Are games the best form of entertainment media?

[Andy]

I remember a while back, one of the Presidents or Vice Presidents of Electronic Arts, in a press conference where Peter Moore, Ed Fries, and a representative of Sony were all together talking about the industry, kept going on about how movie companies are now constantly pursueing gaming companies to do games on their projects, and looking at games for inspiration now, how games were the superior form of entertainment. Of course, he also presented himself as a highly pompus jackass (in true EA fashion ), but still.

Personally, I would agree. Though I love movies and music, gaming just has way, way more limitless posibilities, and instead of just watching or listening in the latter, you're actually interacting with games. Games give the ability to actually create something that can be manipulated, so on the same shelf of games, you may find something like Metal Gear Solid, which is doing everything most big-budget action movies do, but letting you be the hero, or a game like Amplitude, which lets you not only hear the music, but feel it. And at the same time, you have totally original types of entertainment that came to be solely from games, like shooters.

What do you think? Is gaming now the 'best' form of entertainment? Do you think movies are still better? Or music? Literature? Obviously, only material mediums are included, please restrain from coming in here and telling everyone to go outside and play sports *stares at DiffX*

[xS]

Yeah, I think that gaming is more entertaining than other media like movies and literature.

The escapism gaming allows is teh rad. IMO it allows for a whole array of different types of fun that can't be had with other media types. Civilization 2, DoDonPachi, Rez, Quake, Deus EX, Diablo and Landstalker all can give hundreds of hours of fun, each in a different way.

PS: I'll come back to this thread when I'm a little less drunk=\

[MVS]

Nope.

Books and some Movies/Television > Video Games.

[EightBit]

It will be someday. But their potential for it is being squandered by companies like EA. Ironic.

[Videodrone]

Originally posted by MVS
Nope.

Books and some Movies/Television > Video Games.

agreed...but i enjoy the hype and build-up of the game industry much more than I do for the movie and literature industries...

[Jeremy]

I enjoy the interactivity of video gaming, I find that it helps to absorb the user into the goings on of the game.

[Drewbacca]

I enjoy a movie a lot more than most videogames.

[MVS]

Books take imagination, games don't.

That makes books better right there.

[680x0]

Books are better yes, aslong as infocom isn't making any more I-Fiction

I think good games and good movies are a pretty good match, but games win out for me because of length and active participation. Some movies are challenging enough that you become an "active viewer" but not many.

[Eightbitbreaks]

Originally posted by MVS
Books take imagination, games don't.

That makes books better right there.

What about text-only games?

But yeah I'd agree that I'd put books ahead of video games. Not movies though.