FX Labs have been working on a game based on the movie Ghajini for about a year now and people have been asking me, if it deserves the hype that it’s getting. My answer would be a resounding yes! You may ask why, considering India has not produced a single noteworthy game as yet!
But the point is that Ghajini game deserves attention for that very reason. This is the first time a game is being developed along with a Bollywood movie. Most of the Bollywood games produced to date have been mobile games or flash based ones and such games don’t deserve attention span of more than 10 to15 minutes. But a full fledged, movie based game however, comes in a different league altogether.
In the past Mumbai 2020 had brought out a ‘game’ when the movie released, but it would be a shame to call it a game, because it did not fit the definition of a video game. It was merely an interactive animated environment!
1. Learning From Mistakes:
FXLabs, I hope they have learnt from the mistake that was Agni. It lacked in story telling, animation, gameplay, of all the departments. The point is they seem to be a motivated bunch who just lost their plot. Hopefully they won’t screw up this time and so they might bring out the first decent Indian PC game.
2. Check On Pirates:
There is a very simple way to keep a check on pirates when it comes to games based on movies. Sadly no one’s tried it yet! Publishers could come up with an offer by which those who have watched the movie at a multiplex gets a discount coupon for the game. Even those people who had not planned to buy the game might buy it because of such coupons. An Indian friend of mine once told me that Indians are crazy about ‘free’ stuff.
3. The Huuuge Indian Diaspora:
Making a game which can be sold in India alone is a stupid idea considering how small the market is here. Also, a large chunk resort to piracy. This is where Indian Diaspora steps in. They are the largest in the world after the Chinese. Go to any country you will definitely bump into an Indian within a few hours!
They are crazy about Bollywood and anything Indian, even more than many Indians I have met here. So here lies a solid market. They can afford to pay $50 for a game, will love it if it’s good, will hate it and may never again buy a Bollywood movie based later on if it’s bad. So if guys at FXLabs are sure they have something solid in hand, they should consider exporting it!
4. Its High Time:
According to scientific studies, attention spans are quite low these days. By quite low, I am referring to snap-and-forget levels. Everyone wants instant results these days and if they don’t get it, they would move on, search for alternatives. We can’t let that happen for gaming here in India!
There have been many games, most of which lacked in quality or ideas. Either the gameplay sucks or the idea / theme is stolen. Most times, the hype is bigger than the creativity required. The result? Game falls flat on its face.
5. Show Them How To Do It:
Apart from a game based on a Bond movie and Harry Potter series, there haven’t been many games which were as successful as the movie. Spiderman games were a hit, sure, but they sold mainly because it was Spiderman. The gameplay was decent but not extraordinary.
Also, the storyline and the narration was vastly different from the movie. Ghajini game, if good, might become a case-study for game developers in western countries. They would surely want to know how Ghajini succeeded where their games didn’t.
6. They Left Hindu Mythology Alone:
I follow Indian animation scene too, and sadly they have been bit by the mythology bug since its initial stage. Everyone wanted to make a Mahabharatha or Ramanyana. Come on guys, think outside the box I used to tell them (telepathically). So when Roadside Romeo released I was glad, though the script and voice over were hopeless.
After animation, I was scared Indian game developers too would get into Hindu mythology. If this game succeeds, Indian game developers might not get into the Hindu-mythology-based-games mindset. Or so I hope! I read on a blog recently that there are two mythology based games being developed in India already. One, Legends of India by Trine games and the other a game on Hanuman’s childhood for PS2, by Sony of course!
7. Because Dhoom 2 Game Never Came Out:
Dhoom 2 videogame was supposed to release last year around this time. I saw a screenshot of the game on the website a while back, nothing more was ever mentioned abut the game, on site, or off it. That being the state, FX really needs to tighten their belt and work on this one, for their reputation sake. Sure they got a lot of VC funding and their dance kiosks got a lot of publicity, but what about the core audience? They got nothing!
For the uninitiated, Ghajini is a remake of a Tamil movie by the same name, which in turn is a remake of an English movie, Memento.
- By Danton Brown