I've been a fan of Lost going on two seasons now (including this one), struggling to play catch-up while embracing its awesomeness as one of the best shows on television. I got into Lost sometime after the Writers' Strike took all of my other favorite shows on television (Chuck and Terminator: TSCC, namely, which you should be watching because they're great, too). I was immediately sucked into the world of the island, Flight 815, The Dharma Initiative, Desmond's psychic powers and Sayid's undisputed badass Bourne-style activities.

So, naturally, as a Lost fan and a gamer, when I found out about Lost: Via Domus, I was happy. Lost + video game = awesome, right? My friends -- also Lost fans and gamers -- who bought Lost: Via Domus before I got a chance to, though, weren't so happy and their reactions convinced me not to buy it.

Just because the first attempt to turn Lost into a video game didn't work out doesn't mean that there shouldn't be future attempts to make one. We (as gamers) are always talking about how video games are so powerfully creative and their capabilities in terms of immersion, writing, direction and presentation -- areas that Lost excels in as a television show. If the video game industry was able to put together a Lost video game that was as high a caliber as the show deserves, that would help add some credibility to our claims about the capabilities of video games as a medium.

But who could handle such an undertaking? There's one developer I can think of right away capable of creating a great Lost video game: Quantic Dream, the developers of Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain.

As a matter of fact, given their work on Indigo Prophecy, there's no one better to handle a Lost video game. Conspiracy, puzzle solving, encounters with supernatural elements, drama -- all elements that Lost and Indigo Prophecy have in common. Plus, Quantic Dream has proven to have plenty of capabilities in the adventure genre, which is perfect for a show like Lost, which (as mentioned above) favors characters and direction over straight-up action. For the more intense chase/action sequences that take place during the show, Indigo Prophecy had more than a few of these that were well done and The Origami Killer demo for Heavy Rain proves that QD has made even more advancements in these sequences since their work on the 2005 sleeper hit.

Perhaps best of all is Lost's episodic format, for a few reasons. First, we've seen some light experimentation with DVD-style "episodes"/"chapters" in video games, in titles such as the most recent Alone In The Dark, which even had "rewinds" to help remind gamers what happened the last time they played. If a developer's going to make a game based on Lost, they're going to be throwing a bunch of plotlines at the gamer, some of which they might not remember right away if they start playing and don't play again for a while. Gamers can attest to this: there is nothing more frustrating than having to start over in a game you've played a part of the way through because you don't remember the plot. Episodes would help keep the game easily digestible and "rewinds" would remind gamers of anything they might not remember right away.



Also, if Quantic Dream wanted to avoid retail for whatever reason, episodic content would make a Lost video game very easy to circulate via services like PSN, Xbox Live, WiiWare and Steam. They could set up an episode-by-episode subscription model or one flat fee for all the episodes.

Quantic Dream is also independent -- i.e. without a publisher -- so, no problems with ABC potentially looking to an outside publisher. Quantic Dream could develop the title and Disney Interactive could publish it, semi-similar to the situation with Square Enix and the Kingdom Hearts franchise (Disney Interactive co-publishes KH in North America).

The potentially biggest hindrance to a great Lost video game, though -- even if a talented developer like QD was at the helm -- is the lack of participation by Lost's talented cast. For Via Domus, a few of the show's most notable names were replaced by stand-ins because some of the cast didn't participate in voice-overs for the game, which would detract from even the most immersive Lost title. If Lost is going to have the game it deserves, the cast will need to participate and give the same kind of performances we've come to expect from them on the show.

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So, my ultimate Lost video game is an adventure title developed by Quantic Dream. Who would you have handle your ultimate Lost video game, what genre would it be in and why? Let us know in the comments below!