Video games to all but replace movie industry
Cory Bergman April 29th, 2008
As David wrote below, Grand Theft Auto IV hits store shelves today. Some are even saying that GTA could be the best game title in history. Now, let’s put the violence discussion aside and focus on the mind-boggling media/technology aspects of the game. Just watch this trailer and review, which illustrates that GTA has taken video gaming to a new level. Unbelievable.
As I’ve written off and on over the years, video games are becoming interactive movies, and they’ll ultimately replace most of the traditional Hollywood movie industry. Why would you want to sit passively and watch a movie (or a TV show) when you can live a movie? Video games already generate more money than the movie industry, but games like GTA IV illustrate that the gaming business is just getting warmed up. Soon games will transition from interactive movies to virtual reality experiences. And the sky’s the limit.
17 Comments Add your own
1. Chump | April 29th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Meh.
Yeah, and newspapers are going away too. What do we need radios for since we have TV? Oh and your TV’s are going away too.
2. Chump | April 29th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Yeah and newspapers are going away too. What do we need radio for since we have TV? Your TV’s are going away too.
3. Anonymous | April 29th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
have to concur with chump. will continue to be a fan of LR, but in all honesty, it’s hyperbolic proclamations like these that turn me off some of the dig. media blogging community
4. tdc | April 29th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
yeah, me too.
i can recall when tv people galore were on here saying how youtube wouldn’t make it because their bandwidth costs would sink them.
5. Editz | April 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Back in my day, if you wanted to beat up a hooker, you had to go downtown and actually beat one up!
6. Contrarian | April 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Cory loves to pontificate about how everything BUT computers is going away. No TV, radio, DVDs, films–nothing but computers and game consoles.
What a boring life he envisions.
Also, what a high opinion he holds of his own viewpoint. Once again, he refers to himself in this post (”As I’ve written off and on over the years…”), which he does more and more lately, as if doing so adds credibility to his writing.
7. Alex | April 30th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Well, yeah, tdc, but last I heard, YouTube hadn’t turned a profit for Google yet. Popularity’s great, but you can’t pay the bills with it.
8. Hussman | April 30th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Why would I want to live a movie when after a stressful day at work, I just want to sit back with a beer and be entertained?
Viva la Passive Entertainment!
9. tdc | April 30th, 2008 at 6:21 am
and last i heard most tv groups aren’t turning much of a profit either.
is it tv or youtube making the huge numbers of layoffs?
10. Contrarian | April 30th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Define “much of a profit,” tdc. Making LESS profit is still a lot better than not making one at all.
11. Gorman | April 30th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Wow. There’s disagreement with an opinion, and there’s dumping the Haterade bucket over someone.
…anyway…
I enjoy gaming, and while its potential is huge (and nowhere close to being reached), there will always be a place for passive media.
Take weekends on basic cable channels like USA, TNT, FX, etc. They always have some movie just interesting enough to have on in the background as your doing your “honey-do’s” and things like that.
I agree with Hussman. Interactive isn’t *always* better. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to put down the controller and let the entertainment find us.
12. David Johnson | April 30th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
we’re just coming to appreciate the difference in lean-back and lean-forward viewing. and agreed, that the old passive media isn’t going all the way away, but it is going to lose share in the overall attention economy and that share is being taken up by lean-forward, interactive and mobile technologies that better fit the changing lifestyle and consumption patterns.
as such, just as media companies started radio and television stations back in the day, media companies should be looking at starting game and mobile entries. right now, a few are licensing their brands to game studios and partnering with telcos, but they aren’t taking it seriously. and if anything, that a single title makes the money in one week that a publisher bleeds in a quarter - in an industry that grew in total value from 7.6 billion to over 14 billion in a year while all other media sharply declined…
…well, just search the archives. we told you so. over and over.
and as i teach this and give my talks and what have you and get asked over and over again, what do WE have to do with games, i answer with a question…why didn’t we just leave the movies in the hands of the keystone cops and tv with the puppets and uncle milty. serious content has a place on all platforms.
13. tdc | April 30th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
making your “profit” by gutting the organization works for about 2-3 qtrs., just look at your print counterparts
this will end badly for those who fail to invest in the GROWING segments of media… and i ain’t talking about printing new business cards that say “local media company” when the underlying approach is tv-centric all the way.
most station owners/groups that have reported up to today have delivered low-single digit rev. growth and are not forecasting such a rosey future even with the election coming.
if you want specific names, i’ll gladly provide you with a few.
14. tdc | April 30th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
file this under “everyone can be a local media company”:
came across this display ad on a web channel i frequent out of indianapolis… where does the convention and visitors bureau of san francisco come up with the idea that THEY can promote themselves better than the entrenched???
onlyinsanfrancisco(dotcom)
15. tdc | April 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
oh, and my buds @ galveston(dotcom) who happen to be the convention and visitor’s bureau there are doing a pretty dang good job w/ video, too.
16. Anonymous | April 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
OMG Buffy Gag me with a semi automatic!
17. Jeremiah | May 1st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I wish I could remember who to attribute this quote to… I believe it was a filmmaker who was asked: “What will movies be like in 20 years?” and he replied: “What’s a ‘movie?’”
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