Today's videogames are better than film.

[sean miguel]

I remember reading an article several years ago that pointed out the video game industry now outperforms Hollywood in total sales. That's understandable considering the saturation of the market and each game going for $60 a pop. But what also is notable is that the top notch videogame titles not only rival but surpass the best the movie industry has to offer IMO. I've gushed over The Last of Us in another thread but I have yet to see a movie that offers as much of a compelling experience. It's been announced that The Last of Us movie is in the works. Why in the fuck why??? We've already played it and how can it be topped?


At one time, videogames used to cash in on movie licenses. Now the opposite is true.

 

[D-rock]

The decades I have been playing video games have made me find that the self immersion, going at your own pace, inspecting every nook and cranny, reading every tidbit of extra lore and content, speaking to every person the game lets you, and dozens of hours that are put into a video game offer a level of detail in the experience of the world that just can't be matched by movies. It's one of the reason I like the best RPG video games so much. Heck, I will even go so far as to say there is stuff in video games that just can't be matched in books although I think books still have a slight advantage of being able to read and get into the thoughts of the characters. Even in that respect though good video games aren't far off.

Video games aren't just for mindless entertainment anymore, and haven't for a long time. Not only are they truly an art form as legitimate as books, movies, television, painting and the rest, but one can literally create gigantic immersive fictional settings out of them.

 

[STDiva]

A great game is better than a great movie, but a great game is much more rare. Games like The Last of Us are few and far between. This past year in film has shown how powerful a medium it can be. Somes games are there, but the industry as a whole is still pretty far behind imo.

 

[Lacey Black]

The decades I have been playing video games have made me find that the self immersion, going at your own pace, inspecting every nook and cranny, reading every tidbit of extra lore and content, speaking to every person the game lets you, and dozens of hours that are put into a video game offer a level of detail in the experience of the world that just can't be matched by movies. It's one of the reason I like the best RPG video games so much. Heck, I will even go so far as to say there is stuff in video games that just can't be matched in books although I think books still have a slight advantage of being able to read and get into the thoughts of the characters. Even in that respect though good video games aren't far off.

Video games aren't just for mindless entertainment anymore, and haven't for a long time. Not only are they truly an art form as legitimate as books, movies, television, painting and the rest, but one can literally create gigantic immersive fictional settings out of them.

Very nicely put.

 

[Deepcover]

Tough to decide but I'd have to go with the cinema over video games. Won't go in to details....

 

[Aunatural123]

A great game is better than a great movie, but a great game is much more rare. Games like The Last of Us are few and far between.

Exactly my thoughts.

 

[FreeOnes_Anders]

I dont think you can actually compare a movie or a book to a video game, especially not the high end RPGs out there.
The game is something that you can experience and discover on your own terms, tinker with (if it has mod support) and take your time with, you can go back to it and experience it in different ways.

A movie or a book is a journey seen through someone else's eyes, and while you can go back and discover little details in these mediums, the journey will always be exactly the same.

 

[FreeOnes_Adam]

/\ You'll have to forgive Anders. He just read Green Eggs & Ham for the first time.

 

[sean miguel]

An open world RPG I can understand that not being an apt comparison. But with linear games and specifically, TLoU, where you're following a strict story line, again, I think the best the videogame industry has to offer beats hollywood. Another poster said it best in another thread, "If you were to play one game, watch one movie or read one book this year, The Last of Us would have you covered." It would've won Best of awards in all three categories IMO.

Another example and posted in another thread, Ryse: Son of Rome. The visuals, the story, the action sequences, the voice acting, dialogue etc. is better than any ancient Rome movie hollywood has ever produced IMO, yeah, even the old timey ones like Ben Hur and what not.

 

[~~whimsy~~]

I too feel that Super Mario Bros. 1-3 held such a higher standard than that of the Super Mario Bros. film! As well as Resident Evil 1-3 (plus the other sequential games that soon filled the films contents) were by far superior than the actual movies. Not to mention Silent Hill (which I love, to be honest), BloodRayne, Alone in the Dark, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Mortal Kombat II (I enjoyed the first one immensely as a young child), Tomb Raider, House of Dead, Wing Commander, Doom, Prince of Persia, Need for Speed, Max Payne, Final Fantasy Spirits Within, and let us all not forget DOA!

Unless you mean video games separate to film altogether...

Yeah, video games are of their own genres, such as are movies. One used to argue how books are so much better than films and/or their film counterparts. Now the debate is how the video game is better than film, and in some cases the literature. Each medium is in of its own genre: Literature, film, digital. All equal forms of entertainment and once you try to combine them into one it will be nothing but a huge conglomerate mess. Very few can surpass the genres with great success. In the end though not all forms of entertainment will be enjoyed equally.