A Tale of Two Genres

Like many of you out there, I grew up with video games and movies. In many ways they served as a second hand babysitter when the parental units were just too tired to deal with the torrential s***fests we kids could unleash on a whim. I have many fond memories staring into the abyss of the television screen at the colorful worlds projected out before me. As a kid, managing one’s priorities was the easiest thing to do being that there was really only one priority: have fun. The pursuit of this cardinal desire was certainly filled by the time I spent watching surprisingly violent shows like Ren and Stimpy and collecting lost emeralds on my trusty Sega Genesis. For most video games during those days the two most prominent genres were (and in many ways still are) action/adventure and survival horror. Just as these games were a staple in the average gamer’s development, so were action/adventure and horror films. What was a sleepover without a marathon of Goldeneye multiplayer followed by a healthy dose of Scream? Or maybe some Resident Evil 2 followed by Speed 2: Cruise Control?

Willem Dafoe + Leach Bath = Awful Formula

The action and horror genres of movies and games alike are not interested in pondering deep philosophical questions or creating complex characters, but would rather provide primal thrills of showing crap explode, creating elaborate sets for the heroes to blow up aforementioned crap, and disemboweling characters in some of the most painful and creative ways imaginable. There is nothing wrong with this formula; I am just making the observation that this is not some sort of “high art.” These genres do not leave much for the viewer or gamer to chew on after they leave the theater or set down the controller. The main reaction tends to be “That was awesome!” or “Oh my Gawd, I like s*** my pants” and not much else. What I will argue is that action and horror genres actually work much better in the video game medium than in the movies, especially with the high quality graphics, soundtracks, and voice acting these days. While action and horror movies still provide a good amount of thrills, they just do not have the same degree of immersion that video games can provide. How else can you explain playing six straight hours of video games but questioning whether you want to sit through a two hour movie or not?

Let me illustrate the average viewer’s brain activity when watching a movie:

Average Action Movie: Hope that truck explodes…YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH! Shoot him in the face! That gun is badass! How is he going to get out of this one? Maybe this or that or…oh of course, that option we did not know was an option until 5 seconds ago. This car chase scene is awesome! That chick is hawt! SATISFACTION ACHIEVED

Average Horror Movie: Don’t walk in there! Lookout! What the hell are you doing? That was stupid! Aw, sick! What’s behind the door—OH CRAP! Sweet, a sex scene…naturally climaxing in an orgy of blood and phallic imagery. Of course the traumatized kid was the killer. Or was he… SATISFACTION ACHIEVED

Pyramid Head

While movies have the viewer sit passively in the dark, allowing the events to basically wash over him or her, games, on the other hand, get much more personal with the simple addition of having the fate of the characters resting literally in the player’s hands. YOU are now that person who has to find the right escape route and blow up everything that needs blowing up. YOU are now the person who has to walk through that ominous hallway full well knowing some bad s*** is about to go down. Your decisions are actually what appear on the screen, not the carefully constructed cause and effect chains that cannot be broken in a movie. Much more thinking is involved. Only the best movies are able to replicate this feeling. That sensation that you are actually there. The feeling that you are making the decisions. With video games there is no time for hindsight bias, such as “I thought she would do that” or “he was a dumbass for doing such and such.” If you really are an idiot or just do not handle situations well under stress, you will find out…or just find another defensive mechanism to live in your own special bubble of denial forever.

Play the game! http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/547307

With so many decisions to juggle and without a clear path to always hold your hand, video games become a much more immersive experience with this constant tension of uncertainty nagging you. With a movie you know it has to end by its runtime. A video game, conversely, takes as long as it takes you to figure out how to beat the objectives. The player is also responsible for taking the character through those impossibly difficult car chases and shoot outs. In relation to the horror games, closing your eyes and waiting for those scary moments to pass is simply not an option. You have to navigate the labyrinthine halls of the haunted mansion and make it out alive, braving all those damn monsters/zombies/aliens/whathaveyou that pop out at the worst times (there’s never a good time for those sort of things really). It is for these reasons that I feel it is fair to say the most thrilling parts of games like Uncharted, Zelda, and Silent Hill rival those of Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, and Silent Hill. Without a doubt, the best parts of the Resident Evil games beat the crap out of the Resident Evil movies.

