Games vs. Movies
When Im not playing videogames on my free time, Im watching movies. Its something that Ive been well aware of for as long as I can remember. Both mediums fascinate me enough to captivate my imagination for long periods of time. But now is the time to discover just what makes videogames and movies so similar and at the same time so unlike. Also, what are the futures for the different mediums? For this piece it will be assumed that, like me, you do more than play videogames for 100% of your well-earned leisure time. And thus you have devoted some amount of time to watching quality movies along with your healthy dose of Nintendo goodness.Entertainment Divided
You walk into your local rental store and come to a halt as the door swings to a close behind you. With only a couple of dollars to your name, you have finally come to a famous crossroad. Do you head for the movies section or game section? Though at first the question might seem a bit simple - a bit trite - I assure you its not. It is especially not easy these days, where quality game and movie releases fluctuate more than ever. The reason for the difficulty is that both mediums provide entertainment you want. But with only so many hours in the day, and only so many coins in your pocket, sacrifices are inevitable.
The competition between the two industries is stronger now than it was even ten years ago. Today games are moving into the hands of more mainstream customers, which in turn positions them in the public eye. And so, games are now backed with titanic ad campaigns and press coverage that is slowly looking more Hollywood-like in nature. As every year passes, the divide between games and movies tightens, and comparisons between the two mediums surface. Have movies gone stale? Are games not going in the right direction? These are questions you may have never taken the time to ask yourself. Or perhaps you never even wanted to know the answer to the question to begin with. Regardless, let me ask it for you, and if I may be so forward, even offer some answers.
Taking the Plunge
The best way to understand the link between the two mediums is to reflect upon times where you had a day of relaxation. Be it with friends or otherwise. For me, the day usually begins with people playing some multiplayer games. This goes on pretty much all day (with small breaks in between for food) until night time, where we sit back and throw in a movie. Now Ill be deadly honest. Sometimes we only throw in a movie because we basically played games so much our brains want to turn off. Other times, the crowd involved is looking forward to seeing a specific movie that happens to be in our possession. But mostly, this scenario, if it is anything close to yours, shows one thing: Videogames have the advantage to entertain you longer, and completely involve more than one person if need be. Movies take the hit on this subject, as most are only two to two and a half hours in length and only need for you to sit there and input the feed. But wait. To be fair this is only assuming you have one movie and many games. In fact, it could end up being many movies and games. In this scenario you watch lots of movies, and play lots of games equally. But how much do they entertain? In my scenario its quite obvious that we cant sustain any more than one (and perhaps two) movies in a given day.
Lets take a look at what both these forms of entertainment have to offer. Movies offer a compact experience that could be anywhere between one and a half to three and a half hours long. Games are designed to last, at the very least, 9 hours in length. Many times they can extend into the twenty hour range and much higher. Thats a mark against movies in terms of longevity. If there is a big release that is being anticipated, a two and a half hour experience sometimes just doesnt seem to cut it. For games, it can be the same deal, but not quite as harsh. Certain games like Conkers Bad Fur Day for N64 only took about 12 hours to finish. But having a 12 hours experience as opposed to a two and half hour one is obviously more preferable. And the length of the experiences is just the start. How about the quality within? This is where things get extremely muddy.
For games and movies alike, quality can fluctuate all over the chart. As Im sure you have witnessed on countless occasions, there are far more mediocre releases than quality ones. It makes for quite a depressing situation really. People are actually out there who purchase this crap, and thus, it is putting in a vote that they are in favor of this kind of shoddy entertainment. It is the reason that teen movies are always so popular (no matter how bad or insulting they are). It is the reason that games like Enter the Matrix (sorry Glen, but I have to go against our own review for it) release to success that is ten times that of more worthy games. But who do I think I am? All up on my high horse proclaiming that I know what is, or is not, worthy of public backing. It is true; I can be a jerk like that. And thats what the theme is behind the quality statement. We can all be very opinionated, and as my colleagues will attest to, also quite stubborn at times when it comes to understanding what makes a good game/movie.
