First Challenge: Shades of Noir (PSP)
October 17th, 2006 by Pierre-Alexandre Garneau
Let’s see what came up for this first challenge… Both the theme and the platform were randomly selected from lists I created for this purpose. Here’s what came up:
- Theme: Film Noir
- Platform: PSP
An interesting theme to start with. There aren’t many games out there that fit the dark and cool feel of the Films Noirs of the 40s and 50s. This style is gaining popularity, with movies like Sin City and Renaissance. The wide screen of the PSP is also very appropriate to give a good cinematic feeling.
On the other hand, noir movies aren’t so easy to adapt as games — their slower pace and character-centered stories are very different from the popular adrenaline-packed game genres. A shooter or driving game could work, but they’d only borrow the superficial look of those movies, without fitting what they really are about. Films noirs aren’t filled with endless action scenes, and neither should the games based on them.
While this theme has potential, it’ll be challenging to make it feel right as a game without sacrificing what those films are all about. Come back tomorrow to see just how I decide to approach this theme.
