This Is How Wii Do It

There are certain rules that should always be followed with console gaming. Never buy a system in the first year of its release, wait a month after a game is released and the price may become reasonable, maybe those really cheap games are on sale for a reason, you will probably regret buying that ultimate collectors edition version and only buy a current gen FPS if you really like the colours brown or grey.

However there may be exceptions to these rules. It is, after all at least technically possible that a console might come out with more than one game that's actually worth buying. I'm not saying it's likely, but it is TECHNICALLY possible. Occasionally a game might come out that you like the look of enough to buy straightaway at full price, there are occasional gems in the shovelware pile.

However there is one rule that is basically universal, across all times and systems. One that everybody knows and still breaks anyway:

NEVER buy a movie tie in.

Just as movies of games tend to lack a certain something (such as plot, talent or a single good reason for existing) games of movies tend to be poor affairs. Rushed out in order to tie in with release dates and quickly relegated to the bargain bin. Bought buy unwitting parents for soon to be disappointed children and quickly traded in for a few pence of Generic Shooter 5. It's simply a question of forced adaption syndrome. Some media simply does not translate well into other media. If the process is to work even slightly it takes time and care. Just look at the string of broken novels and franchises Hollywood has left behind over the years. They can't even make a decent film based on a film.

So I decided to completely ignore the cardinal rule of gaming and have bought myself The Golden Compass on the Wii.

Why? Well, partly so I can really see how the rule holds up with first hand experience and write about it. Partly because I had recently read the book (though I was hardcore enough to read a copy with the original title at least), and thus it would be interesting to see how the story was filtered double filtered through it's various adaptations. I mean, this is the game of the film of the book. If anything has a right to be hilariously bad it's this. Mostly however it's because it was cheap. I was shopping for games, it was there and only five pounds. The elements of destiny collided and now here I am, set to embark on my epic quest.

Let's see how this turns out, shall we?