Movies Vs Video Games

Movies vs Video Games

Just like movies were the death of theatre, the advent of video games marks the demise of movies. This is very clear, as the revenues of the video game industry is more than double of the film industry. Today, most video games have better graphics than a mainstream movie from a major production house and video game franchises have better storylines and character arches than many blockbuster movie franchises. This does manage to install a certain degree of fear in the heart of every filmmaker.

The primary reason of this overtake of movies by video games is the different types of entertainment that is being provided by these mediums. Films provide you with passive entertainment where the filmmaker tells you a story, shows you several incidences and you are to contemplate the happenings. On the other hand, video games offer you with active entertainment by allowing you to control the storyline. When you are playing, you are on the tip of your toes making the choices for the characters and are making them act the way you want to. Now why would someone want to sit and watch Hitman when you yourself can become Agent 47 and take out the bad guys yourself. And you can do it with your own signature style.

This being said, can video games emerge as a form of art better than the movies given all its advantages over cinema? The ‘first-hand experiences’ and your ability to ‘choose’ gives video games it’s edge over movies, but can you really call it art? Shouldn’t the creator/artist tell a story in a manner he/she seems fit, urging the audience to see things from a new perspective. The audience is then forced to contemplate on it and learn something at a personal and deeper level. When you get to choose the actions of your hero, the character, you are just doing what you would usually deem fit, and thus keeping yourself at bay from a fresh new experience and learning.

As movies and TV get duller, video games will experience a rise in its consumption and reception. Sony has recently confirmed film adaptations of most of its hit PlayStation games. Film adaptations of video games have proven to be disastrous in history, but this just goes on to show that movies have dropped to the role of just money-making machines for the corporates. Video games have their own counterparts of Oscars, festivals, critique and whatnot. A tough fight lies ahead for the movies to hold on to its once respectable position of a higher art form.