MouthLondon - London Student & Youth Magazine
Is Gaming becoming the new Movies?
Pin ItWith the interest in movies declining (cinema wise), on demand films at home and the quality of storytelling increasing for the gaming market, the debate has been raging: are computer game storylines making games the future of cinema?
The film industry has had its talons firmly gripping the public for around a hundred years, but with increasing technological innovations and graphics, we are now seeing a cinematic storyline that we, as players, can manipulate to our own dramatic needs. For instance the latest Batman film has been praised for cinematic glory: crisp cinematography, a stellar cast and unwavering scale of set design. But take into consideration the 2011 game Batman: Arkham City that blew away all competitors at the awards and received one of the highest ratings on Metacritic for that year. Not only is the game highly enjoyable, but the storyline is layered, the setting immense and the characters viciously disturbing. In my opinion, I had more fun unravelling the story in Arkham than I did sitting in the cinema with Mr Bale.
…cinema is being rehashed and retuned countless times…
The truth of the matter is that cinema is being rehashed and retuned countless times to hit market sales and influence new generations. With modern games they rarely reboot a franchise and if they do it is often shown harsh criticism. Therefore games have started, for some time, to rely on new writers, new ideas and most importantly what the gamer needs. If the game can rival the scope of a film in IMAX then a consumer will buy the game and play it for much more than the usual running time of 110 minutes.
Also the chance to influence the outcome of games means they can be played again, with various characters, for a different experience. Star Wars: The Old Republic has eight classes of character with a unique main story arc for each. In between those are hundreds of side quests that have good and bad decisions for you to choose.
…an evolving film like experience…
Taking the helm in entertainment means that audiences can enjoy an evolving film like experience in the comfort of their own homes. With graphics making cut scenes as good as the next Spielberg film perhaps it’s time for the film industry to pull up their belts and consider just how much is at stake.
Below are some examples of the cut scenes BEWARE STORYLINE SPOILERS:
About the author
I'm the Editor of MouthLondon, with a specific control over our Online features and implementation. As a Film graduate with a particular interest in Scriptwriting, Production and Cinema, I enjoy talking about and making short films with a production crew of non professional enthusiasts.
Further articles by David Holloway | Editor →
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