Walk into any game retailer nowadays, head over to the Wii or DS section and you’ll notice some very familiar faces. Thanks to the casual nature of the Wii, TV based games are pretty big right now with every reality show or drama wanting in on the “fun”. Iron Chef, CSI, 1 Vs. 100, The Price is Right, Grey’s Anatomy: all games that casual gamers have bought, or have thought of buying since many of them don’t know any better (in all fairness though, The Price is Right isn’t that bad of a game when played with parents.) Normally, I wouldn’t even bother with any TV tie-ins, but with the not-so-recent announcement of a Dexter video game, my mind was changed a bit. With the announcement that Marc Ecko Entertainment would be making the game, and my interest piqued.

It got me thinking. Dexter is a more capable IP to turn into a game. Imagine Manhunt 2, but not as bad. The show isn’t nearly as popular as, say, Grey’s Anatomy, however in the end, it’ll probably sell 10x as many copies as that game because the viewers of Dexter are more likely to buy into the idea of a video game version of the show. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of TV shows that would make much better games than most of the ones that are forced on us now. If Dexter is successful as a game, maybe it will encourage publishers to look past the ratings success for their next TV based game. Because if you really want to make a successful game, you can’t view it as a quick cash in of a popular program. You have to choose the right show, that will either have the fan-base that will support a game version or a show that will easily translate into a video game, like the following 7 shows.

7. Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Genre: Survival Horror (duh!)

From it’s debut in 1991 to the end of it’s first run in 1996, Are You Afraid of the Dark? was my Saturday night. While I can safely look back now and see that the show wasn’t really that scary (in the same way you can read an early Goosebumps book and laugh), growing up that was horror to me. Though I don’t ever remember the show touching upon what truly scares me (spiders!), the variety of the tales told presents a wonderful set of options to any game developers. Also, because each story is different, there could be a different kind of survival horror gameplay for each story (i.e. survival-horror, action horror, horror horror). Though it’s debatable about which episodes were best, the five I would like to see in a game would be: The Tale of the Midnight Madness, The Tale of the Hatching, The Tale of the Quiet Librarian, The Tale of the Nightly Neighbors and The Tale of the Super Specs.

6. Veronica Mars

Genre: Adventure

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is one of my favorite games on the Nintendo DS. It is probably the most well written game I’ve ever played. Veronica Mars is one of my favorite detective shows. It is one of the most well written shows I’ve ever seen. Just as Hotel Dusk would translate into a movie quite easily, I think Veronica Mars would make an excellent game. Adventure games have once again become a popular genre, though not nearly as big as they were in the 90’s, but this time they’re big on handhelds. The DS is home to some of the best adventure games ever, including Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright. The system is even getting crappy ones like Jake Hunter or Lux Pain. I actually believe had the show been on for even one more year there would have been a video game version. If anything, a Veronica Mars video game could act as the official end to a series that ended on a cliff-hanger.

5. The Secret World of Alex Mack

Genre: Action Adventure/Sandbox (think Infamous, but for a younger audience)

Two reasons this show makes the list: 1-I really enjoyed growing up, 2- have you seen girl based games as of late? If you don’t remember the show, 11-year-0ld Alex Mack was walking home from school one day when a truck accident covered her in a chemical which granted her super-powers (think the episode of the Simpsons where Millhouse becomes Fallout Boy). Using her powers, she tries to expose the evil corporation Paradise Valley Chemical Plant, which also employs nearly the entire town. This was a quality show growing up. They don’t make shows for girls like this anymore, and they certainly don’t make games like this for girls at all. It’s a real shame that most games have females falling into two categories: sex kitten (for the men) and stereotypical horse-riding/babysitting/cooking/teaching - princesses. An Alex Mack game would not only break the mold, but also bring back a great show from many 20-somethings teen years.

4. Friday Night Lights/Playmakers

Genre: Sports/RPG

Think Inazuma Eleven, but with Football. Friday Night Lights is the most real, wholesome yet totally engaging drama on TV right now (until it’s cancelled for it’s terribly low ratings). Playmakers was a one season Football drama that aired on ESPN to much controversy and criticism from the NFL. I put both on the list because either one would make for a great game. Whether it’s high school or pro, the winning sports/rpg genre that has nearly been perfected by the team at Level-5 would allow both shows to translate their high drama sports action to consoles.

3. Road Rules

Genre: Adventure

There is a very popular game that most gamers have played at one point that is the basis for Road Rules’ inclusion on the list: The Oregon Trail. If you’ve ever watched the show, you know that Road Rules has a group of 5 or 6 people traveling from destination to destination completing challenges for money, prizes and clues. It’s like a modern day Oregon Trail, but with more whiny college students and less dysentery. The game would present a whole new competition with all new annoying cast members and challenges that take you to different destinations around the US. This could also present an interesting online component of the game. Just as Rock Band has online challenges, it would be interesting to for MTV to do the same with this game, with gamers vying for that number one spot. And let’s be honest, of the reality shows on MTV, this would probably make the best game.

2. Invader Zim

Genre: Platform/Action

It’s actually a shock that Invader Zim never received a video game of his own. Sure, the character does appear in several of the Nickelodeon party games, but lets be honest, those types of games could never capture the genius that this show had. Comedy in video games is difficult to achieve as is dark humor in a show that airs on a kid’s network, but Zim made it happen. I still can’t believe a show aired on Nick that had the main character playing with organs harvested from children. Quite frankly, it would just be nice to get a game from a Nick cartoon that isn’t Spongebob Squarepants.

1. Firefly

Genre: Sci-Fi/RPG

Firefly was a show that was doomed to fail. It aired on Fox and not the Sci-Fi channel, it was broadcast on Friday nights and Joss Whedon was a writer. Don’t get me wrong, Whedon is a great creator of shows, but when it actually comes to writing, he blows. Whedon created a show concept so cool that there was no way his writing ability would have been able to truly capture all it’s possibilities. Watch any episode and listen to the terrible, terrible dialogue that comes out of these characters mouths. While it sound like I hate the show, the only thing I hate about it is the copious amount of missed opportunities that it had. Where as the show was only able to have one mission per episode, an epic space drama ala Mass Effect would really allow the universe of Firefly to come alive and maybe give Whedon a chance to show what majesty would have become of the show had it not been assigned to the Friday night death slot.