Not everyone knows about Street Fighter. Even though you probably think Ryu and Ken have the same celebrity status as Paris Hilton and George W. Bush, that unfortunately is not the case. When I watched Street Fighter back in the days, it was kind of fun, but that’s only because I was a huge fan of the game and because Kylie Minogue was in it. Imagine the horror for someone who isn’t as familiar with it — huge sumo wrestlers, American colonels, a bunch of Asian ninjas and a Hulk look-a-like just doesn’t cut it for some people.

I’m aware of the fact that the movie probably was intended for gamers, but it’s still a bad one when you look at it objectively. Don’t you agree when I say that the Street Fighter series could be made into a decent movie, both for gamers and for other viewers? This applies to all videogame movies, just because it’s a success in its original genre doesn’t guarantee its potency for movie making.

If a videogame movie is going to turn out successful, both for gamers and other viewers, it needs to be rewritten for that sort of broadcasting media, and not just be a clone of the game.

What has to be done? Not all movies based on videogames are bad. I’ve actually watched the first Resident Evil movie together with some friends that don’t play videogames, and they thought it was good. These kinds of movies will always have a hard time living up to our expectations though, thus making it much easier to fail than to succeed. But not all hope is gone!

To make a truly awesome videogame movie, there have to be some changes. The right kind of game has to be chosen, because an 80+ hour game is quite hard to transform into 90 minutes. The story has to be remade for the movie, so that it actually fits into the correct dramaturgical framework. Character development and a more personal approach is also something that’s essential for movies. It’s all about realizing that a top notch videogame gets its status because of not only the story and its characters, but also from the actual playing experience.

It would be kind of boring if movies like Street Fighter or Doom wouldn’t be made at all, just because they probably would be considered a B movie right from the start. Personally, I often enjoy some brainless action, but there’s always room for improvement.

A good example of what completely goes against “the right kind of game has to be chosen” is an upcoming 20th Century Fox film called… Sims: The Movie! I mean, how could that possibly turn into something watchable?

On the other side of the coin, here are some of the more hopeful upcoming movies based on videogames:

• Prince of Persia (Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the Prince in this Walt Disney produced film, set for a 2009 release)
• BioShock (From Universal Pictures. To be directed and produced by the director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Gore Verbinski.)
• Max Payne (This is something that actually could be made into something beautiful. Rights purchased by 20th Century Fox)
• Street Fighter (Hyde Park Entertainment and Capcom are planning to release this movie this year to celebrate the game series 20th anniversary. Interesting indeed.)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard says the budget for this film will be over $100 million. I’ve often fantasized about a StarCraft movie, but this would still be very welcome)

So let’s hope for a bright, creative and fearless future for videogame movies. Less Uwe Boll, more balls!