
Following the video game series on the Gameboy, the Pokémon anime first aired in Japan in April of 1997.
Did you guys know this? I always thought it was the other way around.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Digimon
The Pokémon vs. Digimon wars claimed many an elementary schooler in the ‘90s. But looking back at the two shows, and how they changed (or stayed the same), it’s clear that Digimon more than deserved its slot on the monster-catching schedule. While the quality of various iterations of Digimon varied in quality, the show could have an incredible emotional depth and character growth, and it leaned more into sci-fi and complex ongoing plots than its Poké-rival did. At its best, Digimon was a coming-of-age story, less focused on pure monster evolution than it was on growth. (Though, to be fair, it often it did show that it was, yes, based on simple a Tamagotchi-type game.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Alien: Isolation – The Digital Series
In 2014, the video game Alien: Isolation told the story of Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) adult daughter, Amanda Ripley, as she searched for the answer to what happened to her mom and the crew of the Nostromo some 15 years after the events of Alien. In the game, Amanda is stuck on the abandoned Sevastopol space station with a xenomorph. The CGI animated digital web series provides the backstory for why Amanda and the Weyland-Yutani team came to be at Sevastopol, and what went down to wipe out so many of that team. It also fills in some of the mythology gaps regarding how the titular aliens infiltrated other populated space outposts. For a web series tie-in to a video game spinoff of a film franchise, the animation is above average and the story is compelling — and chock full of xenomorph evolution and scares — which makes it a vital watch for fans of the franchise.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Dragon's Lair: The Series
This ABC network animated series from 1984 was short-lived and certainly didn’t reproduce the same caliber of animation created by Don Bluth for the video game of the same name, but Dragon's Lair: The Series finally gave fans a cohesive story.
If you never tackled the 1983 arcade cabinet version of the Dragon’s Lair game, here’s two important things to know: 1) It was the most expensive game to play in the arcade at the time, and 2) It looked as good as an animated movie. But, because of its laserdisc-based cutscene gameplay, trying to understand the in-game narrative was more than challenging. You pretty much had to spend a mint in quarters to get far enough in the game to understand much at all. And that’s why Dragon's Lair: The Series gets a lot of points for giving the game characters of Dirk the Daring, his love, Princess Daphne, and Singe the dragon, some much-needed context and understandable adventures.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Skylander Academy
Set within the mythology of the bestselling Skylanders video game series from Activision, Skylander Academy is a Netflix CGI animated series with three seasons of storytelling. Spyro the Dragon (Justin Long) leads an ensemble cast of original and game-based characters tirelessly trying to protect the floating realm from the baddie, Kaos (Richard Steven Horvitz) and his cronies. Unlike some other game based series, the storytelling is complex, serialized and appeals to teens and up. It also looks great and boasts an award-worthy voice cast of comedy legends including Bobcat Goldthwait, Norm Macdonald, Catherine O'Hara, Patrick Warburton, and Billy West, to name just a few.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
The Cuphead Show
Truth be told, The Cuphead Show doesn't really owe its greatness to being based on a video game so much as that video game owes its greatness to being inspired by classic animation of the 1930s. Granted, Cuphead had sharp, challenging, and innovative shot-em-up combat going for it as well, but it was the graphics — created via hand-drawn animation — that made the game stand out. The Netflix series eschews most of the shooting (and it features computer-generated animation, rather than being hand-drawn, though the aesthetics are still aping that old cartoon style), but it keeps the zany, retro vibe and adds some much-needed visual diversity to Netflix's catalog. It is, in other words, a hoot.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
The Last of Us
The Last of Us follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) who is tasked with transporting Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the country in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Twenty years after a parasitic fungal infection overtook most of the population, survivors fight to rebuild their lives within the very limited remit of what's left. Ultimately, The Last of Us remains largely faithful to the game it's based upon, and drew a huge viewership as a result.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Halo
Paramount+ adapted the hugely popular first-person shooter and strategy game into a television series starring Pablo Schreiber and Natascha McElhone. Halo: The Series is set in the future and follows a battle taking place between humankind and a group of aliens known as the Covenant. A second season is forthcoming, and promises to be filled with even more action.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Resident Evil
