Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin 'probably lost a novel or two' to video games

Fantasy author George R. R. Martin says his brief obsession with video games in the 1980s may have caused him to lose "a novel or two" after getting hooked, but that he doesn't pay too much attention to the games based on his A Song of Ice and Fire series, the basis for Game of Thrones.

"I've looked at them," Martin told The Verge. "I've met with some of the video game guys, the designers, they came in and showed me some. But I played a few video games back in the 80s and it wasn't that I didn't like them. It was that I liked them too much.

"And I think I probably lost a novel or two there, cause I would get hooked on someting and I would be playing it over and over again, and I would be staying up all night. Just one more game, just one more game. So, video games can be very addictive."

Martin, who has written five novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series and has two more planned, says playing the video games based on his work may compound his own confusion in keeping track of a long list of characters and their motivations.

"Westeros is in my head, and these characters are in my head," he said, "and I've already got sort of a schizoid relationship here because I have the books and the television show, which are slightly different versions of the same thing. If I added video games to the mix I'd really go mad."

Two official video games have been released based on A Song of Ice and Fire, PC strategy game A Game of Thrones: Genesis and role-playing game Game of Thrones from Cyanide Studio. A massively multiplayer online game based on the series is in development at Bigpoint, as is social strategy game Game of Thrones Ascent.