7 Reasons Why Video Games are Better than Movies

Call of Duty Black Ops was notable for making more money than any movie ever made and yet gaming is still seen as more of a fringe activity than going to see movies are. However before you buy that ticket to yet another movie that you'll forget an hour afterwards, I suggest you read my list as to why video games are the superior medium.

[versusALL]

One of the reasons I like video games better is story. Video games story's nowadays either equal that of movies or surpass it. Plus at least video games come up with original stories that aren't based on a play, book, etc.

My fav. video game stories: Bioshock, Final Fantasy X, Assassin's Creed 2, Metal Gear Solid series, Infamous, God of War, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2, L.A Noire, Mafia 2, Dead Space, Heavy Rain, the LIST IS ENDLESS!

[NastyLeftHook0]

yes heavy rain, one of the best works of art since mona lisa.

[h311rais3r]

I wish halos game stories were like the books. I read em all and honestly the stories are as complex as mgs. Well...in the books anyway lol.

[shadowwizard]

Ahhahaha, Halo stories are as complex as mgs, lulz, best laught in months.

[Snookies12]

I certainly wouldn't put them on MGS level, but Halo does have a pretty good story for what it is, I'll give you that.

[humbleopinion]

Games simply can't compete with how deep stories in books are, but they have other advantages. The story in Halo games for example never comes close to the (good) books in the series, but the level of interactiveness compensates for that: a book can't deliver the level of intensity or running into the Flood for the first time - it's emergent narrative

MGS stories though are more like convoluted anime shows with some interesting philosophy but really bad dialog - as if Kojima is doing it on purpose.

[hay]

Real advantages of games over movies:

Interactivity. Games can make you smarter, improve hand-eye coordination, reflexes, critical thinking, cooperation and competitiveness.

Freedom. Some games give you freedom of choice, freedom to express yourself in a game or even through a game.

Connectivity. You can meet people of different cultures, from literally different worlds.

Imagination. Some games leave a lot to imagination(especially oldschool titles) expanding your inner world.

Attachment. People tend to be more attached to things they put more effort into. How many f*cks we have thrown on those ridiculously hard levels, cheap boss fights and mindblowing riddles? Each such challenge did a trick on our mood, generated anger, but the amount of problem solving skills we put there, were converted into experience. And we all like to show-off with our crazy achievements.

Games are glorious children of three worlds: books, movies and playfulness. And the best is yet to come as the industry matures.

[ChickeyCantor]

" Plus at least video games come up with original stories that aren't based on a play, book, etc."

...You're kidding me right?

[versusALL]

@sidar
What do you mean?

[ChickeyCantor]

There are a lot of movies that don't base their story on a book or play. Like video games, stories are inspired by literature, books, moves, life itself, etc.

In essence in the same categorized movies the "message" is relatively the same. Just differently told.

God of War for instance takes most of its lore from actually greek history.

And here HAWP puts it perfectly for uncharted:
http://www.gametrailers.com...

O wait...the story elements are actually stolen.
Goes both way.

[syanara]

not only better story but longer ones, Movies have maybe 2 hours to tell a story while games can take as long as is needed.

[Irishguy95]

They both have their ups and downs/ So do Tv series such as Breaking bad and Game of thrones for example/ I enjoy all of them. Although gaming is my biggest hobby/

[WeskerChildReborned]

Yea thats what i think.

[CaptainSheep]

I've always preferred video games over movies. Many would disagree with me on what I'm about to say but I actually feel a connection with a video game character. While watching a movie or a TV series, I don't think like at all.
I mean, I've played Persona 3 more times than I remember and each time, I felt a connection with all the characters in the game. When the game was ending, I actually felt REALLY sad.
Call me a forever alone if you want but it's just my thinking. :P

[vickers500]

My favorite is TV shows. Not that reality crap, but shows like Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Dexter, Arrested Development, Dead Like Me, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Community, Psych, Firefly, and just so many more that would take me a long time to name.

TV shows are better than movies (imo) because they actually allow for character development and allow you to form an attachment to the characters. In movies, unless it's a sequel, you have about 2 hours to get attached to a character, which is not enough time for me.

As for video games, in terms of good stories in games it's pretty much like one out of every hundred games that an actual good story exists(good at minimum, great stories in games are even more rare), where as with TV it's more like 1 out of every 10 or 1 out of every 25.

But then again, that's not really the fault of the games, TV just allows for more creative freedom than games do, which sucks, because there are no doubt tons of awesome unique games that could be made if devs and publishers weren't pressured into making military shooter after military shooter.

[Soldierone]

Its your opinion and I respect that, but for me TV shows are lacking as of late. I've tried to enjoy shows and what not, but the commercial breaks and long waiting between episodes throws me off.

The only show I put time aside and schedule to watch is The Walking Dead. I was trying to watch Falling Skies, but it has those filler episodes that suck. A lot of other shows feel really toned down, and don't even get me started on reality shows.....lmao

[vickers500]

@soldierone
I do the majority of my tv show watching on Netflix, so there's no commercial breaks, and also, after watching 4 or 5 seasons back to back whenever I want, I'm fine with waiting a little while for the new ones to come on, it builds up anticipation for me.

I've only watched a little bit of Falling Skies, but I couldn't finish an episode, and that might not be an example of the best tv has to offer. But there are plenty of great tv shows out there lately, you just have to know where to look.

And yeah, I don't even watch a single reality tv show. But I bet you'd love TV a lot more than you do now if you were shown the good stuff.

[Gigglefist]

Neither is better. They're different mediums. Sure, they're both visual arts, but that's about as far as it goes.

