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Videogames or Movies, Who is the Better Storyteller?

April 14, 2011 in Blog comments 5

TMP takes a look at the different storytelling abilities between videogames and movies, to examine what they could learn from each other, and make our determination on which medium is actually the better storyteller.

Time and time again we look into how video games are not adapting well to film. We dive down into the cracks and explain how we would fix it. We talk about games that would make fantastic movies, (and directors that should stay away from them). However there is one key aspect people seem to be missing. Video games are starting to become better story tellers than many Hollywood movies, and at the end of that road maybe a video game will be the front runner to a film.
darklordzor via themoviepool.com »
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  • 0
    Deception Apr 14, 11
    Videogames. Well, videogames that are made properly in the aspect of characters and storyline. You get more emotionally invested with them in 10 hours rather then a 2 hour movie.
    • 0
      Big A2 Apr 14, 11
      Who sits down and plays a video game from begging to end with the intention to enjoy the story and characters? It's harder to get "emotionally invented" in characters you only see for one hour every day or two, as opposed to seeing the whole thing in one 2 or 3 hour sitting.

      Not to mention that the story in a video game only moves as fast as the player wants it too, where in movies the director chooses the pacing for each scene and the movie as a whole to reflect the intended mood. Video games can’t do that.
  • 0
    Big A2 Apr 14, 11
    What? You're using Battle: Los Angeles and Sucker Punch as examples of story-telling in movies? Seriously? How about you compare good movies to video games and see which one wins.

    quote
    With video games, everything has meaning. Similar to animation they start with a blank slate. Why add something, why put something in detail, if it isn’t needed? Everything you do has a consequence, everything you see has a meaning behind it, and game writers always tie in emotional objects for a game.
    WHAT? And movies don’t?
  • 0
    Bale Fire Apr 15, 11
    I think that videogames potentially have a better capacity for story telling. A 30-40 game can simply cram in so much more than a 2 hour movie. Of course whether videogames actually reach that potential is up to the developer.
    • 0
      Storm Apr 15, 11
      Agreed, developers definitely have the potential. The problems lie on how organized the team is, how much time they have to develop the game, and how much money they have to support development.

      Quantity =/= Quality. Sure they can tell more, and video games are obviously more engaging as we are in control, but for a game to be that long...it's possible that it will drag on. A lot of games, especially RPG's (which span on an average of 40+ hours), need to keep the fun factor intact from beginning to end, and many RPG's struggle to do so. Could argue with the more famous ones doing their job, sure, but the more famous RPG's are sequels, established series.

      The story aspects of games usually keep my interest, but other times I'm just trying to rush through it to finish the game. A film relies more on their story and characters, whilst games have gameplay, graphics, and other factors to throw in. I believe films tell the better story, lesser distractions and smoother flow (bumpy parts with games such as bugs and glitches), so we can truly focus on the story. And honestly, many, many game endings seem too short and lackluster. I'd give a slight edge to films as far as storytelling goes, but it's not the gaming industry's fault, they have many more aspects to focus on.

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