The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
The majority of people seem to agree with the theory of games following from movies, but not so much of movies following from games (unless done intentionally by producers). This theory is understandable when we see that most games today maintain the same FMV sequences that try and make the game more cinematic, but this really can't be helped. There are no further ideas to make movie sequences differ from what we see on the big screen, and even if there were further ideas they probably wouldn't be used because developers are aware of the human adaptation to the movie-like sequences in games.
It is now accepted that movies play an essential role in creating the perfect atmosphere in a game, but not just any game. Those football films like Mean Machine and Bend It Like Beckham have never had an affect on football games because they just don't fit in with the aim of most footy games, which is to display as much realism as possible with both graphics and gameplay. However, there are the odd one or two footy titles like Red Card Soccer that have been influenced in a way by the big screen. I mean, it's not everyday you see a football game where you have to beat ten shades out of your opponents actually ON the pitch. It's sweet because it's new, just like Mean Machine! actually ON the pitch
The most popular movie genres are action, adventures, thrillers and horrors, which is basically identical to the hugely popular gaming genres. It is hard to distinguish action from adventure and thrillers because most adventures have action and most action can be known as thrillers, another thing movies and games have in common. So here are a list of similarities games and movies share in different genres:
ACTION
Action can mean a lot of things. It can mean movement, think, talk, but in gaming terms it means a lot more than that - actually, in a way it means WAR!! If not war, mayhem or chaos because that's what it basically is when you see bullets flying across your screen, things blowing up in the background and people causing bodily harm to each other. "Where's the fun in that?" That's what the grown-ups would ask if they saw that description, but to answer that you could easily say that it's not real! (that should shut them up for a while) :D
With action comes tension, SWEAT(depending on your confidence) and a very dangerous atmosphere. I saw Spider Man recently, enjoyed it, and it had quite a lot of action scenes. Some bits made me jump while other scenes had me at the edge of my seat, but with all of this lay a mythy, dark and hero-like atmosphere that added to the enjoyment of the movie.
Medal of Honour is a war-based games with a lot of action. It may not be real, but working your way through those darn eerie levels can be a very tense experience, and this goes for a lot of action games.
Action games are mainly based on killing, which can be quite sad to hear, but funnily enough we still love it!
ADVENTURE/RPGs
Adventure films seem to be the favourite kind of film overall because in most cases they have both action and adventure, maybe not as much action as adventure, but two is better than one. Lord of the Rings (just released on DVD, soon to appear on console) is a fantastic example of an adventure jampacked with quite a lot of action. Although 3 hours long, it seemed to maintain enough action as well as comedy to keep me tuned in. The best thing about RPGs and adventure movies is that they have a mixture of fantastic ingredients that separates them from the single genres. They have a rich storyline, which creates the journey-like atmosphere and quite a lot of action. What more can you want?
Final Fantasy is everyone's favourite RPG so far. Final Fantasy X is the best of its kind yet on the PS2 and because of the big Japanese businesses backing it up it managed to reach the big screen as a CGI movie. The Spirits Within hyped up too many RPG fans and got their expectations so high that when it was released it put Final Fantasy's name to shame, thank fudge only on the big screen.
There are two types of adventures. There's the 'save the damsel in distress' kind and the 'find the missing stone'(or something) kind. You know what I mean. Either way, both types of adventure have the same things in common, a progressing storyline, a mysterious atmosphere and a lot of eccentric characters. It always happens!
HORROR
Something really ticks me off about this genre on both the big screen and computer games...they're inconsistent! There are some horrors that do try and scare the wits out of us, but there are also the lame ones that go too far. How? With loads of blood and stuff, and completely stupid looking baddies.
If any of you are thinking of seeing Eight-Legged Freaks I would advise you not to. It looks good in the trailers when you see a mere glimpse of mutatious spiders on the lose, but the movie itself is terrible! The plot is absolutely tasteless and reality soon dawns on you half way through the movie as you see, once again large spiders causing mayhem. Good horror films like Dog Soldiers put these sort of films to shame. It's more realistic with soldiers involved and it has a believable storyline, not forgetting a lot of pant-wetting bits.
