Books and Games: A Mutual Inspiration
Oct. 11, 2015Books and Games: A Mutual Inspiration
If you are an avid reader and gamer you might notice that some popular books and video games seem to overlap. Sometimes it is a subtle easter egg, other times it is a video game based off of a book, there are even times where a really popular book inspires a well written book series. To start I would like to discuss a number of games that were inspired from or based off of popular and even classical literature, followed by popular games that were so big they had book series written in their setting.
I’ll start with a few obvious examples, such as the Spiderman and Batman videogames that were inspired by the Comic Book characters of the same names. Having characters, especially comic book characters with extremely rich histories lays out the framework for the setting and even controls of a game. Further examples are popular games based off of manga AKA Japanese comics such as Dragonball Z; these games were popular enough to get new movies developed and even a new anime and manga. There are plenty of other iconic Comic and Manga related characters but these 3 are some of the most identifiable.
Classic literature is another genre that has spawned videogame franchises. The God Of War series draws its story and setting from Greek Mythology as well as the Dynasty Warriors game being based off of the Chinese literature, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. EvenBloodbornewas inspired by the Lovecraft book mythos. Many games may draw influences from classic literature but few can be equally addictive to play.
In the Dungeons and Dragons universe, the Forgotten Realms’ games Balder’s Gate and Icewind Dale have the book series title they are inspired from stamped right above their name. Other games have the book series they are based off of right in their name, such asThe Witcherseries, The Lord Of the Rings Series, Discworld, and the Wheel of Time game. There is one franchise of games that even uses the author’s name for brand recognition, that being the Tom Clancy games, which are based off of his novels.
With all these popular games based off of books you would think that most of their existence as books would be common knowledge but these last two might be a surprise to some. The Suikoden Series is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Shi Hu Zhuan (Water Margin), the key plot point being that you gather 108 people who must rebel or revolt against a kingdom. The other game that might not be fully known to be based off of a novel is the game Parasite Eve, which is literally an interactive sequel to a Japanese novel of the same name.
Now there is a flipside to games based off of books. In the way videogames are big brother to movies and television, video games have at time come to inspire or begin whole series of books that tie into the video game universe. Assassin’s Creed took an easy approach with writing a Novelization of the historic section of the game. Dead Space followed a similar approach with expanding on key details. Resident Evil took this approach further by not only novelizing the game but also adding side stories to the Resident Evil universe and creating more depth for future games to draw from.
Other books based off of games serve as prequels and later side stories between games, both Bioshock and Halo follow this pattern. Diablo delves very far into the Prequel territory and expands upon the history of the world. While King’s Quest focuses on side stories between games. Finally there are novels that expand on the world of the game and show the influencing events that happen between games. Popular entries in this genre are theDragon Ageseries, Borderlands Series, and the Gears of War series.
All in all it is interesting where video games can draw their inspirations from, sometimes it may be a pleasant surprise or easter egg to find a literary allusion to a classic work of fiction, or to learn that an engrossing book was the basis for a favored game. And few things are as gratifying to a gaming reader as seeing a favored game inspire a series of books on its own and becomes a powerhouse in fiction.
MoreGame Articles
dn1nd
Been a Gamer since I could hold an Atari joystick. A game worshipper who has enjoyed and analyzed a many Games. Always wanting more of the games I love.
I always enjoy when one for of media bleeds into another and it is done well.
Funny I reinstalled and returned to the game “Dante’s Inferno” just the other day (based on the epic “Divina Commedia” by Dante Alighieri). It actually contains quotes from the literary work. Great for an old bibliophile and “God of war”-fan like me. Yes – I did read “Inferno” before playing the game
I can’t remember the exact story but Clancy’s name can be put to anything and nothing has to be paid, there could be a “Tom Clancy’s FIFA16” and nothing would have to be paid.
