Movies Vs Video Games

[StarBound]

Which one do you like to do more? Do you like watching movies more than playing video games or do you like to play video games more than watching movies? I like to play video games more mainly because you can interact with the world and a good majority of games have amazing art styles,good voice acting, good stories, and overall I think they are more superior than movies because they leave a bigger impression on you than a movie thats only 2 hours long(that depends of course).

 

[Krazy4Krash]

I find Video Games to be more engaging and because of that, love them more. A movie shows a character, but in video games, you ARE the character.

 

[8bubbles8joe]

I prefer movies. I've always loved both mediums equally, but I feel like there's much more opportunities in a movie than there are in a video game. What I mean is, in a video game, there's only so much you can do in creating the game. Setting, characters, plot, etc. always get re-used, and there's nothing ever original again (oh look, another FPS). Besides the occasional surprises, I get kind of bored with video games. But with a movie, there's an endless number of plots and settings to deal with that nothing becomes a remake, unless by intention. A good example is The Artist, a black-and-white film made in 2012. No one expected that, and it became a surprise hit because it was so original and took people by surprise. Even an action movie as simple as James Bond can pack so much locale into such a short amount of time. Originality is always what I look for in any form of entertainment, and that's hard to come by in video games these days. Also, I find much more "replayability" in a movie than I do in a video game. Sure, there's a lot of side quests and stuff to find in a video game, but when I watch a movie for a second or third time, I always notice something different that I didn't see the first time. On the surface, it may seem that a video game has more than a 2-hour movie, but I find it just the opposite.

 

[misskitten]

Between movies and video games - I might vote video games, but had TV-show been an option, that would've had my vote, lol

 

[dur.i.am]

I prefer movies. I've always loved both mediums equally, but I feel like there's much more opportunities in a movie than there are in a video game. What I mean is, in a video game, there's only so much you can do in creating the game. Setting, characters, plot, etc. always get re-used, and there's nothing ever original again (oh look, another FPS). Besides the occasional surprises, I get kind of bored with video games. But with a movie, there's an endless number of plots and settings to deal with that nothing becomes a remake, unless by intention. A good example is The Artist, a black-and-white film made in 2012. No one expected that, and it became a surprise hit because it was so original and took people by surprise. Even an action movie as simple as James Bond can pack so much locale into such a short amount of time. Originality is always what I look for in any form of entertainment, and that's hard to come by in video games these days. Also, I find much more "replayability" in a movie than I do in a video game. Sure, there's a lot of side quests and stuff to find in a video game, but when I watch a movie for a second or third time, I always notice something different that I didn't see the first time. On the surface, it may seem that a video game has more than a 2-hour movie, but I find it just the opposite.

This probably seems like I'm picking on you, but try not to read it like that, I'm just putting forward my argument in a way which requires countering yours. This is all my opinion, and no one should see it as an attempt to try and sway their own opinions. I'm not sure why in your opinion that movies are always original. The biggest grossing film of all time is barely original at all, in fact, most of it is practically a carbon copy of Pocahontas if you take it back to it's basics, and Pocahontas is probably a carbon copy of another film. Avatar is about a large corporation that is searching for Unobtainium on a newly discovered planet. On the other hand, Pocahontas is about the British searching for Gold in the newly discovered 'New World'. Avatar becomes about the native Na'vi fighting for the survival of their home, whereas Pocahontas ends up with Native American's for their survival and their home. Both involve what could be called a sacred tree, and both of these trees can communicate with the native beings. In the end the big bad guys lose because one of their own falls in love with one of the natives and helps to turn the tide in the underdogs favour and in the end the underdogs win. So as you can see, that's because like saying "Oh look, another FPS", since those films are practically the same with different characters, locations and graphics. A lot of movie's are like this, mainly due to the actors in them. All Adam Sandler films, Vince Vaughn films, Steven Seagal films...etc (the list is quite massive) have very similar basics behind them, all with different characters and locations. You mention the James Bond films, they are quite guilty of this too, particularly the early films, a lot all have James Bond saving the world by himself with a few gadgets and him getting the woman, usually one that wasn't originally on his side. Austin Powers is a series which parodies this fairly well.

If you want things that surprised people, that happens in gaming too. I doubt many people expected Modern Warfare 2 to have the level in which the intention was to kill innocent civilians. I doubt many people expected for Bioshock to allow you to kill children either, but they did it, even if you don't physically see it you know that it's happening. There are lots of games out there that had surprises in them that no one would have expected. And the film in which you are referring to may have been a surprise, but that's because it is in a style that doesn't take advantage of the technology that we had today. If you took that film and showed it to an audience from around the time it was set, they probably wouldn't be that surprised by it because it was what they were expecting.

I do agree that you do notice things when you watch films for a second or third time, or even a tenth time. However, the same could be said for a game. So really in the respect, they are on par with each other. However, the thing that tips the decision towards games for me is that once a game is completed and released, that's not the end of it. A lot of games these days get DLC so that you can continue to have fun playing the game as it introduces new areas and things to do. You can also mod a good amount of games yourself too, allowing you to download what could be considered unofficial DLC. You simply can't do this with films, no matter how many times a person tries to remaster them. After all, all remastering does either removes something that wasn't liked previously, such as Jar Jar Binks in Phantom Menace. In reality, there is very little that is different with the film, and it isn't really new content either.