Horror movies are well imitated by games, and in Resi Evil's case, horror games can also be well imitated by movies. It's not a bad movie, but it does vaguely drift away from the real storyline. I remember playing the first Resi Evil game like it was yesterday. It had a very dark atmosphere created by the lengthy intro movie and also just hearing the dark "Resident Evil" sound when I pressed start made me a little edgy to say the least. The music and sound of the game made me both tense and yes, SCARED! Not to mention the bit where the dogs jump through the window as I was running down the corridor. All those eerie sounds of wind blowing and the mumbling of zombies always made me break a sweat, but I still enjoyed the game. Other horror games like the "everything dark" Silent Hill do create a scare, but Resident Evil remains the daddy because it has all the essentials of a good horror game - eerie sounds, music, a range of baddies, puzzles and a lot of freaky venues.
The only thing missing from the gaming scene is a comedy horror. I've seen quite a lot of horror comedies like Braindead, and I found it absolutely hilarious and it might be a risky deal for developers with talk about gaming influence on people, but it really shouldn't go amiss.
Do you think there's another path games can follow that stray away from the original movie theme? I mean, sci-fi games are even following sci-fi movies, you would think that they could think of something new to include that differs from films, but it's so far so good with games like Starfighter on the go.
I think that the industry will seriously benefit from a change, instead of following the same movie theme all the time. It may have worked for so long, but the time will come where there will be a demand for change.
Thanks for Reading
PK
It is now accepted that movies play an essential role in creating the perfect atmosphere in a game, but not just any game. Those football films like Mean Machine and Bend It Like Beckham have never had an affect on football games because they just don't fit in with the aim of most footy games, which is to display as much realism as possible with both graphics and gameplay. However, there are the odd one or two footy titles like Red Card Soccer that have been influenced in a way by the big screen. I mean, it's not everyday you see a football game where you have to beat ten shades out of your opponents actually ON the pitch. It's sweet because it's new, just like Mean Machine! actually ON the pitch
The most popular movie genres are action, adventures, thrillers and horrors, which is basically identical to the hugely popular gaming genres. It is hard to distinguish action from adventure and thrillers because most adventures have action and most action can be known as thrillers, another thing movies and games have in common. So here are a list of similarities games and movies share in different genres:
ACTION
Action can mean a lot of things. It can mean movement, think, talk, but in gaming terms it means a lot more than that - actually, in a way it means WAR!! If not war, mayhem or chaos because that's what it basically is when you see bullets flying across your screen, things blowing up in the background and people causing bodily harm to each other. "Where's the fun in that?" That's what the grown-ups would ask if they saw that description, but to answer that you could easily say that it's not real! (that should shut them up for a while) :D
With action comes tension, SWEAT(depending on your confidence) and a very dangerous atmosphere. I saw Spider Man recently, enjoyed it, and it had quite a lot of action scenes. Some bits made me jump while other scenes had me at the edge of my seat, but with all of this lay a mythy, dark and hero-like atmosphere that added to the enjoyment of the movie.
Medal of Honour is a war-based games with a lot of action. It may not be real, but working your way through those darn eerie levels can be a very tense experience, and this goes for a lot of action games.
Action games are mainly based on killing, which can be quite sad to hear, but funnily enough we still love it!
ADVENTURE/RPGs
Adventure films seem to be the favourite kind of film overall because in most cases they have both action and adventure, maybe not as much action as adventure, but two is better than one. Lord of the Rings (just released on DVD, soon to appear on console) is a fantastic example of an adventure jampacked with quite a lot of action. Although 3 hours long, it seemed to maintain enough action as well as comedy to keep me tuned in. The best thing about RPGs and adventure movies is that they have a mixture of fantastic ingredients that separates them from the single genres. They have a rich storyline, which creates the journey-like atmosphere and quite a lot of action. What more can you want?
Final Fantasy is everyone's favourite RPG so far. Final Fantasy X is the best of its kind yet on the PS2 and because of the big Japanese businesses backing it up it managed to reach the big screen as a CGI movie. The Spirits Within hyped up too many RPG fans and got their expectations so high that when it was released it put Final Fantasy's name to shame, thank fudge only on the big screen.
There are two types of adventures. There's the 'save the damsel in distress' kind and the 'find the missing stone'(or something) kind. You know what I mean. Either way, both types of adventure have the same things in common, a progressing storyline, a mysterious atmosphere and a lot of eccentric characters. It always happens!
HORROR
Something really ticks me off about this genre on both the big screen and computer games...they're inconsistent! There are some horrors that do try and scare the wits out of us, but there are also the lame ones that go too far. How? With loads of blood and stuff, and completely stupid looking baddies.
