First came the comic book superheroes — Batman, Superman, and Spiderman rising like pop-culture phoenixes from the pages of comic books. Then came the video games. The next inevitable step was casting comic book superheroes as stars of those video games.
So went the evolution of the video-game culture, catapulting the gaming category into the No. 1 spot of the children entertainment industry, where it’s expected to stay for a long time.
John Kuraica, director of the Game Art & Design and Media Arts & Animation programs at The Art Institute of California – Sacramento, says he sees a trend toward companies releasing comic books and graphic novels in tandem with their related video games.
“They’re crossing boundaries and genres,” says Kuraica, who worked on the game Dead Space for Electronic Arts. ”In the past, people who would purchase comics didn’t necessarily play games. Now the marketers are trying to cross-promote novels with games. I believe that we are just seeing the beginning
of this trend.”
There’s often a common storytelling thread between the graphical art of comic books and the interactive element of video games. The main technical distinction is the difference of 2D and 3D art.
Dave Bogan, an art director at Telltale Games, works with a concept artist to help translate a 2D comic into a 3D game. ”You’ve got to solve certain problems and make certain sacrifices to translate it into 3D,” Bogan says.
Comic artists attempt to draw characters from the most appealing angles, meaning that certain angles that need to exist in a 3D game are never created.
For example, the company’s Sam & Max video game characters are truly 3D and viewable from any angle. But when translating the characters into the video game Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, the art department at Telltale Games decided to keep most of the characters 2D. Because when translated into 3D, Bogan says, the characters “fell apart” when viewed from certain angles.
Think game design and animation may be your thing? Learn more about programs offered at The Art Institutes schools, available in many parts of the country.
