Ghajini - The Game: A Milestone In Indian Gaming?

Let's Get Connected!

Product Headlines

Products

Written by Nimish Dubey

Monday, 09 March 2009 22:31

It may have crept relatively unheralded into the gaming market, but ‘Ghajini-The Game' could change Indian gaming forever.
when FXLabs announced that it was making a computer game based on the Hindi film Ghajini, there were a few eyebrows raised in the Indian gaming industry. Although this was by no means the first time an Indian game developer had tied up with Bollywood, many people were surprised at the company's decision to develop a full-fledged game based on the film, for the PC. Most Bollywood-gaming collaborations have been restricted to casual games designed for cell phones. Attempts at PC games based on Hindi films have been few and forgettable-a game based on one of the Bhagat Singh films sank without a trace. In fact, most films-whether Hollywood or Bollywood-made for poor game adaptations.

Besides, most Indian game developers had more or less given up on the PC, except for casual, online games. Indian gamers looking for an Indian game to play on their machines had very few options. The results were visible in the gaming section of any retail store-rack after rack stacked with international titles, with very token Indian representation.
Given this scenario, most people expected the Ghajini game to be a half-baked affair, containing a few scenes and dialogues from the film, some action sequences and little else. And were they wrong!

Surprisingly better than expected
The Ghajini game did not have a very high-profile release but those who played it could not help but be impressed. Although it did have its share of rough edges, the game represented a huge leap forward for Indian gaming. The graphics and sound effects were of international standards. The storyline, while sticking to that of the film, was well narrated. Gameplay was well designed with a decent mix of action, puzzles and adventure, with elements borrowed from cult hits from the West such as Max Payne and Splinter Cell (watch Aamir Khan sliding across a rope from one building to another and you will see what I mean).

And there was the little matter of Aamir Khan's involvement in the game, not just as a likeness, but also in the narration. This is perhaps the first time we have seen a major Indian star get so closely involved in a computer game. The result: India finally has a game that can take its place alongside some of the better titles offered internationally. And it's got a killer price tag too! At Rs 199, Ghajini is a mere fifth the price of most international releases. In short, it looked and sounded good, played well, had a decent storyline and major celebrity involvement, and did not cost the earth.

Miles to go
The unfortunate thing is that those factors are not enough in themselves to guarantee a game's success in India. In an era of high-profile launches, the Ghajini game's launch was a relatively tame one. The developers have also had to bear the brunt of reviewers who insisted on comparing it with other titles in the international market that were made over a longer span of time with far bigger budgets (and had much more hype surrounding them).

Even the Indian media has not really helped. Coverage of the game has been sparse and a TV news channel that covered the game claimed that it allowed children to play out the film on their computers. Now, the fact is that Ghajini is definitely not targeted at children and has a very solid mature feel to it. To top it all, even the game's distribution has been iffy-although both Music World and Planet M were supposed to stock it, branches of both stores in Delhi denied the very existence of the game a full week after its release. In the face of all these odds, one does not really know how well Ghajini-The Game will do in the Indian market. The odds are stacked heavily against it, to be honest.

Yes, the game too, has its weak points. While it does have the best graphics and sound effects we have ever seen in an Indian PC game, it definitely is not in the class of international titles like Crysis and Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV). Similarly, while the storyline is very good by Indian standards, those spoilt by the likes of Max Payne and Fable 2 will scoff at its simplicity. And of course, there are those who insist that the PC is finished as a gaming platform and that ‘real gaming' happens only on consoles, even though the number of computers in India is exponentially higher than that of consoles. That's one of the problems of living in a globalised environment-the benchmarks are international, rather than local. If all Ghajini had to face were games by Indian developers, FXLabs would have been laughing all the way to the bank. In the current scenario, the going is likely to be much tougher.

Changing benchmarks
However, there is no doubt that the game has changed the benchmarks for Indian gaming. Even if it fails, it might just change things for the better. It might spur more celebrities to invest time in games. It might make other film producers also think of entering collaborations with game developers to bring out deeper games based on their films-imagine being able to play a game based on a film like Deewar from the perspectives of both main characters, with authentic voices and likenesses to boot. In the West, games based on films often have different endings, giving the player far more control over the experience, and sometimes even paving the way for sequels. Perhaps that might happen in India too. Most important of all, it might encourage Indian game developers to move away from casual titles and try their hand at something that has more depth. Who knows, if more Indian titles start coming into the market, the media (which is currently skewed towards international titles on consoles) will also give them better coverage, which in turn, will spur distributors to work harder at making them more easily available over the counter. Of course, all that may take some time for happen. Meanwhile, I will just go back and have another stab at Ghajini on my Macbook. It may not be a GTA IV, but Ghajini-The Game is the first Indian tech product for a while that has made me feel proud to be an Indian. And surely that counts for something.