The gaming industry is surging with growth. Developers have experimented with various unorthodox storytelling methods in just a few years. Fearless of challenging genres, conventions and expectations, developers’ risks have paid off. Audiences seem to love developers’ bold choices, resulting in more funding for gaming studios.
The gaming industry’s growth affects other markets, particularly the film industry. Believe it or not, films and video games share a lot in common. Today, video games display stunning graphics and tell gripping stories worthy of the silver screen. Meanwhile, some filmmakers have created interactive films, like Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch. Judging by the rise of films like Sonic the Hedgehog and the anticipated Streets of Rage release, the line between cinema and gaming appears to be blurring.
However, the tables are beginning to turn in the entertainment industry. While games and films intersect several points, trends show that the film industry is looking to video games for inspiration. This year, some of the film and TV industry’s most popular titles were inspired by games, such as the South Korean blockbuster hit Squid Game.
Below are a few films and series that exhibit gaming conventions.
Battle Royale (2000)
In the gaming community, battle royale is a challenge where players fight in large groups until only one is left standing. The battle royale genre is an undisputed favourite, from recent titles like Apex Legends to classics like Halo. Yet as much as gamers love it, few seem to know its true origins in the movie Battle Royale.
It all started in 1997 when Koushun Takami had trouble sleeping. Laying in the dark, half asleep, he claimed to have a vision of a school teacher. Dishevelled and grinning, he stood in front of the classroom and declared that the day’s lesson was how to kill. Seeing the scene clearly in his head, Takami decided to take that mental image and write a novel about it.
Takami depicted a dystopian Japan, where a group of students is taken to a deserted island and told to battle each other to death. Each student receives a weapon and a necklace, which would explode if they try to break the rules. Over the next few days, the kids swarm across the island and fight guerilla style.
When planning Battle Royale’s structure, Takami used pro wrestling as a reference. The sport uses battle royale challenges, which helped him visualize the action and rhythm.
These wrestling influences resurface in the film, whose unique rhythm functions in elimination rounds. The film’s graphic nature is also reminiscent of popular video games from the time, such as Danganronpa.
Alice in Borderland (2020)
Released just a year before Squid Game, the Japanese series, Alice in Borderland, uses puzzle games to tell the story of a group of friends’ survival.
Alice in Borderland takes place in an alternate universe where Tokyo is deserted, except for a laser in the sky that seemingly kills people at random. A group of friends gets stuck there after entering a public bathroom, only to find no way out. As they walk around the post-apocalyptic city, they learn that each has a visa, which dictates the number of days they have to live. To extend their visas, they have to participate in deadly survival games, similar to the riddles and puzzles in The Cube, Saw and Alice in Wonderland.
Alice in Borderland employs graphic, comic book-style conventions based on a manga. The series uses vivid, almost psychedelic imagery based on Alice in Wonderland.
As the Gods Will (2014)
While Alice in Borderland uses puzzle-style games and complex riddles, As the Gods Will combines childlike games with a battle royale structure. Perhaps one of the goriest films on this list, As the Gods Will takes the film inspired by game to a new level.
As the Gods Will has similar gaming dynamics and doll-like characters, reminding viewers of Squid Game. Many media outlets accused the Squid Game writers of plagiarizing As the Gods Will since certain parts seem almost identical. Squid Game writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk denied the claims, saying he wrote the script in 2009.
Although Squid Game resembles As the Gods Will in several aspects, the root of the film is very different. Where Squid Game comments on socioeconomics, As the Gods Will is embedded in teenage angst and existentialism. The protagonist’s life changes when he’s forced to play a deadly survival game one day at school. As the film continues, the protagonist, Shun, reflects on the reason for all the violence and its cause. Towards the end of the film, he makes an enlightening realization.
