Seriously, why is there not a single decent Game of Thrones game like a AAA thing and why the hell there is no Firefly game at all, although we have, now that the zombie nonsense is over, got into a spacegame wave?

There is a Firefly pen-and-paper RPG. Never played it, though.

There is.

There's also a board game.

I haven't played the GoT RPG, or the Telltale game to speak of their quality, but I think the series has the same problem as many other adaptations, like LotR or The Matrix.

Those things are so lore dependant. People want to see those characters, going through that adventure, but that was never written to allow for a videogame adaptation.

The alternatives are:

Create story, characters and gameplay challenges fit for a videogame, then try to slot it inbetween the existing canon. Like the Game of Thrones RPG, LotR: The Third Age or Enter the Matrix, but then you run the risk of people not caring about your game because it features original characters (do not steal), instead of the ones they like or care about, with those at best being relegated to cameos.

Break canon for the sake of gameplay. The Matrix: Path of Neo did this. It ended with avatars for the Wachowskis breaking the fourth wall and telling the player the ending was going to be different from the movie, because an ending that works in that medium can translate into a lame ending for a videogame. Their solution was to have all the remaining Smith clones come together Voltron-style and make a giant Agent Smith. It was silly, but it was fun. This was hardly the first change the game made, another I remember is allowing Neo to escape the agents that come after him in his office. They were right to do that. A series of "supposed to lose" situations that get resolved in a cutscene without your input make for a bad videogame, because videogames are not movies. However, all the biggest fans of the property are often also the most canon obsessed. Any change you make that contradicts canon will be met with considerable backlash.

Finally, you can keep the characters, story and plot from the original. This means a RPG is right out because there can't be customization or different choices if you are sticking close to the canon. The alternative is to fit the existing sequences in the movie or property into a preexisting gameplay genre. What you're left with is the old licensed movie tie-in games, like LotR: Return of the King, where they take the action scenes in the movie and stretch them to half hour each.



I think Firefly could potentially be made into a game. It's something where its episodic nature and short tenure are actually an advantage. There is little canon to be beholden to, and whatever you make can just be seen as canon as an additional episode.

Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire on the other hand, there is no escaping. Either you make new characters, break canon, or make something boring.



My dream ASOIAF game would be a crossover with Dynasty Warriors. Lean in on the characters and how distinct they are. Have you play a campaign with each house and give us a different ending for each one. Make it ridiculous. Like "Tyrion doing flips with an axe defeating a 1000 mooks singlehandedly" ridiculous. Change the story. Make a running joke out of hinting that you're going to cut off Jamie's hand and never do it. It would be extremely silly, but it would make for a fun game, and instead of trying to adapt into a videogame a story that was never meant to be a game in the first place, you can just pay homage to the characters you liked from it. Of course, most purists would hate it on principle and consider the whole game an insult to the property.

I probably wouldn't go for that, not because I'm a rabid 'canon is canon and cannot be altered' fanatic, but because I'd rather see a more serious role-playing game in the setting, using the lore of the books, but with new characters. So, breaking canon in the sense that the game wouldn't be centered or focused around existing characters - and maybe with only hints and mentions of the plot events from the books. Something a lot more in-depth than the 'RPG' already released (which is more of an action game).

I really wish there was a Firefly PC game, as an open world RPG (not MMO), even if it meant breaking canon (or maybe the player characters interact with instead of play as the TV show/movie characters)

Cyanide's Game of Thrones RPG is awesome. Takes awhile to get going (I hated it at first and most are likely to feel the same early on), but the writing is ultimately better than what you'll find in the latest few seasons of the show. Hugely underrated.

Seriously now- I really don't think there's much to the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire as a setting. I mean really, other than the names of people and places, does something like Medieval: Total War feel significantly different? The fantasy elements like the ice zombies or those last few dragons are largely absent in the books most of the time, and I really don't think those are what the fans care about the most anyway. It's really mostly War of the Roses in a fictional setting. That's why even the map of Westeros looks like Britain, only we don't go to Scotland because Hadrian's Wall is still up. What I'm trying to say is, I'm sure a good game of Song of Ice and Fire could be made, I just don't see the need. Something like Medieval Total War or Defender of the Crown or Crusader Kings will do you just as well.

There are a couple of game of thrones mods for mount & blade:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/a-world-of-ice-and-fire

http://www.moddb.com/mods/a-clash-of-kings

They look good, but haven't got round to them myself yet.

As for firefly, not sure they could ever do it justice. And there are quite a lot of space games out there.

Maybe once the series is finished. Otherwise the problem with canon I see isn't who you are focusing on, it's what can even happen in your plot, and so far the main characters shape the world too much to create new characters and not feel like their actions don't have meaning. Unless you go super small and contained so that what's going in the War of the Five Kings, or the Ironborn rising up, and the crown falling apart, won't affect it too much. But then don't you end up in the Telltale scenario (I haven't played it) with House Forrester that people didn't care much for?

When the series ends, if someone is allowed to make a RPG that takes place in the aftermath and create its own canon there, then I can see it working.

Yeah, good point, although as I said, I'm not hung up on 'canon' like many rabid fans (god I become weary of even seeing/hearing the word 'canon'), so I'd be quite content to have events of the game (or series of games) completely diverge from the books. As long as it's a fun and involved RPG set in the world of Westeros.

Hell, I'd even go for a game set before the events in the books. There are tons of opportunities to tell interesting stories in the setting, IMO.

If you squint and use a little imagination, Firefly could fit into the Independence War 2 universe - and vice verse. Cal, Mal... pretty close. ; ) But it's spaceship-only: no walking around.

I honestly think Steamworld Heist is about as good a "Firefly" game as we're likely to get.

How about a tactical RPG where the story comes true or any number of alternative universes pans out? All while having the same core characters playing to be the victor of the GOT?