Requisite Post on 300

Everyone is talking about it, so I suppose it’s time for us to do the same.  Despite (or because of) concerns over whether it’s racist, inaccurate propaganda, 300 has done quite well for itself.  Ron Gilbert wrote quite a biting review of 300, but concluded by saying he had fun, as did just about everyone else who’s seen it.  He likened the story and characters to many games these days.  And all I could think of when watching it was that it’d make a great game.  Sadly for PSP, but a great game.  

Of course, there’s another way to look at 300.  This wasn’t a failure on Hollywood’s part to create a movie following three-act structures with strong character arcs.  Frank Miller, the author of the graphic novel, made a conscious decision to create a main character with no arc and no fatal flaw.  John William Fay, the man behind 300’s Legendary Pictures, knew the story would be a risk for that very reason.  According to Fay, the story comes more from Wagnerian opera than anything else.  The producers feared that a largely American audience wouldn’t get this type of storytelling.  But they took the risk, because they believed in the passion and vision of the director. 

This is how the Writers Cabal approaches games.  We love to work with companies with a vision.  If we’re not passionate about the project, we don’t do it.  A developers’ passion and vision can override many sins.  At the end of the day, for games or film, if it works, it works. 

Legendary now has the script for the WoW movie.  Any bets on how that’ll turn out?