Video Games That Would Make Amazing TV Shows

• 1. Mass Effect

  

  Ongoing interstellar sagas have long been a staple of the small screen, but we’ve been missing them lately. The last Star Trek series went off the air almost nine years ago, and while Battlestar Galactica was a hit, it was short-lived.

  Sure, you’ve got Doctor Who, but there’s no replacement for a good space opera, with warring interstellar civilizations and heroic military crews discovering unspeakable threats and saving the galaxy on a weekly basis. The lack of a new TV show like that might be because from 2007 to 2012, sci-fi geeks were telling their own interactive stories in BioWare’s Mass Effect saga.

  If you’ve seen shows like Star Trek and played Mass Effect, this one doesn't really need a sales pitch. It’s a surefire win. Just make sure Commander Shepard is played by a killer lady -- true gamers know FemShep is the real Shepard.

  
  

• 2. Clumsy Ninja

  

  Console and PC games don’t have a monopoly on great characters who would adapt well for television. There are plenty to pick from -- an overwhelming number, really -- but one really stands out.

  Angry Birds might seem like an obvious choice due to its popularity, but Clumsy Ninja, whose developer was just purchased by Zynga of FarmVille fame, strikes a chord with its cute protagonist who is finding his feet in the world and stumbling more than a few times along the way.

  Kids will relate, and of course there’s plenty of opportunity for daring action and slapstick comedy. Ninjas never go out of style -- they wear black, after all.

  
  

• 3. Red Dead Redemption

  

  The Western used to be one of television’s most popular genres, but it has never been a big hit with gamers. That’s why it was such a surprise that 2010’s most critically acclaimed game, Red Dead Redemption, brought cowboys back into the pop culture lexicon for just a little while.

  Written and produced by the same team that’s behind Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemptionwas a cynical look at the early American west. Its tragic hero was relatable for both his desperation and his dry comments.

  We could see a serial drama in the vein of The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad that explores the darker, rougher side of the great American frontier. Make it happen, AMC.

  
  

• 4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

  

  Remember '90s TV, when Hercules and Xena wandered a vague approximation of Ancient Greece, doing heroic good deeds for whichever town-in-distress needed it that week? That pretty much describes the gameplay experience of 2011 RPG mega-hit The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to a T, only it’s a Nordic fantasy province instead of a cheeky classical realm.

  Mix that proven sword-and-sorcery formula with a catalog of lore as detailed and deep as that ofThe Lord of the Rings, and you can see the appeal.

  If gamers can find more than 200 hours of content to play through in each Elder Scrolls game, then a great showrunner could easily find 10 seasons of stories to tell in Tamriel. Plus, Skyrim has sold 20 million copies. If all those gamers tuned in every week, the show would be as big as American Idol.