If any of you are thinking of seeing Eight-Legged Freaks I would advise you not to. It looks good in the trailers when you see a mere glimpse of mutatious spiders on the lose, but the movie itself is terrible! The plot is absolutely tasteless and reality soon dawns on you half way through the movie as you see, once again large spiders causing mayhem. Good horror films like Dog Soldiers put these sort of films to shame. It's more realistic with soldiers involved and it has a believable storyline, not forgetting a lot of pant-wetting bits.
Horror movies are well imitated by games, and in Resi Evil's case, horror games can also be well imitated by movies. It's not a bad movie, but it does vaguely drift away from the real storyline. I remember playing the first Resi Evil game like it was yesterday. It had a very dark atmosphere created by the lengthy intro movie and also just hearing the dark "Resident Evil" sound when I pressed start made me a little edgy to say the least. The music and sound of the game made me both tense and yes, SCARED! Not to mention the bit where the dogs jump through the window as I was running down the corridor. All those eerie sounds of wind blowing and the mumbling of zombies always made me break a sweat, but I still enjoyed the game. Other horror games like the "everything dark" Silent Hill do create a scare, but Resident Evil remains the daddy because it has all the essentials of a good horror game - eerie sounds, music, a range of baddies, puzzles and a lot of freaky venues.
The only thing missing from the gaming scene is a comedy horror. I've seen quite a lot of horror comedies like Braindead, and I found it absolutely hilarious and it might be a risky deal for developers with talk about gaming influence on people, but it really shouldn't go amiss.
Do you think there's another path games can follow that stray away from the original movie theme? I mean, sci-fi games are even following sci-fi movies, you would think that they could think of something new to include that differs from films, but it's so far so good with games like Starfighter on the go.
I think that the industry will seriously benefit from a change, instead of following the same movie theme all the time. It may have worked for so long, but the time will come where there will be a demand for change.
Thanks for Reading
PK
Its not that Im clever, Im just an intuative retard.
Woohooo!
Thanks genesis!
You're cleverer than I thought.
:D
Thanks genesis!
You're cleverer than I thought.
:D
Good Topic, while I think that the same tools of suspense, tension, emotive music and the like are used much the same in both movies and games to involve the viewer/player, the difference between films and games stem from the perspective issue, with films you are always a spectator looking in on the events of the action, and while the occasional POV shot may pop up, the duration of these are not long enough to make you feel 'in' the movie, so while playing a game is an active thing that 'you' can be involved in, movies will always be passive, a form of escapism that you can just sit down and watch. So while games can be cinematic, the enjoyment you get out of them depends on how much you involve yourself in the action as opposed to movies, where you can just sit back and be involved in the world of someone else. But you can always just have a huge crash emmerging from the rear speaker, that'll make you jump whether its a game or a film. Thats something they have in common.
The majority of people seem to agree with the theory of games following from movies, but not so much of movies following from games (unless done intentionally by producers). This theory is understandable when we see that most games today maintain the same FMV sequences that try and make the game more cinematic, but this really can't be helped. There are no further ideas to make movie sequences differ from what we see on the big screen, and even if there were further ideas they probably wouldn't be used because developers are aware of the human adaptation to the movie-like sequences in games.
It is now accepted that movies play an essential role in creating the perfect atmosphere in a game, but not just any game. Those football films like Mean Machine and Bend It Like Beckham have never had an affect on football games because they just don't fit in with the aim of most footy games, which is to display as much realism as possible with both graphics and gameplay. However, there are the odd one or two footy titles like Red Card Soccer that have been influenced in a way by the big screen. I mean, it's not everyday you see a football game where you have to beat ten shades out of your opponents actually ON the pitch. It's sweet because it's new, just like Mean Machine! actually ON the pitch
The most popular movie genres are action, adventures, thrillers and horrors, which is basically identical to the hugely popular gaming genres. It is hard to distinguish action from adventure and thrillers because most adventures have action and most action can be known as thrillers, another thing movies and games have in common. So here are a list of similarities games and movies share in different genres:
ACTION
Action can mean a lot of things. It can mean movement, think, talk, but in gaming terms it means a lot more than that - actually, in a way it means WAR!! If not war, mayhem or chaos because that's what it basically is when you see bullets flying across your screen, things blowing up in the background and people causing bodily harm to each other. "Where's the fun in that?" That's what the grown-ups would ask if they saw that description, but to answer that you could easily say that it's not real! (that should shut them up for a while) :D
With action comes tension, SWEAT(depending on your confidence) and a very dangerous atmosphere. I saw Spider Man recently, enjoyed it, and it had quite a lot of action scenes. Some bits made me jump while other scenes had me at the edge of my seat, but with all of this lay a mythy, dark and hero-like atmosphere that added to the enjoyment of the movie.
