How did this get past us? According to Deadline Hollywood’s Nellie Andreeva, Merv Griffin Entertainment and Namco Bandai Games America are teaming up to develop… wait for it…
A Pac-Man reality show.
A what? No…
Yes, actually, the idea is to make what Griffin’s Roy Bank calls “the world’s biggest game of tag,” replete with Wipeout-style antics. They’re shopping the concept to the networks now.
Oh, sure, say it’s ridiculous. Maybe it is. But you would watch it. You know you would. You would tell everyone you wouldn’t, but you would, just to see what it could possibly be like. Admit it.
Surely, though, you can think of other classic video games that would make for interesting reality TV concepts. A real-life Leisure Suit Larry with contestants trying to pick up women at singles resorts in the Caribbean? (Too much like “Shipmates”?) Any first-person shooters like Doom or Quake, like televised Laser Tag? I’m holding out for a real-life Dig Dug, myself. I’m thinking a giant set like a human ant farm. Give me some time to work on the pitch.
But I don’t work fast enough: The New York Post says there are plans to make an Angry Birds animated TV series. Anyone have the rights to Plants v. Zombies?
HT: Engadget
Smash TV is already made to be a reality show. Just swap out the real guns with some laser tag gear and go to town.
Real lfe recreation of pitfall. I hear there is a mine in Chille available for a set.
check this out…it was the ending of a comedy show in the 80’s in the former Yugoslavia…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AdW1dVhVQ
It might look something like this 🙂
Brilliant ideas abound above! Joust! Yes! Dig Dug! Yes! Elevator Action! Yes!
I say bring on Mat Mania hosted by Koko B. Ware and Cousin Luke of the Bushwackers. Contestants are only allowed eight moves each.
Or Operation Wolf where we see contestants brave the jungles of South America and Southeast Asia to battle drug cartels armed only with an uzi and plethora of hand grenades. Ben Stiller executive produces.
And Toobin’ would make a mint during summer sweeps alternating nights with Wipeout. (I’m serious. Hear me ABC Family?)
Contra. American Gladiators style. Nerf guns. Paint bombs. Giant flaming, rocket shooting, red light blinking, robot walls. It sells it’s self really.
Marble Madness. Think The Running Man but inside of those hamster balls meets American Gladiators (The awesome late 80’s/early 90’s version with Laser not the sh*tty remake with Hulk Hogan hosting). Also, dose the contestants with small amounts of LSD; not enough to blow them out so they start urinating themselves and painting their “hamster balls” with fecies but enough to make them get the eye of the tiger. Life size hamster balls. Needed to get one more of those in.
A real-life Cut the Rope reality show would be awesome, maybe Wipeout!-style.
via @nerdist […] List your ideas for porting games to TV in the comment thread.
Space Invaders, of course!
Typo fixed. Having spent way too many quarters on video games back in those days, Namco is imprinted on my brain. Too bad my fingers didn’t get that memo.
Thanks!
You mean Namco.
NAMCO Bandai.
I only make this correction because in Japanese, Manco(or also spelled, Manko), is rude Japanese slang for a vagina.
@AllyKat – It’s possible to gin up a reasonable facsimile of Joust using kayaks. Smash over your buddies and steal their beer/eggs, before said beer/eggs turn into… um… okay it’s not a perfect conversion…
Elevator Action – only if the show makes as little sense as the game
and there is the possibility of a car-less elevator shaft
RBI Baseball – oh wait, that is game based on reality. Unless you can get Tony Armas and Steve Bedrosian out of retirement, that show is going nowhere anyway.
Rush n Attack – Former Soviet military get the chance to over run a small, midwestern town.
Contra – Replace Aliens with gang members. Replace Alien world with the West Side of Chicago.
And above all else, movies from 80’s promised me a Running Man like show and robots for all. Boo the present.
Ice Climber anyone?
World Of Warcraft would make for a SICK TV show. But i don’t want reality TV I want like EPIC fairy tale type
I’ll watch Angry Birds if it’s about irate British women.
Battletoads Reality Show
Battletoads: It’s not easy being green.
You know, a little 12 minute (2 episode per 30 minute block) cartoon of Plants vs Zombies would be neat. The plants could be hanging out at the local watering hole, zombies spring random attack, silly battles take place… same plot of all the ‘action’ cartoons of the 80’s/90’s! People could submit their own zombie avatars to be featured, win prizes…get achievements for watching the show… Great tie in!
I’m thinking a modified version of Joust would go a loooong way!
Contestants ride on the backs of Ostriches, or Lamas or something, highly decorated, and have to survive ala Gladiator, rounds against champions from the show, with the ground beneath them slowly decreasing in space until they end up in the water!
Or maybe minus the live animals… I have a feeling they’d be hard to train… and not… you know… drowned.
Wipeout! already has a Donkey Kong style barrels level. I’m sure a Burgertime reality show would do well on the Food Network.
Syfy did this already.. it was called “Cha$e” replace runners with contestants, and “hunters” with “ghosts” (aka inky, binky, etc..)
http://www.syfy.com/chase/about/
im sure they l put their own spin on it and all.. but it didn’t really do that great then.. what makes them think it will now..
Clue as a reality game show! Wait a minute…never mind.
But wow, talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. I’m going to go watch Community now so I can have my faith in tv restored again.
I’m not a fan of the Reality TV shows but I’m a huge Pac-man fan! This will either make the reality shows better or it’ll make me hate them even more!