So, in search of silly summer entertainment I saw xXx today. Wow, big explosions, objectification of women, dramatic stunts, what's not to like about it? Anyway, as I was watching I thought; this would be much more fun as a video game than as a movie. It's not as if you could imagine any real person performing any of those stunts. The movie doesn't rely on any characterization or emotional feeling, or acting. It doesn't draw you in and make you care about anyone in it. Kate Archer in No One Lives Forever is as involving a character as Xander Cage. Sure the graphics are better in movies than in current games but that's just a technology issue and time will take care of it.

xXx is set out as a series of missions that Xander Cage has to carry out. You never follow the actions of any other characters, which would introduce complications for making a game. A nice varity of sneaking, shooting, blowing things up, and driving various things around. Some bits would work well as cutscenes. Others would work better with the player controlling the action. In fact being able to "control" Mr. Cage would be more fun and involving than just watching what he does, knowing full well he's going to come out of it ok. In a game your character "dies" if you don't make the right moves, if you turn left instead of right down the passage, if you don't see the hiding place, if you miss a shot, or steer your car off a cliff. In xXx you know Xander's going to survive, and foil the evil plot.

I think we've reached the point where a good game is better than the average summer blockbuster. The graphics are getting there, the story line's about the same, and the involvement in a game is greater than in a standard guns/stunts/girls movie. In terms of money, already in 1999 in the UK the total amount of money pulled in by video games was 60% more than the total box office takings. A more reliable set of statistics comes from the Economist, and that shows video games sales just behind box office receipts.

xXx cost $50 million. Game development figures are harder to find than movie numbers, but a sanity check can be taken from the fact that the US Army is looking to spend $7 millon on developing an FPS, and an RPG. So, conservatively, $10 million would get you a top of the line video game. That's one fifth the cost of xXx, in fact Vin Diesel alone cost $10 million.

These days an idea that works as either a game or a summer blockbuster would be more fun, and make more money, implemented as a game. Why spend $10 million on Vin Diesel when you could get a whole game for that? If you've got a good blockbuster idea perhaps pitch it to Bungie or Blizzard rather than Warner Brothers.