Coming back to the subject: how bad is the situation on both sides? Quite simply, I find the movie side of things suffering far worse. I used to be split pretty much down the middle when it came to hobby time. Games and movies were my two equal kick back and relax time wasters. Today is a different story though. Waiting for a good movie release is very painful. There is really no way to know if a movie is going to be any good or not. Even the most anticipated releases with the biggest names behind them can fall flat on their faces. With videogames, especially in Nintendos case, you can at least be assured of a games quality well before its release. Venues such as E3 are great proving grounds for software, unlike movies, whose premieres are now just an avenue for entertainment rags to deal truckloads of lip-service to the flavor of the week. Heck, I just read such an article today about the impending release of Pirates of the Caribbean. Not to say that its going to be a bad movie, but chances are the movie is nowhere near as immaculate as the article would have you believe. Then releases time rolls around to disappoint audiences everywhere, who are all wondering what version of the movie said article was based on. As if it wasnt hard enough to find decent movies to begin with, we now have to contest with the largest hype machine in the world. At least with videogames the hype only gets so far (usually mainstream gamers). Hype usually bounces off so-called hardcore gamers like bullets to Superman. Most gamers in the know will actually read up about hands on reports and go behind the scenes to see who is developing the game. Its quite interesting to think that lots of gamers can bat a thousand when picking the winners in the upcoming list. Heck, we pretty much nail them almost every time right here on our own boards. Sure you get your Starfox Adventures that caught a good deal of people off guard with its lack of quality, but for the most part, guessing the winners is actually quite easy.
Once again, its not so easy on the movie side of things. This even goes beyond the red carpet that I mentioned earlier. What I speak of is the advertising campaigns from the studios themselves. Because trailers are usually made by separate teams, they often paint a different picture than what you will see in the theater. One great example was the trailer for the holiday release of Solaris. The ad campaigns would have you believe that the movie was a romance or thriller. Neither of those are the case. Heck, you probably wouldnt even know that the movie was set in space. Basically the downfall of the movie entertainment medium seems to begin from a lack of trust. Its hard to trust a sequel, an actor, screenwriter, trailer, or movie journalist about whats going to be worth talking about when it finally comes time to grab the popcorn.
The Standard
This is where the games take the major hit. Movies have one advantage nearly makes all the above points moot. And that is the standard. Everything is standard and accessible when it comes to movies. It makes it such an easy experience for the enthusiasts involved. If I go to blockbuster video and rent a DVD, I know that it will run on any DVD player I want. This makes the world of movie-goers much more easygoing. If I want to talk about videogames with a videogame enthusiast these days, I would almost have a better chance at striking oil in my backyard. Talking to other gamers is an experience that is far too painful for what it is. One person plays PC games and GameCube while the other plays Xbox and PS2 games. How are you supposed to discuss the hot new releases on GameCube with someone who only plays PS2?
You would be right though if you said arcades are a public forum for all gamers. It is akin to cinemas to watch movies. However, arcades are shrinking and also get their fair share of videogame shovelware. Just in terms of consoles though, we are left with this lack of a standard machine. Heck, forget about even social community for a second and you will also see problems that lie in porting over software. A game that has to be ported to three separate machines costs a good deal of money. All because they want to release the videogame playing public who are spread out amongst a number of console machines. People who have a PS2 wish they could play Zelda and Metroid. People who have a Cube wish they could play Halo. It is all a big mess that ends up costing you, the customer, a great deal of heartache and/or money.
So here is my solution, as Im sure you saw coming: I believe it is time to create an even playing field for videogames consoles. Even though I know it cant happen, I would like to see Nintendo, Sony and (if theyre still around) Microsoft put their pride aside and create a unified standard videogame machine. The benefits for everyone are numerous. For the companies, sales would skyrocket. The reason for this is the lack of confusion in the marketplace. When someone walks into their local EB, they need only to buy one machine with no hassle involved. Next to those boxes of consoles would be walls filled with games that could all be played on this console. And, as you guessed it, the customer benefits from this lack of confusion as well. They will get better software that was designed solely around this machines architecture. The game companies who continually pump out bad software would probably be punished far more than they are now as well. The game community will be able to spread awareness about game quality much more efficiently since it would be one unified community.
The best part about such a machine is that videogamers get to come together to do what they like to do best: play their favorite games. People could spend more time discussing favorite scenes or strategies in their favorite games rather than if game X will ever see release on the system they own.
Im sure youre telling me to hold my horses, as I probably should. We do live in a capitalist society. One of the things about living in such a society is that corporations believe they have the power to be the one and only ruler of the world. Nintendo believes it will one day be the only one in the market. At least they wouldnt tell you any differently. The companies involved would need the sand to put their differences aside for the good of the industry, and the good of the consumer. Should it happen? Absolutely. Can it happen? I think with a lot of sweat and negotiation from said companies. Will it ever happen? Probably not
In the end it will be movies that keep that edge on videogames. The day that games are all released on one machine will be a great day for those who love videogames, and a mighty blow to the movie industry. If it is preaching to some form of choir, so be it. Things like this need to be said so that we move our industry forward in the right direction. And hey, crazy things have been happening all the time in the industry lately. Who is to say that we will never be playing on a unified standard gaming machine one day?
Jason Nuyens
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