[Psycho_PS3Truthh]

Playstation exclusives such as heavy rain and uncharted 2 can match any movie in society, also metal gear solid series as been delivering powerful story moments since the beginning of the remarkable franchise.

I cannot wait for beyond 2 souls which might be the first game to be nominated for an oscar award in both best female in a leading role and best motion picture. Lets face it the game is a complete fusion between interactivity and drama beyond even heavy rain.

It will be exclusive to the great PS3 forever

[Irishguy95]

I disagree, Uncharted is a good albeit cliche Action adventure flick if you were to give it a movie standard. Heavy rain is absolutely filled with plot holes/ Mgs, I agree it's story is awesome, however, in terms of storytelling, it's a game, it does not match up to watching a movie which is built around it's story and characters/ Games are built with gameplay in mind, for example, MGS has alot of breaks between story cutscenes. Besides Heavy Rain which is essentially an interactive movie/ where almost everything you do is cutscene/influencing the story.

As I said above, I believe they have their ups and downs. Movies generally won't be as fun as gaming, but they are better for telling stories/ Luckily as gamers, we like both gameplay and stories, so getting a mix of both is good for us. MGS3 is my favorite product in entertainment btw so don't take my comment the wrong way

[256bit]

"Call of Duty Black Ops was notable for making more money than any movie ever made"

since when did movie tickets cost $60? or special seatings that go up for $130?

[Soldierone]

No matter how many times we say it, video games won't be respected until our generation is older, and the movie generation is on the way out....

You could have a game that blows away a movie in every way possible, and the movie geeks will just blow it off.

Call it what you want, even with the added dimension of being a part of the story, most video games tell a better story, have better character development, better original stories, etc..."but they have 10 hours to tell it!!!" No, some games are 4 hours long, and most games don't have more than 90-150 minutes of cutscenes.

[StrawberryDiesel420]

Max Payne 3 is better than most action movies, game is so sick.

[MadLad]

From what I hear, it basically is an action movie, just broken up by some instances of gameplay.

[ginsunuva]

Actually it's a noir drama movie broken up by action gameplay.

[ThePainkiller]

7 Reasons Why Video Games are Just as Shitty as Movies

1. Greedy industry.
2. Lazy, untalented directors and developers/actors.
3. They rehash the same plot/gameplay ideas OVER and OVER again. Just quit it -- stop trying to be just like Halo or Mass Effect.
4. Stupid fanboys arguing and bitching over each others opinions. There's just as much shit going on in the movie industry as the gaming.
5. Did I already say greedy industry? Yep, I said that back up.
6. People just don't care about quality anymore: it's all quantity now.
7. Butthurt fanboys can't bear to hear the plain old truth that video games and movies are shitty as hell.

[TheFinalEpisode]

Why are you even on this site? You can't troll a gaming site on how much gaming sucks. Trolls are just getting dumber these days

[omarzy]

Original Star Wars trilogy. Nothing more needs to be said.

[TheFinalEpisode]

Gaming has masterpieces too and it's been out for less than half the time movies have.What's your point?

[TheFinalEpisode]

Double post

[Qrphe]

Games get to have a narrative as long as pleased and paced at whatever paced desired until movies (usual 2 hr limit) and TV series (forced cliffhangers at end of episodes/seasons)

[SpecialK]

Worst list ever. Wheres the examples and proof???

The films industry is global. I watch films from around the world using dubs or subtitles and theyre great. The main issue though is that scripts for films are hard to translate, especially in comedies where countries all have their own version of humor in the use of their language. Its not hard to translate FPS games though when its mainly "**** Ive been shot" =P

There are films that take themselves seriously, and films that dont, just like games.

Both mediums have their place. Films couldnt reproduce the fun of playing a game yourself and having to make choices yourself, but then for a long time at least games wont have the depth of story that only comes from brilliant film writers, dedicated actors and well thought out camera work and brilliant locations. No graphics can beat the real thing.

Things like the series Band of Brothers/ The Pacific, or films like the last samurai. No games have gotten quite that far yet.

Films will always have their advantages.

[teedogg80]

The reason I prefer games over movies is that in the game, I actually control what happens instead of just sitting and watching. I love both though.

[prototypeknuckles]

The 7 reasons games are trying to be movies instead of VIDEO GAMES!!!

[turgore]

Games can be more personal than movies. For example, the mass effect trilogy.
Technology will quickly bridge the gap between movies and games. Animation will rival real actors and special effects will rival Hollywood.

[Kidmyst]

I'll take a horror video game over a horror movie anyday. Horror movies now days are so predictable and more just plain gore than suspense. Games you don't sit and watch thinking "how will they get out of this" it;s "how am I getting through this, do I have enough Ammo, weapons, can I take an alternate route, do I have enough health?". My heart sometimes can race in horror games during good moments but movies, it's Hmm music is changing, gee something gonna happen? Yup!

[Brixxer600]

I'll take it in phases , i've spent the last few weeks in a gaming frame of mind , playing Ghost Recon FS online and levelling 3 classes up to 50 , i wasn't interested in any other media . Once i'd done that i gave up on the games machine and have gone into movie mode . If i had to give up 1 of them then it'd be gaming , i couldn't stand the thought of never seeing some of my favourite classic movies ever again.

[AdvanceWarsSgt]

Wait.....people actually think the stories in video games are on par with Hollywood's best?

LOL I have yet to play a game that matches even half the intensity and emotion that Cast Away has. So no, video games stories are no where near Hollywood's best.