Fallout TV series director Jonathan Nolan says his obsession with Fallout 3 “almost derailed his career” and that pleasing video game fans is “a fool’s errand”
Fallout TV series director Jonathan Nolan says his obsession with Fallout 3 “almost derailed his career” and that pleasing video game fans is “a fool’s errand”
28 Comments
You can never please everyone. I just want them to market it true to what it is. If you are going to market it as a ‘true to the lore’ type of show, don’t just make stuff up and change things.
But if you market it as inspired by.. i know it is similar but i can expect certain changes..
Tell that to the creators of The Last of Us . Other than some mixed reactions to the episode with Nick Offerman by a bunch of bigots, I don’t think I’ve ever seen gamers upset about that show even with some major changes to the game’s story.
>I think you have to come into this trying to make the show that you want to make and trusting that, as fans of the game [ourselves], we would find the pieces that were essential to us… and try to do the best version.
I wanna highlight this because, to me at least, this has vibes that are less “I’m gonna do what I want, fuck the source material”(Halo) and more “I’m gonna put what I thought was the essence of the games into this and hope that’s what fans also wanted”.
Hopefully he just doesn’t, you know, entirely fuck up the part where it still has to be good.
I hope Jonathan will create great TV show if is such a hardcore fan of games. If he sticks to story from Fallout games I’m sure that will please Fallout fans.
I could be reading into it wrong. But the title feels a bit, off. He didn’t actually say specifically pleasing video game fans is a fools errand.
>Nolan added, “It’s kind of a fool’s errand to try to figure out how to make [other] people happy… You’ve got to make yourself happy. And I’ve made myself very happy with the show.”
It’s ok… If anyone’s used to being disappointed, it’s fallout fans.
if you love the lore, then just make it good.
My friends who are really into the games/lore have loved all the little details in the trailers so far, kinda seems like he is pleasing the fans regardless
It is a fools errand to try to please video game fans because there is more than one of them. Therefore there is more than one opinion on any given choice made.
Honestly tho the trailers seemed to nail the spirit of it, so I’m cautiously optimistic.
It’s a Jonathan Nolan project so I expect that it will deal with very obvious symbolism and metaphor that characters think is profound. It may also feature downbeat covers of pop and rock music on the score, especially if they add to the obvious symbolism. Look for “it’s the end of the world as we know it” as a synth-wave dirge.
It is such an immersive game, you can def get lost in it.
There’s a line in the preview that gives me hope that he understands the source material:
>!Everyone wants to save the world. They just disagree about how to do it.!<
The video game industry gave up pleasing fans years ago, and look at them!
You and me both, Johnathan Nolan.
Arcane managed it.
Ehhh it’s not not what he actually said, but the people making the Witcher, halo, and other shows probably made themselves very happy. Those shows suck fat ass tho.
So here’s hoping he means making his inner fan happy or something like that
Fallout fans argue with Fallout fans constantly. The subreddit is a mess. Jonathan Nolan is right.
To me, nailing the tone and spirit of Fallout are much more important than a specific story. Each game is largely standalone so as long as there are references to certain elements, I think it should be fine. (A Fallout show without power armor, a retro 50’s aesthetic, or an undercurrent of dark comedy is probably missing something.)
Checks out
The moment I learned this show was based on the west coast I became completely skeptical to it. I really don’t understand why they couldn’t do a state that has never been in the games but nope they choose the west coast the most expanded on lore-wise and the easiest to fuck up and ruin 3 whole games worth of set up.
Do not fuck this up Johnny.
thats exactly what you want to hear, i have high hopes for this series
Agree, as long as he stays true to the game’s essence, we’re good. No need to please everyone, just don’t mess up the lore
Fuck, he’s a Fallout 3 fan.
New Vegas
Just keep it close to the source material, and people will like it. We don’t need any more adaptations ruined. We don’t need any more shows with political agenda undermining the quality of the writing.
This is Fallout. It should be funny, absurd, dark, and poke fun at humanity. It shouldn’t be a reason to be like, “Oh so this is what it’s like to be a woman in a maaaaan’s post-apocalyptic society.”
Just. Make. It. Fallout.
When does this come out?
Hmm… Halo (removed helmet, unnecessary sex scene/romance), The Witcher (after Henry Cavil left and the story focused on other characters), Netflix Resident Evil (race swaps, personality changes, weird dance numbers, main character is a super selfish unlikeable jerk), Super Mario Brothers 1993 (dinosaur goombas and a terrifying Yoshi). What else…