All that said, I still believe movies are the go-to source for all things drama, romance, comedy, and psychological thriller—though games are definitely catching up to this last area. Overtaking these genres is not an impossible task for video games. One of the most dramatically powerful scenes I have seen that provoked all sorts of emotions on par with a well made film is the now infamous scene in COD4: Modern Warfare. I’ll just let the scene speak for itself. SPOILERS: Yes, your character just dies =( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S3N0uSSho

I cannot wait until a game is recognized as being equally valuable as the classics of Charles Dickens or Fitzgerald. For some sick reason, I would like to see the show Mad Men turned into a video game. Cheat or don’t cheat on your wife? Fire or not fire your new secretary? Agree with a pitch idea or shoot it down? The day you see a character driven drama like this successfully turned into a video game, you will know the tides have turned.

Bonus: Haven’t played the first ones, but if the game is as good as the trailer, Deus Ex 3 will be amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6JTvzrpBy0&fmt=22&annotation_id=annotation_935604&feature=iv

Nostalgia: in 8-bits

Guy in the Present Day: You like video games? That’s cool, what’s your favorite? No way, that’s mine too! Oh man, we have like so much in common. They’re coming out with another sequel? I can’t wait til they—wut? Side scroller? *Spit take* Dammit, I paid like 5 bucks for that Frappe Happy Chino. NO, I WILL NOT STOP CRYING! Wanna go out sometime?

Old Man 50 Years in the Future: Back in my day there were only two dimensions. You could walk forward or you could walk backwards…level permitting. I mean that ish was linear! None of this fancy sideways, loosey goosey, 4D, spacetime crap that you hooligans play these days. There was a nasty word for people like us. It had many more negative connotations then than it does now. It began with the letter n. Any guess? Bobby, go to your room! I never want to see you again! You have to eat this bar of Astronaut Soap while you are at it. The word was nerd. N-E-R-D. And to describe it in my old man lingo, it was a M-M-M-M-Monster KILL Kill kill kill kill *Grandpa dissolves into the atmosphere*

Make what you will of those two exchanges but—actually just completely ignore them. I don't know what I'm doing. But let’s see *shuffles through notes* ah, yes. So you know how a lot of people like video games, right? And like how popular culture has assimilated video games into everything from music, to clothing, to movies, and even those things called books? Well, I guess I just find it interesting that when the video games are directly referenced in another medium, it tends to reference games from the 8-bit days. Ya know, the Mario, the Sonic, the Pac Man with his Mrs. Man. Why is this?

RIP Tonight Show with Conan O Brien

Well, for one can you think of a style in recent video games as distinctive as any of that released after SNES and Sega Genesis? Sure games have improved in terms of how realistic, or at least how clear everything looks. But take a look at that jagged block world of the 8-bit. Somehow a bunch of red, blue, and peach colored squares make up an Italian plumber.

The aesthetics of a classic retro 8-bit game could be compared to the cubist movement. I mean, why not?

Woman Playing Mandolin by Picasso

The limitations of the first video games allowed this unique style to develop, and yet this style continues to live on through popular culture. The recent game 3D Dot Game Heroes pays extensive homage to 8-bit games of the past (particularly Zelda) and puts the style in a 3D environment.

Even the 8-bit soundtracks have become iconic for their distinct synth sound. The film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, a comic that essentially takes place in the environment of a video game, even takes the Universal Studios logo and remakes it into an 8-bit graphic, complete with the distorted NES soundtrack. These beeps, bleeps, and boops occasionally find their way into songs as well. The band Crystal Castles, as a matter of fact, specialize in creating haunting electronic beats with old school game soundtracks mixed with distorted sound effects from said games. ( Their song entitled Vanished: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56E8yYgLNHE&feature=related)

Even game developers are finding themselves steeped in the nostalgia of the side-scrollin’ old days. With the release of the Scott Pilgrim game, Super Mario Bros. Wii, Shadow Complex, and the soon to be released Sonic 4, side scrollers still remain a classic way to have fun. It is a nice change of pace to have games as linear as these, opposed to the seemingly endless choices that are provided in World of Warcraft, GTA, and Fallout 3. Less can be more on some occasions. Or maybe developers figure it is generally easier to make side scrollers and, in effect, easier to make some quick money to feed their drug addictions. Or their children.

Perhaps the most obvious reason for all this commotion is just nostalgia in general, and how retro items become popular again at some point in time. Yeah, 8-bit might not be the future of games, but I suppose it is always a good idea to pay some mad respect to the past. Or else feel the wrath of the 8-bit gods as they get retro on yo @$$.

http://tppto.ytmnd.com/