Here I present a model to look at game adaptations. Feel free to download it, but if using it please mention me as author - and a LIKE would be nice. Game adaptations of books / cartoons / films are influenced by three main things: 1) the source / 'original' works - narrative adaptation; 2) game medium: practices, genres, language, etc. ; and 3) 'external' factors such as budgets, editorial guidelines, cultural perceptions of audience, etc. Knowing this can help plan adaptations - and help make them better. Poster based on MA research into adaptation of books into cartoon and videogame. Introduces the concept of 'extratextuality', or extratextual factors (like modes of production) to explain the results of game production / adaptation in conjunction with the influence of source / derived works and other games (hyper- and inter-textuality).

1. Game adaptations of narratives from other media are based not just hypertextually on their source texts
But also intertextually on other games and games conventions, on technological resources and constraints
Besides textual influences, game adaptations are also strongly shaped by extratextual conditions of production
(budgets, technology, editorial guidelines, established industrial practices and perceptions of target audiences.), all of
which influence the ways in which game adaptations translate existing narratives. I’d like to propose the term
EXTRATEXTUALITY to encompass the analysis of this type of factors – the non-textual influences on the text
In summary, producers manage a series of resources and constraints to produce games and meet the expectations of
different audiences: from book readers to film fans, to game players; game producers are influenced by source texts,
previous adaptations, other games, game genres and gaming conventions, and so on… all framed by EXTRATEXTUAL
factors of production.
Want to use or help me improve this model? Email me: claudio.pires.franco@gmail.com © Claudio Pires Franco, 2014
• In this poster I want to tell you about a case study that illustrates the flows of cultural production between books, TV
and digital games; It shows how book stories are expanded into other media, how narratives are translated, and how
audience flows are taken into consideration
• The property under the microscope is Muddle Earth. This was essentially a study of game production, and followed
the adaptation journey of Muddle Earth from a children’s book, into a BBC TV series, and finally into a game
• The main goal of the study was to explore what happens to the source narrative in this journey - how it is continued,
how it is transformed, and integrated into the language and conventions of the new media
• The ME game adaptation was essentially a translation of an existing narrative into a new medium, the game
medium, which uses a mix of remediated and specific devices for telling stories; this adaptation as translation means
that changes are inevitable, even necessary. For game producers, adapting a book or a cartoon into a game means
leading with a series of resources and constraints; I’d like to briefly propose a model to look at game adaptations in
this light…