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It wasn't until fairly recently that voice acting in video games was done by either no-name actors trying to pay the bills or B- and C-list actors who were, well, also trying to pay the bills. The Command and Conquer games began employing a mixed bag of actors in its 1999 iteration, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun, when they managed to snag Luke Skywalker's big daddy James Earl Jones, but otherwise continued casting random character actors like Udo Kier and Barry Corbin in future games like Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2.

Grand Theft Auto III changed the game, literally, with its roster of recognizable names and voices like Joe Pantoliano, Michael Madsen, Michael Rapaport, Debi Mazar, and Kyle MacLachlan all playing parts in the free-for-all crime cape that make Rockstar Games just that. With GTA III's massive sales and buzz (particularly from angry parents), the scene was set for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which boasted an over-the-top cast particularly appealing to its target audience: Dennis Hopper, Danny Trejo, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, Debbie Harry, Ray Liotta, Tom Sizemore, and Jenna Jameson, just to name a few.

When you have such an explosive, controversial, money-making video game like Grand Theft Auto, we're almost guaranteed to see a big-screen adaptation arrive in theaters at some point. The game itself has everything: Bad dudes, naughty girls and lots of violence -- all of which has made it a number one target for people who believe everything that's wrong with this society is due to violence in video games. Personally, I rocked out the first two versions of the game, and then fell off the GTA bandwagon when they unleashed the one featuring gang violence. They became too much work for a simpleton like me. That being said, news sprung up recently that a movie was indeed in the works, and that it would star none other than Eminem.

Variety reported earlier this week that a deal was in place with one of the major studios for Eminem to possibly star, but said deal fell apart for unknown reasons. Now, MTV has the skinny on what exactly went down, and they claim Rockstar Games never had a deal for a feature film in the first place. According to Dan Houser, VP of creative for Rockstar, "Some movie producers were trying to put something together to entice us to make a movie, as studios and production teams frequently have done in the past. This proposal was no more interesting than the numerous others we receive. We never entertained proceeding with the project."

Okay, so even if that so-called deal never happened, would Rockstar be open to a feature film based on their popular game at some point in the future? Houser noted, "It is not something we are currently interested in." I'm sure this topic will be revisited once GTA's sales begin to drop, because chances are a movie version would be pretty big. Then again, how do you make this film without giving it an R rating? And seeing as a majority of the game's players are teenagers, that could present a problem. How about you GTA fans out there -- would you want a movie based on the game?

Variety reports that Mark Wahlberg has signed for the lead in the big-screen adaptation of Max Payne. The 3rd person shooter game was released by Rockstar Games (makers of Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto Series) back in 2001. The story centered on Max Payne, an embittered cop from Hell's Kitchen who comes home one day to find his wife and baby daughter have been murdered by junkies. Now undercover in the DEA, Max is given up to the mob all the while, uncovering a government conspiracy surrounding a designer drug called Valkyr. The game spawned two sequels and Fox had purchased the screen rights back in 2003.

John Moore has already been slated to direct the Beau Thorne script (Moore is also behind the vampire zombie flick Virulents that Scott told us about a few months ago). Some changes have taken place with the story; they kept the dead family, but it seems like the conspiracy angle has been tossed. Now, the story is about a cop (Wahlberg) with, "little regard for rules as he investigates a series of mysterious murders. He finds himself up against an adversary bent on destroying Max and the streets he protects".

Producer Scott Faye told IGN back in July that, "I think this is a real actor's part because although the story will have action and intrigue, at its core it's a story about a man who loses everything in life that's dear to him" -- so I can only assume that Faye is convinced that Wahlberg is the man for the job -- if nothing else, he does have the sneer down pat. Wahlberg recently replaced Ryan Gosling in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones and will start work on Payne as soon as Bones has been completed. Max Payne is tentatively scheduled to start shooting early next year and head for theaters in 2010.