So, by now you've heard a BioShock flick is in the works, news that excites many fans - while leaving some others wary, thanks to the less-than-encouraging track record of films made from games.
Significant about the BioShock film news is the fact that Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski's been tapped for the directorial role. This is interesting, because you may recall that just a couple months ago, Verbinski was the keynote speaker at the 2008 DICE summit.
Lots of gamers may have wondered what a film director was doing at DICE, but now that he's directing our next big game flick, you may want to take a second look at what he said there.
During his keynote in February, Verbinski admitted that the concept of games as a truly powerful, experiential medium was still a little new to him — but he also seemed to demonstrate curiosity and respect for what he had yet to learn.
He talked primarily about ways to elaborate on game narratives, but encouragingly, he showed a healthy respect for games as their own medium, avoiding the often problematic philosophy that tries to blur the line between the two - usually resulting in both cheesy "summer blockbuster" action games, and films that knock off games while broadly missing what made the source material appealing.
It's also worth noting that Verbinski has had success navigating the choppy waters of mega-success with the Pirates flicks - those Pirates fans are devoted, but rather than exploit them through continual and decompensating sequels, he stopped with a solid trilogy. Perhaps this means game fans can trust that he's in it for quality?
At the very least, there's the familiar "well, it's not Uwe Boll," refrain. What do you guys think?
