Yup. Today, July 8th is the official International Video Game Day. Not to be confused with National Video Games Day which is on September 12th of course. But yeah. Today is a good day to celebrate one of our favorite past times, and probably one of the greatest inventions ever. The glory that is – THE VIDEO GAME. In fact, the earliest video games date from the early ’50s, however, the real revolution in the industry began in the late ’70s and of course. The 80’s.
Happy International Video Game Day!
If you’re in pursuit of a good video game to fire up on your PC… You’re in luck. You’re in the right place too. IndieGala has an abundance of video games to show and present to the fans. But what have we done about it? Well, here on our IndieGala blog, we promote and present thousands and thousands of cool fun video games. Not to mention, cool and talented developers, and of course fantastic video game adaptations. OK, not every single one of those adaptations is fantastic, but hey. Hollywood does try its best.
But when it comes to our efforts to promote the video game industry… We’ve got a lot to show for. We manage to keep you updated with the latest video game releases (available here). And of course with the latest video game adaptations. On TV or Cinema, it doesn’t matter. Yes, Loki is one of them. However, it’s always nice to look back at the past and check out the history. And our two-part article about consoles fits right here in this bracket. Available here and here.
International Video Game Day: A Mix Of Video Games And Movies
Why a mix of video games and movies? Because we feel that it’s the best way to honor this day. We’ve been doing that for years now, and it has worked out pretty well. IndieGala’s blog is the perfect place for both of these things and it’s good to do that again. Let’s start with video games. Perhaps you’d love to check out the current and hottest sales? Our Mystery/Adventure sale is still going strong (available here), and so is our Konami Sale (available here). And you want to check out something very cool? Our PlayStation Mobile Sale is awesome and filled with fantastic games too. Just click here and take your pick.
But when it comes to the mixing of video games and movies… What better way to spice up an article than to make a list of some of the most notorious video game adaptations. Which ones and how many of them to include here? To be honest, there are plenty of good and bad video game adaptations. But for the sake of fun, I’m going to stick with the worst offenders here. And for that purpose, I’m going pick 5 from the Rotten Tomatoes ranking of worst video game movies. Beware! There will be lots of Uwe Boll movies here. OK. Here I go.
Alone In The Dark (2005)
Unanimously the worst video game adaptation on Rotten Tomatoes. Indeed it is. It has only 1% approval on the review-aggregation website. And you’ve guessed it. It’s an Uwe Boll movie. Frankly out of the three Uwe Boll movies I’ve had the torture to watch, this one was not included (yet?). Hold on for more Uwe Boll movies then. But this one is fairly atrocious even though it does have some decent actors. Christian Slater is in the movie and so are Stephen Dorff and Tara Reid. Originally, the film version of Alone in the Dark was to be released with Alone in the Dark 5, the fifth title in the series. However, the creators of Alone in the Dark, Eden Games, delayed the game and reworked it entirely from scratch.
House of the Dead (2003)
I included the review of Uwe Boll’s House of the Dead in my Readers Suggest segment. Not that recently too. You can check it out here again, but yeah. Although it’s not at 1%, House of the Dead is not doing so well on the Rotten Tomatoes list. It has 3% on RT and it’s as bad as you can imagine. Not even the presence of Jürgen Prochnow can’t save this movie. It’s sooo bad on so many levels, but hilarious at the same time. I can’t really explain it. I laughed so hard at this movie. Which is funny because there are zombies here (let’s call them that) and it’s supposed to be scary. It’s anything but.
Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)
I believe I mentioned how horrible this movie is in my Hitman’s article from last year. However, I did tackle both the 2015 movie and the 2007 movie. You know, with Timothy Olyphant. And I’m sad to say that out of the two adaptations, Hitman: Agent 47 is the bigger letdown. Furthermore, it holds 9% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, and not even Rupert Friend, Zachary Quinto, Thomas Kretschmann can save it. Oh, not to mention the fantastic Ciarán Hinds who’s wasted here. Yes, this is a bad attempt to bring to life probably one of the best video game series of all time. It’s just sad and needs to be on this list.
Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)
A disclaimer is needed here. I did write about the first Silent Hill video game adaptation. However, I didn’t write about Silent Hill: Revelation. And yes. The 2012 sequel is currently on spot number 35 on Rotten Tomatoes. And with 10% approval there. However, despite being a critical flop, the movie did manage to earn some money at the box office. Despite the horrible reviews, it got at the time. But despite everything, the movie has a nice cast. Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Martin Donovan, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss, just to name a few. Oh and Sean Bean as well. However, this is not a good sequel. Nor a good video game adaptation for that matter.
Doom (2005)
Unlike the Silent Hill video game adaptations, I did write reviews for both of the Doom video game adaptations. You can check out my review for Doom here and for Doom: Annihilation over here. And quite frankly I’m inclined to pick the 2005 movie as the lesser of the two evils. Indeed. The 2005 movie is a barely watchable mess, but the sequel is really not. Not to mention the 2005 movie has some decent cast. From Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike and the one and only, Doug Jones. That’s right Doom has 18% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and deserves to be on this list.
What Are Your Plans For International Video Game Day?
And which other video game adaptation would you add to this list? Warcraft? Assassin’s Creed? How about Lara Croft: Tomb Raider? Let us in the comment section below. What are you playing today? We’d love to know. Don’t be shy. Hit that comment section and tell us everything. Oh, and Happy International Video Game Day!
