Are video games that hard to make into movies?

An open debate since the beginning of the video game era that has been the subject of off and on deliberation. Can video games be made into successful movies? The literal translation of games to film is one that seems to be taken quite far off the trail blazed by the video games as it seems like whenever a movie comes out based on a video game, it is far from the source material to try and tell an original story using the same characters. This can be frustrating as a gamer and cinephile.

While Tomb Raider has been made into a successful movie, ever since Super Mario Bros. was made in the 80's it has been a challenge to create movies based off video games. I feel the biggest obstacle is the fact that you are trying to take an 8-15 hour campaign story and try to squeeze it into 2 hours of screen time. Most of the character development goes to the wayside as you try to turn the game into a film. This is why the process always begins with a good script and somebody that understands not only the development of the game, but also has the speed to develop characters quickly to move the story forward.

I look forward to Assassins Creed and God of War being made into movies, but if the recent halt of the Halo movie is any indication of what hollywood thinks about video games then I feel these games will be confined to their consoles and never grace the silver screen.