Movies, Video Games Seen Merging
L O S A N G E L E S, Jan. 31 -- The technological line between video gamesand action movies has become so tenuous that even the nimble LaraCroft may have a hard time detecting it.
The "Tomb Raider" character's leap to the big screen laterthis year is an example of the strengthening ties between computerand celluloid adventures, according to a panel of game experts andfilm scholars.
"I like games that tell stories," said Hal Barwood, a designerfor the LucasArts Entertainment Co. "Games head straight toaction, that's what we're best at … and movies exert a tremendousinfluence upon us."
The forum "Entertainment in the Interactive Age," whichconcluded Tuesday at the University of Southern California,examined different methods of digital storytelling.
Games Borrow From Film
Barwood, a former screenwriter who designed two "IndianaJones" video games inspired by the Steven Spielberg-directedmovies, said games have begun borrowing movie conventions todevelop stronger narrative plots.
Many game characters now come with complex background storiesnot seen in the likes of the Mario brothers or Donkey Kong.
Experts said that raises hopes for this summer's movies TombRaider and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, because thesource stories aren't as thin as those used to produce suchgame-to-movie flops as Super Mario Bros., Street Fighterand Mortal Kombat.
Rather than collecting points, shooting bad guys or leapingacross busy roads, the goal in most new games is to advance thestory by solving puzzles.
"We find that stories, with their intricate complexity, forceevents to become the substance of the gameplay," Barwood said.
Modern games like "Tomb Raider," "Shadowman," "Nocturne"and Barwood's "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" borrowheavily from investigative dramas. Players work long stretchesgathering clues without a villain in sight.
Other games — such as the shoot-'em-up "Half-Life" — havestrong supporting characters who engage a player's emotions the waya movie manipulates an audience, said David Perry, founder andpresident of Shiny Entertainment.
