6/19/11

A New Medium?


PhotobucketMovies, books, and sometimes the people around you, these are the mediums that are common ways to absorbed a story. Movies. . . great, but very limited, I mean honestly, nowadays if a movie last over an hour and a half, people get very fussy. Most directors are very limited by time, and there audiences are grateful for that, unless your a fan of the film "Modern Times Forever" Running time: 240 Hours, yeah think 240 minuets is long? Try this ten day film. Anyway, moving on to books, well this is as simple as, forgive me book worms, lots of people don’t like to read. Grandpa talking your ear off?? Not bad, but also limited by time, so how then can we get all aspects of a lengthy story, with out going the Peter Jackson route? Videogames. Yes I know parents might yell blaspheme, however if your like me, and in a game for a good narrative, you will know what I mean when I say, often times a game paints a much clearer picture of the story then any movie. I have played many games in my day from, Return to Castle Wolfinstine, Grand Theft Auto, and even Call of Duty, all well over 4 hours long, and all a great and complete narrative. Video games are fun, and that is why you can devote countless hours to them UN like a movie. I recently played Medal of Honor, witch tells a story of some special forces in Afghanistan, and by the end I found myself very tied in, as much, if not more, than any recent war movie. Then I picked up Rockstar studios Red Dead Redemption, and I was again FLOORED by the intense, gripping, and complete nature of the narrative. So think about it, games can cover more then movies, take longer doing so, people will not get bored as easy, and for sum can be much more engaging then a book, or an old time story from grandpa. So open your mind people, and you will see that, today, Videogames stand right next to the next blockbuster hit in terms of expectation, and are a prominent and growing medium for story telling in our society.