Medal of Honour is a war-based games with a lot of action. It may not be real, but working your way through those darn eerie levels can be a very tense experience, and this goes for a lot of action games.
Action games are mainly based on killing, which can be quite sad to hear, but funnily enough we still love it!
ADVENTURE/RPGs
Adventure films seem to be the favourite kind of film overall because in most cases they have both action and adventure, maybe not as much action as adventure, but two is better than one. Lord of the Rings (just released on DVD, soon to appear on console) is a fantastic example of an adventure jampacked with quite a lot of action. Although 3 hours long, it seemed to maintain enough action as well as comedy to keep me tuned in. The best thing about RPGs and adventure movies is that they have a mixture of fantastic ingredients that separates them from the single genres. They have a rich storyline, which creates the journey-like atmosphere and quite a lot of action. What more can you want?
Final Fantasy is everyone's favourite RPG so far. Final Fantasy X is the best of its kind yet on the PS2 and because of the big Japanese businesses backing it up it managed to reach the big screen as a CGI movie. The Spirits Within hyped up too many RPG fans and got their expectations so high that when it was released it put Final Fantasy's name to shame, thank fudge only on the big screen.
There are two types of adventures. There's the 'save the damsel in distress' kind and the 'find the missing stone'(or something) kind. You know what I mean. Either way, both types of adventure have the same things in common, a progressing storyline, a mysterious atmosphere and a lot of eccentric characters. It always happens!
HORROR
Something really ticks me off about this genre on both the big screen and computer games...they're inconsistent! There are some horrors that do try and scare the wits out of us, but there are also the lame ones that go too far. How? With loads of blood and stuff, and completely stupid looking baddies.
If any of you are thinking of seeing Eight-Legged Freaks I would advise you not to. It looks good in the trailers when you see a mere glimpse of mutatious spiders on the lose, but the movie itself is terrible! The plot is absolutely tasteless and reality soon dawns on you half way through the movie as you see, once again large spiders causing mayhem. Good horror films like Dog Soldiers put these sort of films to shame. It's more realistic with soldiers involved and it has a believable storyline, not forgetting a lot of pant-wetting bits.
Horror movies are well imitated by games, and in Resi Evil's case, horror games can also be well imitated by movies. It's not a bad movie, but it does vaguely drift away from the real storyline. I remember playing the first Resi Evil game like it was yesterday. It had a very dark atmosphere created by the lengthy intro movie and also just hearing the dark "Resident Evil" sound when I pressed start made me a little edgy to say the least. The music and sound of the game made me both tense and yes, SCARED! Not to mention the bit where the dogs jump through the window as I was running down the corridor. All those eerie sounds of wind blowing and the mumbling of zombies always made me break a sweat, but I still enjoyed the game. Other horror games like the "everything dark" Silent Hill do create a scare, but Resident Evil remains the daddy because it has all the essentials of a good horror game - eerie sounds, music, a range of baddies, puzzles and a lot of freaky venues.
The only thing missing from the gaming scene is a comedy horror. I've seen quite a lot of horror comedies like Braindead, and I found it absolutely hilarious and it might be a risky deal for developers with talk about gaming influence on people, but it really shouldn't go amiss.
Do you think there's another path games can follow that stray away from the original movie theme? I mean, sci-fi games are even following sci-fi movies, you would think that they could think of something new to include that differs from films, but it's so far so good with games like Starfighter on the go.
I think that the industry will seriously benefit from a change, instead of following the same movie theme all the time. It may have worked for so long, but the time will come where there will be a demand for change.
