Writer for Scarface Slams Industry for Making Bad Movie Tie-in Games

The game Scarface: The World Is Yours is based upon the cult classic film Scarface, starring Al Pacino. Moviegoers will remember the grittiness of the film and characters, not to mention the over-the-top shootout between Tony Montana and the rival drug gang. Many gamers are hoping the game will do justice to the film. Among the voices of hopeful is David McKenna, the scriptwriter for the game. However, McKenna,s experience with scripting the video game not only gave him an education in the process of production, but also opened his eyes to the fact that many games that are based upon movies are bad. When talking with Reuters, McKenna stated, "When you think about Jaws and The Godfather, although they were great movies, I don’t see them in the same vein as something like what they’re doing with Scarface." He took issue with the fact that many game companies were just in it for a quick profit, rather than producing a quality product. "It’s getting to the point where you’re just bastardizing the whole business just to make a buck. That’s fine, but I think the American public is a little too smart for that." Should every movie be turned into a game? According to McKenna, this idea is a bad one. "I don’t think every movie makes a good videogame, just like not every story makes a good movie." McKenna discovered that writing a script for a video game isn,t a great way to get a head in the world. "It really is a lot of work, and the pay isn’t that great. I know they’re on really tight budgets for videogames. I think that if they come to the realization that they can hire good writers to create videogames, in the long run it will help sell more copies.” In essence, McKenna thinks that video game companies scrimp too much when it comes to hiring good writing talent. “You get what you pay for, unless writers and actors make sacrifices like we did on this game. But they’re not going to be making sacrifices too many times, trust me."