 

[MW7]

Between movies and video games - I might vote video games, but had TV-show been an option, that would've had my vote, lol

That's what I was thinking. TV > Video Games > Movies

But really they are all awesome.

 

[Johnny Sooshi]

I'd say the video games because of the interaction but there are cases where a game doesn't even touch a movie. One example would be Donnie Darko. It's one of my favorite movies of all time and it makes me think. I'm not saying games don't because they do but the thoughts are very different. Donnie Darko made me think of our morality as human beings and I've not found too many games that pull this off successfully. Inception is another good example.

So end the it's close but I do value games a bit more. I can interact, think, and discover, and in the case of new things such as motion controls (I say new because within the last 5 years is fairly new and even if they originated much earlier, they weren't to the degree that they are now) move and become semi-active. So overall video games win.

 

[StarBound]

I'd say the video games because of the interaction but there are cases where a game doesn't even touch a movie. One example would be Donnie Darko. It's one of my favorite movies of all time and it makes me think. I'm not saying games don't because they do but the thoughts are very different. Donnie Darko made me think of our morality as human beings and I've not found too many games that pull this off successfully. Inception is another good example.

So end the it's close but I do value games a bit more. I can interact, think, and discover, and in the case of new things such as motion controls (I say new because within the last 5 years is fairly new and even if they originated much earlier, they weren't to the degree that they are now) move and become semi-active. So overall video games win.

Play Silent Hill 2 if you want to think about the human race.

 

[toonlink]

I prefer video games over movies. This is mainly as SOME games allow you to choose your path. Another few main reasons is the artwork used in games, which makes visuallizing things in real life, and the gameplay makes me feel as if I am Link,Mario,Red,Kirby and the rest.

 

[Vanessa28]

I would say Movies a couple of years back but I choose Videogames now. I don't know. Maybe it is because I have been playing so much Zelda and Mario the last couple fo years but I just love videogames more. I am easily bored with a storyline if there isn't much action but with videogames you are busy with the controls and playing and making progress.

 

[guapo2003]

I prefer playing video games over watching movies. Definitely because you can get into a video game more and you can keep playing the same game far longer than watching the same movie. And on top of that, you're actually controlling what happens in video games as movies are just being watched without you having any control over them, plus you know what's going to happen if you've watched it before, and if you're playing a game online you have no idea what to expect.

 

[SinkingBadges]

I guess I'm out of the voting since there isn't a both option or something like "they're too different to compare", but I guess that would sorta kill the argument.... right?

Anyway, I said what I think on that already. It's just that the handling form and content need on each is so different I could go on about it for hours.

This reminds me of something I read about when film was becoming popular: a certain group of people thought it was the medium that would replace theater. But let's be honest: they both have different sensibilities, and you can't really translate the exact same form and content from one to the other like they were languages. You can't do Zelda as a movie (unless you're willing to make something that might beat The Cure for Insomnia for the title of "Longest Movie Ever") or Casablanca as a game (unless you're willing to make Bogey's character blank a-la-Link, which would be pretty awkward) without changing a lot in the process; and if you try, you risk changing the essence of the product and making something completely different or maybe even inconsistent.

That's why I can't find a definitive preference, there's movies I like that just couldn't be made as games and vice-versa.

 

[Koosholts]

I chose movies. I really can't argue it because it's all up to what you prefer to do making it a completley independent decision. I simply enjoy watching a good movie better then playing a good video game.

The only other thing I can add to this post is that I think movies are more interactive with the person then video games. Video games have a set definite beginning, middle, and end. It never changes no matter how many times you play it (this is more true with the recent games. The older games are more open which don't apply). In comparison, your imagination runs wild when watching a movie. Even though your watching the same movie over and over again, you can interpret what your watching in different ways. I rarley watch a movie twice and have the same opinion about it the same time around. This can apply to video games as well but that's where your opinion comes into play.

I also feel like a movie can portray themes and emotions better then a video game. This goes along with what I was saying before and that movies are more interactive with the person.

Lastly, how can anybody thing television is better then either of the two? To me, televison is absoloutley terrible. What t.v. shows are you watching lol?

 

[destiny477]

I say video games but theres alot of factors here. depends on the movie or the game. and had books been a choice it would be number one. the only thing there to limit you is yourself.

 

[MW7]

Lastly, how can anybody thing television is better then either of the two? To me, televison is absoloutley terrible. What t.v. shows are you watching lol?

Well right now there aren't a ton of great shows at least IMO, but for instance The Simpsons alone probably has made me laugh more than every movie I've ever seen put together. Sheer volume makes a difference. I'm mostly a fan of comedies, but one action/drama show that I think was amazing was 24. For me the fifth season in particular of 24 was just as good as the Indiana Jones trilogy (my favorite movie trilogy). Bringing volume into the equation means that t.v. has kept me entertained more frequently than movies by a ridiculously large margin. For video games it's much closer, but I'd say life would be more bearable without video games than without my favorite t.v. shows. Now that I think about it I don't watch much t.v. nowadays, but mostly watch dvds of shows like the Simpsons and 24. My other all-time favorite shows would be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, King of the Hill, Criminal Minds, and The Drew Carey Show (really wish all the seasons would get out on dvd).