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Now that 2009 is coming to a close, I decided to take this time to reflect on some of  this year’s games that would have benefited from getting the movie marketing treatment. While some of the games on this list didn’t see exact movie adaptations it’s still worth noting that had they merged with film then it could have provided lucrative opportunities for everyone involved. Feel free to leave your comments on this list below.

5) X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

X-Men fans were delighted to hear that Wolverine was getting his own spin-off movie this year. However, once the movie dropped many people offered nothing but mixed reviews. The inclusion of Deadpool and Gambit in the movie were cool additions people had been asking for and the internal conflict between Sabretooth and Wolverine started out strong. Where the movie went wrong was in the lopsided execution of the plot and the nagging love story that lingered throughout. Even Marvel couldn’t provide a suitable origin story for Wolverine in the comics and it shows in the movie. However in the end, Wolverine did well at the box-office mainly because of the popularity of the franchise much so like Transformers 2: Rise Of the Fallen. When it came to the game adaptation though, X-Men Origins: Wolverine outshines the actual movie. The idea to make this a Mature Rated game that allows you to hack and slash away at adversaries is exactly what a Wolverine game should be. Marvel studios promised that going forward every game/movie adaption would be just as enjoyable as this title was.

4) SABOTEUR meets INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

After taking a deeper look at this game and the videos posted by James, the one question I have for Pandemic is why couldn’t they have partnered with Tarantino and made this the video game adaptation of Inglourious Basterds. While Basterds is considered a spaghetti western filled with World War II iconography, you’ll notice that the visuals and villains in Saboteur are virtually the same. Adding further heroes to choose from could make this a multiplayer affair with optional online play for all parties involved. Throw in the fact that this ended up being the final game from Pandemic Studios and you can’t help but be frustrated that movie marketing and partnership could have sold this game really well and saved jobs in the process.

3) LEFT 4 DEAD 2 meets ZOMBIELAND

When Valve decided to drop Left 4 Dead 2 a full year after the release of the original game in the series, a firestorm of controversy began to surround it’s release. Likewise, in October of this year came the release of the latest comedy/horror flick ZombieLand. As it stands now, both projects did extremely well earning millions of dollars in both box-office and video game sales. Imagine what could have been had both of these properties merged and where marketed together? With the purchase of the game you could have received a voucher for free tickets to go see the movie along with downloadable weapons. Probably the most interesting thing about this theory is that something like this could still happen as the Zombieland dvd will be released in 2010. Even Chet Faliszek of VALVE fame would agree a deal of this multitude would be widely received and make Left 4 Dead 2 DLC even more favorable.

2) BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM meets THE DARK KNIGHT

When Dark Knight dropped last summer it exceeded all expectations of how a Batman Movie should be made. Fast forwarding to August 2009 proved the same results for Batman: Arkham Asylum. Given the history of Batman games, the overall impression was that Arkham Asylum would fail on every level. However, it showed Rocksteady/Eidos strong commitment to the source material and gave many fans of the series hope moving forward. There were rumors before about a Dark Knight game that eventually got canceled. Had this been the game to coincide with the film’s release then it could have easily been the biggest earner this year. Still props are given to both Dark Knight and Arkham Asylum for making us care about the caped crusader all over again.

1) HALO FRANCHISE meets DISTRICT 9

Microsoft unveiled greatness when they first introduced gamers to the Halo franchise. Because of the large fan base that surrounds the series it’s easy to see why any release whether it be Halo Wars or Halo 3:ODST is guaranteed to sell millions. They even went so far as to approach Stephen Jackson and Neil Blomkamp for a possible Halo movie. However as negotiations soured and Microsoft wasn’t impressed by the work of Blomkamp, the project was scrapped indefinitely. As a result the directing duo released District 9 this year to raving reviews. For a movie that was shot on a modest budget of 30 million and has gone on to make 200 million worldwide, you have to agree that this is definitely a strong contender for movie hit of the year. While watching this film you can tell right away that several FPS shots are Halo inspired. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft responds when Steven Spielberg offers his take on the Halo series in the near future. Regardless of how well the film will do, props still go out to District 9 for crafting a franchise that people will continue to talk about for many years to come.

Written By Richard Bailey