Resident Evil already spawned a successful movie series, and has since made the move to TV. Netflix's version straddles two timelines. In 2022, twins Billie and Jade, the children of Dr Albert Wesker, move to New Raccoon City, a community designed by the Umbrella Corporation. In 2036, Jade faces the apocalypse after a virus destroys the planet.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion is a '90s sitcom created by Eugene Levy, loosely based on Lucasfilm's 1987 video game of the same name. The show follows the Edisons, a seemingly normal family whose lives are infiltrated by extraterrestrial events. The series ran for three seasons, and is quirky a love letter to the retro game on which it's based.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Sonic Prime
Sonic the Hedgehog has always been a beloved video game character. Following several successful TV and movie adaptations, he is back in his latest venture, Sonic Prime. The animated Netflix show features a brand new cast, and introduces the famous blue hedgehog to a younger generation.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Pokémon Horizons
It's hard to believe that the first Pokémon game debuted in 1996, and that the franchise is still going strong. Having been adapted into multiple TV shows and movies, the series has recently reinvented itself as Pokémon Horizons, featuring new protagonists and adventures, which debuts in April 2023. It seems as though the Pokémon franchise will be around for a very long time to come.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners follows David, who decides to work as a black-market mercenary after losing everything. The anime series is set in a future dystopia in which corrupt corporations have control over entire cities. While Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was confirmed to be a limited series, it's rumored that a follow-up could explore new characters in the same universe, according to Hypebeast.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Horizon Zero Dawn
Fans will have to wait a little longer for the TV adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn, which is currently in development at Netflix. The role-playing game of the same name follows a young hunter called Aloy. Set in the future in a devastated version of the United States, Aloy sets out to find out what really happened to the world, which is being ravaged by machines.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Sonic The Hedgehog
Released the same month as another Sonic cartoon, "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog," in 1993, "Sonic the Hedgehog" took the popular video-game character in a darker, more serious direction. In this Saturday-morning show, Sonic is a member of a band of freedom fighters battling to overthrow Dr. Robotnik, an industrialist who has taken control of and polluted the planet.
Despite developing a loyal viewership, "Sonic the Hedgehog" proved a relatively short-lived series, running for two seasons before ABC canceled it.
TV SERIES BASED ON VIDEO GAMES
Dragon's Dogma
Based on the video game of the same name, "Dragon's Dogma" centers on Ethan (Greg Chun), who lives a peaceful life in the village of Cassardis with his family.
But when a dragon (David Lodge) destroys Cassardis, slaughters everyone in the town, and rips out his heart, Ethan is resurrected by a mystical pawn he names Hannah (Erica Mendez).
Ethan and Hannah set out together to defeat the dragon that shattered Ethan's world.
Next up, something for the gamers again. Here's a list of some upcoming titles you guys might be interested in.
UPCOMING VIDEO GAMES
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Platform(s): PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC
Release date: January 26, 2024
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is taking the series to the US for the first time, with Kasuga Ichiban and Kazuma Kiryu set to embark on what Sega is calling "a larger-than-life RPG" thanks to an "unexpected chain of events". With Ichiban waking up naked on an American beach in the reveal trailer, we can certainly expect more of the unexpected.
UPCOMING VIDEO GAMES
Tekken 8
Platform(s): Xbox Series X, PS5, PC
Release date: January 26, 2024
Tekken 8 is coming and looks better than ever before thanks to a move to Unreal Engine. The new game's story is focusing on the father and son showcase between Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama that was teased at the end of Tekken 7. There are new gamepaly mechancis too like the Heat System that lets you harness agression as a tactic and enhance each character's unique strengths.
UPCOMING VIDEO GAMES
Granblue Fantasy: Relink
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, PC
Release date: Februray 1, 2024
Developer Cygames has been working on Granblue Fantasy: Relink for a bit now. The game is an action-RPG with co-op for up to four players that's based on the popular Granblue Fantasy IP. That means magic, striking character designs, and plenty of combat to go around.