For years now, the gaming and movie industries have been working side by side to dominate the entertainment industry. Gone are the days of tree forts and heading out for bike rides just for something to do and instead, youre more likely to catch a child out catching augmented Pokmon than flying bugs. The gaming industry has revolutionised the way we spend our time, whether its hours spent giving casino games a try online, or breaking out the console to navigate a post-apocalyptic Fallout world, but we certainly havent forgotten how the power of cinema.
The big screen has been the heart and soul of entertainment for such a long time now that its only right that gaming has started to work with the industry rather than against it. Here, were exploring how the gaming industry is transforming movies as we know them.
Are Video Games Overtaking The Movie Industry?
The one question we have to ask ourselves before we begin is whether gaming is overtaking movies as a whole. Nowadays, we all have technology at our fingertips that can make playing, watching and creating games and movies as simple as a few taps on a screen and as a result, both industries have been growing exponentially as far as the independent market is concerned. However, one thing that is worth taking into account is the time in which we spend in either market. Think of your typical day you wake up, get ready to go to school or work and you set off. If you commute, you probably pull out your phone and do a bit of browsing and maybe indulge in a round of Crossy Road or two bonus points if you play it one handed while gripping onto a rail.
You work, maybe browse social media during lunch, hop back on a bus or a train home and try Doodle Jump or Candy Crush. Then, only once your home will you indulge in a movie or a series to help you unwind at the end of a long day. While the age of downloadable movie content is upon us, very few are willing to stop and start a movie throughout their commute could gaming be taking over?
Movies Once Influenced Games
There was a time where movies dominated over games, particularly by working their way into the industry itself. Leading movies were made into games on a regular basis, from Harry Potters full collection to James Bonds many spy adventures. Superheroes werent exempt from this either, with Legos Batman and Batman 2 offering a cartoon-esque adventure into Batmans villain-bashing world.
While we do still see app store games crafted in the image of movies, particularly when a popularity boom has been evident, its less common to see console or PC creations and instead, were seeing more and more movies being made in the image of games.
… And Now The Tides Are Turning
Every year, were seeing more and more movies being produced that are either directly copied from our favourite games, or heavily influenced by them. Just this year weve seen a remake of Tomb Raider and the release of Rampage based off of the video game series by Midway Games. Weve even had announcements for Minecraft, The Angry Birds Movie 2, Detective Pikachu and Sonic The Hedgehog all due to be released in 2019.
The movie industry is becoming increasingly saturated not only with movie versions of leading games, but films that feature gaming heavily as their main theme. Ready Player One has been one of 2018s biggest movies so far, and were all eagerly awaiting Wreck-It Ralph 2 after the original had us all feeling something for the bad guys. While there have been some movies of questionable quality, gaming has certainly provided the film industry with some box office hits.
The tides may have turned when it comes to the gaming and movie industries, but were confident that regardless of whether movies are influencing gaming, or the opposite is truly taking over, both can certainly benefit from the interest. What do you think?