...my gut instinct is telling me that this is probably a bad idea, but I loved Fable 2 and the story behind it for XBox 360, and was thinking about writing something akin to that. Yay or nay lol?
I think the answers you get for such a thing are going to divide between those who grew up heavily under the influence of video games and those who did not; thus, I doubt very much that any sort of consensus will be had.
If you want to borrow certain elements about the game that you like and parallel it to your writing, fine, kind of like how Tolkein borrowed from mythology and the WWII atmosphere when writing LOTR. If you're talking about ripping off the plot, no. Don't do that for video games, books, movies, or anything else. Be inspired, but make your own fresh ideas.
On the contrary, if anyone ever put the stories behind Final Fantasy or Crono Trigger into print, I'd not think twice about buying the whole lot.
Fanfiction based on video games is quite common and popular among its niche market. The question of basing a book on an already existing idea could potentially run into problems of copyright infringement and the like. Still, R.A. Salvatore has a whole line of popular books based on Dungeons & Dragons. While not a video game, it's serves as a good example. Though it must be said that these books are published by Wizards of the Coast. PS. It's actually Chrono Trigger. Unless there was a different spelling in the UK. '
Chrono Trigger is the name of the game, Crono is the name of the main character. On topic, a book inspired by a video game? Why not. But an unpublished writer trying to sell a book based on a video game that uses its properties is almost certainly not going to happen.
I stand corrected. I'm not talking about fanfiction though, I'm talking about somebody actually putting into words the original game story. Some of those were truly fantastic! Remember Cecil's plight for self-forgiveness in FF4? In the end I wasn't playing the game for the sake of "beating" it, I was playing it to see how the story ended.
I picked up a sci-fi book once. Was possibly the worst book i have ever read in my life. name a flaw, and it had it. Discovered a little afterwards it was based on some MMO. How it got published i have no idea. I always wanted to put FF7 in novel form. I think this (Game to Novel) is going to pick up over time. The Halo series has been quiet successful. Even The Elder Scrolls is getting into it now. I think it's vomit though. (I did like the Halo, graphic novel i saw once though).
Fable Fable Fable Fable!! I adore these games, and usually have to wrestle my boyfriend's Xbox away from him to get a go... but just watching them being played is magical, I can see exactly why you'd want to write something in that vein! And, truth be told, I'm a little envious I didn't think of it myself... too busy in the mountains of Mistpeak I guess... There is no problem at all with using anything for inspiration - obviously it's copying a little too much which will get you in trouble. But in my personal opinion, borrowing a 'feel' (humour, atmosphere, generality) could have the opposite effect - if I loved a particular TV drama or game, for its atmosphere, etc, I would want to devour anything remotely resembling it. Ideally you would find a fanbase who loved Fable, and your book, seperately, but because they were similar - how many people love both P. D. James and Agatha Christie? I say go for it - and please let us have a wee look at the result! Fable is a particularly witty, British, character-driven game and I think it will translate brilliantly to the written word, provided you know the atmosphere inside out and not just the game. Good luck!!
You're thinking about the old DOS game Fable? It's different from the newer Fable series, but is absolutely hilarious (and British). Has a slant of Monkey Island to it also.
Noo, sorry HorusEye, I was on about the newer Fable, by Peter Molyneux Great cameos by favourite voices, often has me and the boyfriend chuckling out loud! I remember seeing a YouTube video about the older one though...
Based on and inspired by are two different things. If you're talking about the first then... this. If you're simply talking about inspiration, then that's perfectly fine.
try it without the copyright owner's permission and you'll most likely wind up in court and owing them all you own and will ever own! before anyone starts writing [or advising anyone else to do so] you should all go here and study the copyright laws governing such stuff: www.copyright.gov
I absolutely love the games as well. Totally gutted I no longer own an XBox therefore can't play Fable 3 unless I arrange a game night with a more technologically fortunate friend And I shall indeed post it when it's out of my brain on to my screen.
I often play video games and find myself wanting to novelize them, especially games with very little character development and simple plots, since they entice me to imagine "what could be there." Games with silent protagonists like Chrono Trigger and Earthbound are particularly compelling. However, as much fun as it seems like it would be, the fact that I could never publish such a work always dissuades me. I'm not going to put that much work in for what would essentially be a writing exercise, especially after the novelty eventually wears off and it stops being fun. In fact, if novelizations of some of my favorite games were published, I might not want to buy them, since they probably couldn't live up to my own overblown vision.
mammmaia, I think everyone here realises that. We're talking hypothetically... if they were ever produced, I'd buy them. But I wouldn't write them myself, for the reason you have highlighted.
not everyone knows that, tobias... many members and visitors here are quite young and have no idea what can and cannot be done, so to be on the safe side, it bears mentioning, imo...
There is some good gaming fiction around. Someone mentioned Dungeons and Dragons. A lot of that id pretty bad, but there are also two or three talented writers in the lot (some of whom have gone on to release non-gaming novels). Warhammer and Warhammer 40K has some really good stuff. I've never read the Halo fiction, but it must sell OK because they keep coming out with more of it. I'm not opposed to buying video game-related fiction if it is a game I like and they've done a nice job with it. I have to admit I've picked up a few that were pretty bad, however
Some D&D fanfic is just bad, I am still looking for the treasured books, those that are so bad they are funny to read. Unfortunately, fanfic doesn't seem to get that far.
A lot of fanfics in general seem to fly right past the "so bad it's good" mark, and land squarely in the "so bad it's terrible" territory. Not there aren't good fanfics out there, just saying.
