Diminishing line between movies and games [Archive]

Chand

28-01-2005, 01:33 AM

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The line between video games and film is beginning to blur
[www.sltrib.com]</TD></TR>
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<TD =articleImageCaption>The main character makes a run for it in "The Getaway: Black Monday." The new PlayStation 2 video game is being touted as ''a one-of-a-kind interactive entertainment experience.'' </TD>
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Imagine not only watching Bruce Willis gun down terrorists in "Die Hard," but controlling him. Or manipulating Keanu Reeve's lightning-quick moves in "The Matrix." Or having the choice to get on the plane with Ilsa instead of staying behind in "Casablanca."    Video game makers have been trying to realize that dream for years. Yet their goal of converging film with the thumb-twitching interactivity of video games has been met with only sporadic success.    But as video games become more photo-realistic, and as more Hollywood professionals jump on the video game bandwagon, the line between games and film are beginning to blur.    At this year's Sundance and Slamdance film festivals in Park City, video games are trying to muscle their way into both events to push the notion that game makers are producing the same thrills as any movie.    In addition to Sony Computer Entertainment of America showing off a PlayStation 2 game at Sundance, leading game publisher Activision is sponsoring a celebrity house on Park City's Main Street, Microsoft has an Xbox lounge at the Levi's Ranch, and Nintendo is running its own lounge at the Red Stag Lodge. Also, Slamdance is holding its first independent video game competition.    "The independent game developers are what independent filmmakers were 25 years ago," said Carolyn Cohagan, manager of Slamdance's BIG C Game Competition. "Indie films have grown into their own thing right now, but an indie game developer is still a guy alone in his basement, programming for a year."    Sony is at the Marriot Summit Watch Resort in Park City to show off a new video game called "The Getaway: Black Monday," which it is touting as "cinematic storytelling" mixed with "a one-of-a-kind interactive entertainment experience." Whatever you call it, it's a far cry from the little white line and square   pixel of "Pong" in 1972.    The PS2 game, based on British gangster films and movies like "Memento," uses cinematic lighting, camera angles and motion capture of actors, including sophisticated facial recognition software that records expressions. And if that isn't enough to compare it to a movie, in true Hollywood tradition, "The Getaway: Black Monday" is a sequel.    "We drew on the film world and used the cinematic techniques of the film world," said the game's director, Naresh Hirani. "We see a convergence of the kind of experience we're offering with the kind of experience the film world is offering."    Most video games, however, have failed to pull in players emotionally the same way a movie captivates audiences. But Hirani says that emotional connection is only a matter of time.
 "Games will mature like the world of cinema has had to mature," he said. "It offers a cinematic experience but with an element of choice. To be in charge of your destiny and no longer be a slave to the narrative - that's the next step."    Movies and video games are beginning to mirror each other in another aspect: how they are made and how corporate thinking has taken over the industry.    Like Hollywood, video games have become big business. U.S. sales of console and portable video games alone reached $9.9 billion in 2004, according to market research firm NPD Funworld. Once PC game sales are factored in, it will total a record year for interactive entertainment, earning as much - if not more - yearly revenue than the $10 billion theatrical movie business.    Most games also are made and distributed by only a few major publishers like Electronic Arts, maker of the Madden football series; "Tony Hawk" creator Activision; and "Grand Theft Auto" distributors Take-Two Interactive.    And   like Hollywood, video games have fallen into a creative black hole where sequels, remakes and clones have flooded the market. Because games can now cost up to $20 million to $30 million to make, publishers - like movie studios - are less willing to take risks.    Cohagan said Slamdance Film Festival organizers created their independent video game competition because "Slamdance supports all visual storytellers, and game developers are visual storytellers."    The BIG C Game Competition has chosen 10 independently produced video games from 61 entrants. Winners will be chosen, and demos of the 10 games will be distributed free on CDs in stores around the country.    "We want to help indie game developers the same way we help indie filmmakers - by helping them get distribution," Cohagan said.    She insists "the convergence is inevitable" between video games and film. The festival   held a panel discussion Saturday about the melding of games and cinema. Both Sundance and Slamdance also scheduled panels on a new filmmaking art form called "machinima" that uses video games to make animated films.    "As the quality of video games improves with the special effects and the sound and the music, the best of [Hollywood] is going to want to work in both. More and more actors are taking part in games," Cohagan said. "It's getting to be seen as a cutting edge, cool thing to do."
 </TD></TR></T></TABLE>By Vince Horiuchi The Salt Lake Tribune