The Last is best

OZ’s Jake Wax had the idea for this week’s Z-Files – a look at HBO’s new hit series, The Last of Us, which is based on a PlayStation video game of the same name.

This is not the first attempt to bring a video game to TV or the silver screen, although it is probably the most successful attempt to date.  A TV show based on Halo flopped.  The Assassin’s Creed movie? Not the best.  The 1993 Super Mario Bros. film was garbage (although they are trying again this summer). Even Sony’s attempt to make a movie based on The Last of Us never got off the ground because of irreconcilable differences over the plot.

But this show works. Jake thinks the difference is that this series isn’t merely game play brought to a screen. Instead, it creates a narrative and a back story for the game’s characters. At the same time, it doesn’t stray too far from the game’s premise, even including dialogue lifted right from the game. So, it has achieved a neat balance.

At least one critic sees it the same way Jake does, and suggests that the series and the game play off each other, with a knowledge of one enhancing your appreciation of the other. He believes it may serve as a model for other video game companies hoping to bring their popular games to television.

I wonder what the deeper psychology is behind this?  If you enjoy playing The Last of Us, what does it do for you to see those characters come to life in a series? Or…if you see the show first, what does it give you to then start playing the game?

Perhaps this is the mentality that drives the success of sports-themed behind-the-scenes shows like the NBA’s Pass the Rock or the NFL’s Hard Knocks on HBO, which get up close and personal with various players or teams and see them in a way you don’t normally see them.  Maybe it feels like an all-access pass into a world we don’t typically visit.