Thanks for Reading
PK
It is now accepted that movies play an essential role in creating the perfect atmosphere in a game, but not just any game. Those football films like Mean Machine and Bend It Like Beckham have never had an affect on football games because they just don't fit in with the aim of most footy games, which is to display as much realism as possible with both graphics and gameplay. However, there are the odd one or two footy titles like Red Card Soccer that have been influenced in a way by the big screen. I mean, it's not everyday you see a football game where you have to beat ten shades out of your opponents actually ON the pitch. It's sweet because it's new, just like Mean Machine! actually ON the pitch
The most popular movie genres are action, adventures, thrillers and horrors, which is basically identical to the hugely popular gaming genres. It is hard to distinguish action from adventure and thrillers because most adventures have action and most action can be known as thrillers, another thing movies and games have in common. So here are a list of similarities games and movies share in different genres:
ACTION
Action can mean a lot of things. It can mean movement, think, talk, but in gaming terms it means a lot more than that - actually, in a way it means WAR!! If not war, mayhem or chaos because that's what it basically is when you see bullets flying across your screen, things blowing up in the background and people causing bodily harm to each other. "Where's the fun in that?" That's what the grown-ups would ask if they saw that description, but to answer that you could easily say that it's not real! (that should shut them up for a while) :D
With action comes tension, SWEAT(depending on your confidence) and a very dangerous atmosphere. I saw Spider Man recently, enjoyed it, and it had quite a lot of action scenes. Some bits made me jump while other scenes had me at the edge of my seat, but with all of this lay a mythy, dark and hero-like atmosphere that added to the enjoyment of the movie.
Medal of Honour is a war-based games with a lot of action. It may not be real, but working your way through those darn eerie levels can be a very tense experience, and this goes for a lot of action games.
Action games are mainly based on killing, which can be quite sad to hear, but funnily enough we still love it!
ADVENTURE/RPGs
Adventure films seem to be the favourite kind of film overall because in most cases they have both action and adventure, maybe not as much action as adventure, but two is better than one. Lord of the Rings (just released on DVD, soon to appear on console) is a fantastic example of an adventure jampacked with quite a lot of action. Although 3 hours long, it seemed to maintain enough action as well as comedy to keep me tuned in. The best thing about RPGs and adventure movies is that they have a mixture of fantastic ingredients that separates them from the single genres. They have a rich storyline, which creates the journey-like atmosphere and quite a lot of action. What more can you want?
Final Fantasy is everyone's favourite RPG so far. Final Fantasy X is the best of its kind yet on the PS2 and because of the big Japanese businesses backing it up it managed to reach the big screen as a CGI movie. The Spirits Within hyped up too many RPG fans and got their expectations so high that when it was released it put Final Fantasy's name to shame, thank fudge only on the big screen.
There are two types of adventures. There's the 'save the damsel in distress' kind and the 'find the missing stone'(or something) kind. You know what I mean. Either way, both types of adventure have the same things in common, a progressing storyline, a mysterious atmosphere and a lot of eccentric characters. It always happens!
HORROR
Something really ticks me off about this genre on both the big screen and computer games...they're inconsistent! There are some horrors that do try and scare the wits out of us, but there are also the lame ones that go too far. How? With loads of blood and stuff, and completely stupid looking baddies.
If any of you are thinking of seeing Eight-Legged Freaks I would advise you not to. It looks good in the trailers when you see a mere glimpse of mutatious spiders on the lose, but the movie itself is terrible! The plot is absolutely tasteless and reality soon dawns on you half way through the movie as you see, once again large spiders causing mayhem. Good horror films like Dog Soldiers put these sort of films to shame. It's more realistic with soldiers involved and it has a believable storyline, not forgetting a lot of pant-wetting bits.
Horror movies are well imitated by games, and in Resi Evil's case, horror games can also be well imitated by movies. It's not a bad movie, but it does vaguely drift away from the real storyline. I remember playing the first Resi Evil game like it was yesterday. It had a very dark atmosphere created by the lengthy intro movie and also just hearing the dark "Resident Evil" sound when I pressed start made me a little edgy to say the least. The music and sound of the game made me both tense and yes, SCARED! Not to mention the bit where the dogs jump through the window as I was running down the corridor. All those eerie sounds of wind blowing and the mumbling of zombies always made me break a sweat, but I still enjoyed the game. Other horror games like the "everything dark" Silent Hill do create a scare, but Resident Evil remains the daddy because it has all the essentials of a good horror game - eerie sounds, music, a range of baddies, puzzles and a lot of freaky venues.
The only thing missing from the gaming scene is a comedy horror. I've seen quite a lot of horror comedies like Braindead, and I found it absolutely hilarious and it might be a risky deal for developers with talk about gaming influence on people, but it really shouldn't go amiss.
Do you think there's another path games can follow that stray away from the original movie theme? I mean, sci-fi games are even following sci-fi movies, you would think that they could think of something new to include that differs from films, but it's so far so good with games like Starfighter on the go.
I think that the industry will seriously benefit from a change, instead of following the same movie theme all the time. It may have worked for so long, but the time will come where there will be a demand for change.
Thanks for Reading
PK