The episodic experiment began in mid-2006 with Half-Life 2: Episode One and SiN: Episodes - Emergence. Grand stories were told about how episodic gaming would mark a major shift in the way games are developed and delivered. All fine and dandy, but a year and a half since all the grand posing, where exactly do we stand?

WARNING (and Disclaimer): Personal opinions, long sentences and an abrupt ending to follow!

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I don’t know how many of you are still following LOST nowadays . Given the fact how Season 3 started out (godawful) , it wasn’t a shocker to realise that many fans had migrated to other series such as Prison Break and Heroes ;  for they provided answers that progressed the storyline rather than trying to explain already overcomplicated ordeals . Anyways, being a true (and hopeful) LOST fan, I kept hanging around praying that the show would recover itself from a declining slant steeper than the stock market value quadrant of Enron on D-Day.

And yes, it has recovered somewhat thanks to even more complicated explainations thrown into the already swelling bag of LOST tricks. Then again, who cares as long as it’s good TV; I mean, given the dearth of good shows nowadays (I am definitely not talking about Indian TV … Good TV is a myth out here) I anxiously wait every Thursday to download the latest LOST episode and get my weekly fix. With the third season coming to its nailbiting end, each episode is getting better than the last. More and more of our questions are getting answered (How did Locke get his disability? Why does Desmond keep calling everyone else brother? to name a few). The cliffhanger at the end of the latest episode, D.O.C. literally blew my head away (For those lazy enough to find out what the fuss is all about, follow this link for Spoilers). After I collected my jaw from the floor and several minutes of OMG and WTF later I realised that it’s finally back and that too with a bang. It’s back to its original charm that lured us in like a herd of LOST sheep in the first place.

So what are you waiting for ? Get back in line and become a mindless drone trained for only one purpose ; To make the producers of LOST , super-duper rich and famous …. again!

Sometimes I just wonder how Andy Serkis gets on with his career? This is probably the only guy who is one of the most popular actors that’s rarely seen on screen in his real form. From Gollum to King Kong, Serkis has motion captured his way right into our hearts and into the annals of moviemaking history. And if mo-capping for movies wasn’t enough, he’s now doing it for what probably could become one of the best games ever made - Heavenly Sword.

I’m just gonna shut up and let his persona say it all. This is one of the best mo-capping shoots I’ve ever seen, even though it’s more rant than action. All hail the coming of the new age thespian. <Gollum!> (sigh) As if Heroes didn’t piss me off by showing Micah and Niki/Jessica playing the game, now this has to come along. Damn, Heavenly Sword is fast becoming the reason I’ll run out and buy a PS3 the day the game hits the shelves.

Heroes fans – wait! Before you pee all over in your pants in excitement, let me clear this. There is no such game in the works…as of now. But considering I have tons of free time, I decided that it won’t hurt to speculate a bit about the possibility of one such game. Now I won’t claim that the original idea was mine. In fact, I happened to stumble upon a discussion at the 9th Wonders forums, a fan forum dedicated to Heroes, the hottest new show on the box right now.

The story of Heroes deals with the life of a few individuals who wake up one fine day to discover that nature has decided to do a Darwin on them. From spontaneous cellular regeneration to doing a Superman and taking to the skies, they can do it all. Throw in a super villain hell bent on acquiring all the powers, even if that comes at the cost of living on a diet of brains, and a future vision of New York destroyed in one humungous explosion and you have got some compelling prime television there.

Now with the TRP ratings shooting through the sky, the series is a gold mine for the producers to milk dry. So it wont be surprising if we soon see a nice box packed “Heroes – The Game” or something similar sitting pretty on the shelf one of these days. But the question is, do we need such a game?

Traditionally, very few TV shows have translated well into games based on them. 24, a highly rated show didn’t live up to the expectations once it was made into a game. Similarly, CSI has got a couple of games out in the market but nothing that could match the actual show. So when someone asked about a Heroes game in the above mentioned forum, fans were similarly divided in opinion as to whether there should be one at all.

On the positive side, the show’s theme lends well to a game. Any character that can fly faster than the Blue Caped hero or turn invisible ala The Invisible Man or even go up in a mushroom cloud once the insanity meter explodes can be translated on to the video game screen. Believers say that the proposed game would be a great way to tie in the viewers with the show by offering parallel story lines. Gamers can create their own unique characters with powers of their own choice and join the quest to “Save The World”. Who wouldn’t love to stop time and go around saving people ala Hiro Nakamura? Of course I would be doing some things questionable but let’s leave that aside for the moment. The presentation style of the show is like a comic with an overarching theme encompassing all the characters at the same time. Similarly the game can borrow these factors to enable the gamer to be a part of the quest, form a brotherhood with the other heroes and take on the Evil. It could also be in the mould of an RPG where the characters level up, which could be in reference to the characters on the show slowly realizing and refining their abilities. The possibilities are endless but there is one question that the naysayers of the game are asking.

Will they be able to pull it off? Many have tried before and failed miserably. Besides, they point out that the show is still in its nascent state. The show scores on the drama front but will it translate well if converted into a game? What will Mohinder do besides going around with The List and talking to people? What will Peter do besides leaping off buildings and pushing off the bangs off his face? Simply put, there will be many characters with awesome potential but nothing really there to do in the game. That will be something like the death knell for a promising game. Maybe once the action parts of the show pick up, the game would be more feasible but as of now, it should be left alone.

With both the sides putting forth valid arguments, its really difficult to make the decision right now. A game will be there at some point of time is a forgone conclusion. The base line is, will YOU be buying it?

Thanks to all the members on The 9th Wonders Boards for the great discussion.