Games (VS) Movies

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 4:59 pm

Games are getting more and more realistic and they're finally getting the money that used to be reserved for backing big budget movies, and In many cases I can say that a game was much more enjoyable. Half-Life 2 and Doom III I know I'll enjoy much more than any of the somewhat sub-par movies/sequels Hollywood will be making. I also think you can actually feel more for a character in a game than in a movie, I can still remember in Half-Life when Barney the security guard first got killed I wanted to kill the alien bastard that murdered him. Well anyways do you think that eventually the ever evolving video/computer game will overtake Hollywood as the main media pastime.

satanisgreat · Post by **satanisgreat** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:13 pm

Yeah, you're right. Games are pretty much becoming interactive movies. Sure you might care more about a character you can control and guide through a story, but I don't think games will ever overshadow movies where you can see an actual person acting out the story. I think there will always be a medium where people will want to sit passively and just take in a good story.

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:22 pm

satanisgreat wrote:but I don't think games will ever overshadow movies where you can see an actual person acting out the story.

Have you seen the increase in graphics and voice acting? These digital characters aren't just becoming actors they're becoming people. They're not "Harrison Ford stars as Barney Calhoun" they are Barney Calhoun, no big name actor attached.

satanisgreat · Post by **satanisgreat** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:35 pm

But no matter how good digital characters get, they'll never replace flesh and blood and the subtleties and spontenaeity they can achieve.

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:40 pm

Well I went to see many of the Pixar films, and I can say that people seemed to get just as attached if not more so to these digital characters. It's not the spotenousness of a character that makes him identifiable to the audience, it's his "character" what his beliefs and disposition are, what his personality is.

atoga · Post by **atoga** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:16 pm

To tell the truth I prefer movies to games. A good fighting game will always trump an action movie, and some are much slicker than most of the action movie genre (think Vice City).

Still, movies tend to be far more enjoyable than games, and frankly I think the lack of immersion compared to a good game is often a plus. I also prefer tabletop RPGs to CRPGs, but that's just how I am. I subscribe to all that 'old school' shit.

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm

The killer is Drama. No, not that staple of angst-ridden teens, but the real mccoy that is the backbone of performance arts and novels.

Since the player is controlling a character the designer either has to limit the player's actions to correspond w/the plot, or to leave the player too much freedom, in which case they often loose sight of the plot.

While a well-designed game can still have considerable drama, a film will always do it at least one better. Basically, games will never get above the level of the best action movies, which is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to film.

OTB

Neon Dingo · Post by **Neon Dingo** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 11:08 pm

In my opinion Metal Gear Solid wouldn't have been as good in movie format. It just seemed so right for a console. Sure, it would have made a fucking spectacular movie, but I thought it flowed so much better than if it were a movie.

Me, I can't wait until we have holodecks like in Star Trek.

That'll probably come around when we have the Playstation 9, like in that commercial.

Fallout would also make a really good movie, but in game format it just works so much better. You learn more about the people and their society through the numerous dialogue options.

Frankly movies lately have been so trashy that I feel like I've wasted my life just sitting through them. I no longer let bad movies hold me hostage. I just don't go to them anymore.

Games admittedly cost a lot more though, but in my opinion the cost is justified. Games like Final Fantasy VII had really good and intricate epic storylines that just wouldn't have been able to be translated to film.

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 11:28 pm

Neon Dingo wrote:Frankly movies lately have been so trashy that I feel like I've wasted my life just sitting through them. I no longer let bad movies hold me hostage. I just don't go to them anymore.

Frankly, I agree. This is why it's fortunate that they've been making movies for over 100 years and we have DVD, Laser Disc players!

Edit: I don't wish to give the impression that I'm part of the "old is good" school. Rather, the advantage of delving into older films is that the gems have been sorted from the stock to a great extent. If a movie's a classic, there's usually a good reason for it. This can spare you a great deal of wasted time w/mediocre or shitty flicks.

