If James Cameron directed a game...

[ojimaru]

This isn't necessarily a topic about Avatar or James Cameron (despite the lolbait title), but what do you think would be the result if a talented movie (or music video) director played a part in game's development?

What would Park Chan-Wook's (Old Boy, Thirst) thriller adventure game play like?

If James Cameron directed the visual aspects of Avatar: the Game (cutscenes, models, environment, etc), how different would it be?

How many people would get epileptic seizures if Michael Bay determined the pace of a game?

How about a collab between Tim Schafer (The Secret of Monkey Island, Brutal Legend) and Kevin Smith (Donnie Darko, The Box)?

Or in general, what would be the most noticeable thing a movie director could contribute to the design of a game? Would we stop getting pathetic dialogue cuts featured in many games, including Dragon Age: Origins?

[cucumberboy]

I think you're mistaking Kevin Smith for Richard Kelly, but either way - it's an interesting question. I think it's been done actually, but I can't remember what game that was.

With the free camera and being able to move around and do as you wish, wouldn't the traditional role of a director be obsolete? I guess he could direct the cutscenes? Although there are probably some visionary directors that could help make some really interesting games, like Del Toro or maybe Gilliam. And I'd love to play a game written by Kevin Smith. :P

[baldmonkey]

.. it would be filled with insults.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/01/smoking-avatar/

[blacksymbiote]

You'd probably get Indigo Prophecy or Heavy Rain.

[bjkrautk]

I think the toughest part of any sort of cinema-to-video game transition is the evalutation of work in progress.

As a director, you can 'see' your vision of the finished product in the dailies; add in some computer effects & score, sure, but the actors and the scenes in the final movie are what you've captured on that particular day.
Video games are an iterative process. The early builds of a game look horrible and broken....until they don't. (That is something that the Penny Arcade guys noted back when they worked with Hothead on their episodic PSN/XBLA games, and the reason why game journalists are more foregiving of preview builds of games.) Unless you're working with an established game engine, you are likely to be looking at work-in-progress that does not live up to the director's idea for months...if not the first year. If you're a James Cameron, and you can make one title for a decade, that might not bother you; most gaming studios don't have that kind of time (ask 3d Realms).

[heyseuss]

OK, the first time I sat down to play the PS2 western Gun, I didn't stop for 12 hours. I finished that game in one sitting because of the storyline and writing. It made me look up the writer credit, to find out he is the guy who wrote The Doors, Tales Of The Crypt, Sunset Strip, The Mask Of Zorro. The music is sensational as well, also a tv/movie composer.


The game is great for other reasons too.

[dentistry]

If I were to play a game by Tim Burton, I think it'd be played with chalk.

No. Seriously.