I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

Herzlich Wilkommen,

I was reading Newsweek's review of 300 when I came across one of my biggest pet peeves, a film critic disparagingly comparing a movie to a videogame. Where do they get off acting so high and mighty? Sure, there are a lot of crappy games out there, but I assume Hollywood would not be too happy being judged based on Wild Hogs or Norbit. Why does this notion of video games as mindless, violent, juvenile pastimes persist? Sure, it is a relatively young medium, but I don't see its novelty as a negative. Rather, it means there are tons of exciting possibilities for continued development.

There are plenty of games that surpass anything shown in theaters. No movie I have ever seen is as hauntingly beautiful or touching as Shadow of the Colossus. No film has captured loneliness and isolation as well as Metroid Prime. Half-Life 2 is still the best vision of an Orwellian dystopia I have experienced. Few movies are as consistently clever or funny as Psychonauts. Final Fantasy XII is high fantasy on a scale that could never be attempted on the silver screen, with the possible exception of LOTR. The list goes on and on.

Obviously, there are areas where cinema will always have the edge. Most games employ cut scenes to tell the major plot points, after all. However, to treat them as an inferior form of story telling is to be willfully ignorant of an entire artistic medium.

Well, enough ranting for now. Maybe I am overreacting but it really gets to me when someone belittles video games. They'll see, one day. Or they'll die in a fiery helicopter accident.

What cat?,
Alyx Vance