OTB

Spazmo · Post by **Spazmo** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:05 am

Neon Dingo wrote:Games like Final Fantasy VII had really good and intricate epic storylines

This is the part where I stop listening to Neon Dingo.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 1:18 am

Personally, I find there's few movies I can watch more the once or twice. Games on the other hand give me alot more enjoyment. Although sometimes if they lack any kind of narritive or storyline then I usually get sick of them.

Never really relised that about games until I picked up C&C Generals. I got halfway through the campaigns and then just stopped. Can't be bothered with it anymore, as I don't know why there's these 3 forces blowing each other up, and there's absolutly NO narritive in it. Just go here. Do this. Go there. Do that. Pretty boring stuff.

Ruben Rooben Reuben · Post by **Ruben Rooben Reuben** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 5:22 am

You've got a generation of consumers that have been raised by pixels as much as they've been raised by celluloid. Equal marketing value, equal visual trickery, equal potential capital wrapped up in both markets.

The only difference between movies and games is the level of immersion. In a movie, you're in public. Ideally, you suspend your consciousness to the point of placing yourself within the story. This is where games go a step further. Movies only offer the spectacle, the activity of watching. Games do that and then supplement the deal with the opportunity to participate.

Movie or game, the things you hear and the things you see are all phony. Your reactions to them, however, are not. Movies offer you a chance to see how John McLain wipes out Euro terrorists. Games require you to have a hand in the effort.

Whether one is better than the other, that's up to two things:You and the taxes the prod co.s file every year.

Ernesto · Post by **Ernesto** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 5:38 am

It's been a while since a game that's been released that's worthy of the title of art.

There was Fallout, Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid, System Shock 1 and 2 and possibly Half-Life. (Definitely one of the best action movie-esque experiences IMO.)That one's up in the air.

As for Games v. Movies, movies still have my heart. Hollywood has some vision every once and a while. The Games Industry still wears bifocals.

I stay by my Games Should Stay As Games stand. You can't fit a 10-50 hour game in 1.5-2 hours.

POOPERSCOOPER · Post by **POOPERSCOOPER** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 5:58 am

Movies>games

Movies are edited to flow well and to tell a story. Games have to leave open gameplay for the player to play, and right there is what messes it up because your gameplay what ever way you play has to become connected to the next segement of story. Games just don't flow and you have to use your imigination to make them flow most of the times. For example in an open ended RPG you talk to someone important and get into a discussion, then you leave and comeback and try some differen't choics in dialog that affects his personality and you semi piss him off, but all you need to do is come back and hes back to his neutral position. It just doesn't get that attachment to the character when you can do querky stuff like that. The only games that could even compare to movies are ones that are extremely linear, like adventure games which are all based around lots of story with little linear segments of gameplay, to make it feel like an interactive movie.

Neon Dingo · Post by **Neon Dingo** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 6:16 am

Meh, movies have been around for around a century. Games have only been around for about two decades.

I think games are doing pretty god damn good for being around only about a 1/5 of the time, don't you agree?

I mean they do make more money a year than movies do (I know, it's much more specific than that, but bear with me).

The movie industry has been doing pretty shitty lately.

Hammer · Post by **Hammer** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 6:53 am

If people make movies out of games I would prefer them to all be CGI.

MorGan · Post by **MorGan** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 10:38 am

No wonder the movie industry has been doing bad lately judging by the crap they are showing us these days....

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 8:19 pm

This thread has been redacted in order to reduce its spam content.

The Party would like to announce that the chocolate ration has been increased to 15g from 20g due to production shortfalls.

Thank you, Big Brother!

OTB

the guardian · Post by **the guardian** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 9:03 pm

Maybe you should consider owning the title "the guy with the scissors" , you seems to be snipping up the topics a lot lately.

atoga · Post by **atoga** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 10:23 pm

Neon Dingo wrote:Games like Final Fantasy VII had really good and intricate epic storylines.

Oh yeah, brilliant. You sound like a regular Anthony Lane right there. :rollerskates: