Something that needs to stop…

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masseffect1I don’t get fired up all that often, but I have to come out and say how frustrating it is to see some critics refer to movies being, “nothing more than a videogame” or “it’s like watching a video game”.  These people are so oblivious to the medium and shine such a negative light on videogames in general.

I mean, how can someone be so ignorant or make comments about something that they obviously don’t understand.  Video games can be quite compelling, have engaging stories, and fantastic sequences of suspense, action, and humor.  In fact, every year, there is usually a handful of video game that have us much great story telling and ingenuity then 90% of the films released over the same calender year.

Critics need to stop referencing video games as mindless entertainment with shit blowing up.  Yes Terminator isn’t the most thought provoking film and has a lot of cool technical wizadry going on but that doesn’t mean video games are one in the same.

I dare these critics to poor through a game like Zelda, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, Resident Evil, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto, and on, and on, and on I could go, and not tell me that these stories are not only full of substance and story, but are far more compelling and dense then many films.

So please, critics, know what you are talking about when we refer to movies as being like watching a video game, because you probably don’t know what your even talking about.  And maybe you could use your intellect and writing abilities to find a more accurate and descriptive way of describing a movie that is mindless and full of action; because video games are far from being just that.

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    brad Watts , May 21, 2009

    I agree Love It

  • Reply
    Tom , May 21, 2009

    I was sitting next to you at Terminator Salvation and did compare it (negatively) to a video game. (I might have been the instigation for this post.) And I agree that too often it’s a lazy backhanded way to say “looked cool but was boring”. While I’m not much of a video game player, I know enough to know that you are absolutely correct in the fact that there are many games that are well plotted and have good acting (or, more accurately, good voice work). That being said, my actual statement was that Terminator was like “watching someone else play a video game”. I think that’s a pretty significant difference. Playing a good video game can be every bit as fun as watching a good movie. And just as much of an artistic achievement.

    Video games are immersive experiences. And while I agree whole-heartedly that they are a new art form all their own, I’ve yet to find one that was interesting enough to hold my attention when I wasn’t the one controlling the action. Video games are designed to entertain the person (or persons) playing them. That’s not a flaw; it’s an inherent part of their design. But that aspect is not unique to video games. Dungeons & Dragons was fun but I wouldn’t want to watch people play that either. Of course, we now live in a world where television shows are dedicated to people playing cards. So perhaps it’s more of a generational thing.

    Terminator Salvation had the muted colors and faux grainy texture of many war video games. It also featured voices yelling at you over a comm. system like many war video games. And there were large portions of it that were shot from a first person POV…like your typical first person shooter game.

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