If Game Informer does become the only remaining multiformat print mag in the US, I will weep — but not because of any particular quality issues on the part of GI. This month, they’ve got a special treat in store for Prince of Persia fans like myself: an editorial on cross-media convergence penned by none other than series creator Jordan Mechner.
But not all fans will be happy to hear what Mechner has to say: Apparently, the upcoming Prince of Persia movie will diverge from the plot of the game.I’ve been looking for a good excuse to showcase Jordan Mechner’s excellent personal blog for a while now; filled with sketches, old journal entries, and behind the scenes glimpses at the making of several timeless classics (get a load of these videos!) it’s a repository of knowledge you’ll find nowhere else.
But even if you’re not interested in the past, there’s a good reason to go to Mechner’s blog today — the PoP creator apparently has free reign to reprint his own Game Informer article, shown here at approximately one-half size.
When Mechner speaks on the increasingly popular convergence of comics, games and movies, he doesn’t just speak as a famous game developer — he’s working on adapting Prince of Persia to film and graphic novel right now. Assuming the new movie and graphic novel don’t flop, he’s in the perfect position to pass along advice. But rather than advise developers and producers to stay true to the original and explain what not to do, Mechner proactively suggests what to do: embrace the unique potential of each medium.
Dividing the article into three different sections encompassing video games, movies and graphic novels, Mechner logically suggests that each have their own narrative strengths. Games, he suggests, need to focus on the experience of the player:
The real story of a game isn’t the one that’s told in the dialogue and cinematic cutscenes — “In a galaxy torn by civil war, one lone starfighter…” — but the story the player tells afterwards: “I was down to my last ship, 50 points short of getting an extra life… I’d cleared the screen all except for this one small rock going super fast — and then the flying saucer came…”
But for film, that doesn’t do the job. Therefore, to turn Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time into a film, Mechner took the original game “as an inspiration, not a blueprint.”
“Some game fans may wish we’d made a movie that literally followed the game plot,” says Mechner. “I think if we had, they’d be disappointed.
I have to wonder how many will be disappointed by Prince of Persia because it won’t follow the plot of the game — just as they are disappointed in the film’s two white stars — but if the film turns out spectacular, we’ll know the recipe for convergence may well be more divergent than one might think.
In other Prince of Persia news, the last-gen trilogy of The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones are now available on Steam for $10 each, or altogether in a pack with the new next-gen Prince of Persia for $65.
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