I saw Pacific Rim last weekend. I loved it for a lot of reasons. It was big, dumb fun. It’s one of those movies that if you don’t buy the initial premise in the beginning, you might as well walk right out of the theater. If you like big robots, monsters, or Top Gun, you should really check this one out. Yet, out of few complaints I heard walking out of the cineplex, the one that stuck with me was this…
“…that was really video-gamey.”
Well, that wasn’t the first time I had heard that walking out of the movies. I had even thought similar things myself walking out of films like 300, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Green Lantern, Star Trek Into Darkness, and even Man of Steel. Never once had I considered this a bad thing; but I had never really considered the thought all that much. Pop culture always has been a snake eating its own tail, constantly reflecting itself over and over again. What it did get me to think about is how similar both these mediums have become; to a certain extent obviously…
Games as Hollywood Blockbusters
When you send the conversation this direction, the parallels are pretty clear. Recently, we here at the site, posted a quote from Ubisoft saying that they won’t even move forward with a project unless it has franchise potential. More and more the big developers are taking a page from Hollywood, and are creating gaming’s very own “tent-pole” release system. We all know these titles; games like Madden, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and Grand Theft Auto. Studios are starting to rely heavily on the sales of these titles to help sustain the production of the following project. Suffice it to say, if one project fails, the company has the possibility of going under. That’s why more and more, you are seeing less and less of middle tier developers. They can no longer survive in this type of ecosystem. When this occurred in Hollywood, you saw the rise of the independent film maker; and lo and behold, we all love our “indie games.” So now, much like their Hollywood brethren, you see a natural dichotomy between what is considered the “big-budget” game and the “indie” project.
There is also the fact that games are becoming much more cinematic in nature. The medium is maturing and telling more mature stories; look at games like The Last of Us, Spec-Ops: The Line, and Bioshock: Infinite and you can see how much this interactive medium has, “grown up.” Telling these types of stories, however, requires a more cinematic touch and that too is seen in the cut-scenes and less interactive moments in those titles. One can even look to the games of David Cage, like Heavy Rain, and Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid, and see that they could be movies unto themselves. Even in the digital “set-dressing,” one sees the detailed handiwork of the creators. As games seek to tell more in-depth stories, inevitably we will continue to see them borrow ideas from Hollywood, some good and some bad; but only time will tell.
Hollywood as Mass Marketed Media
Everyone loves a good summer movie. They’re fun, they’re (sometimes) mindless, and usually we all walk out happy for the little bit of escapism that comes along with it. Yet, deep down we all know that these films were focus tested, pre-screened, and reshot to maximize that sort of potential. They are designed to try to reach as many people as possible to recoup the cost of production. In a society where gaming in becoming on the biggest entertainment mediums; you can expect that others will try to integrate certain concepts. Spectacle and CGI are becoming more and more important; creating more impressive visuals and having better and more realistic “graphics,” are now in Hollywood’s vernacular. Even some of the worse movies in Hollywood have taken on a “level” structure; look at Suckerpunch. [Disclaimer: Please don’t look at Suckerpunch it’s as bad as you’ve heard it is.]
Gaming’s drive to “realism,” has permeated into the Hollywood mindset as well. More and more you are seeing “gritty” and “realistic” takes on source material that cannot be farther from. The Amazing Spiderman or even Daredevil are classic examples of this. Neither of these stories are dark, yet if you watch either of these films, you can’t help but think otherwise. [Disclaimer: Daredevil is pretty bad too; unless you watch the Director’s Cut; then it’s okay.] Yet, this isn’t all bad, as I can only assume that most of us have fond memories of Nolan’s Batman movies, and Singer’s X-Men films; and both of those took a more serious and realistic approach.
The fact is; there are a myriad of examples of idea poaching from either side; and it is difficult to say who’s idea it was first. Frankly, it doesn’t matter because this is the way things are currently, and as much as we may disagree with how this system may be run; we support it by pulling out our wallets. If you have a problem, don’t go see the tent-pole movie, or go and support your local indie endeavor. If you don’t, just keep doing what you’re doing. As our favorite entertainment mediums continue to grow closer and closer together, it is going to be the consumer voice that has the greatest impact in effecting change. As long as there’s no day one DLC for my movie; I think I’ll be fine…
….wait, that’s what my Special Edition is!!!
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Gamers who Think 