Video games vs. Theater

Video games vs. Theater

So based on this comment:

“in the future we won’t watch scripted passive entertainment, we will watch people interacting with complex simulated environments.”

from Metafilter and this comment

 

Part of the magic of games is that they can give us experience with difficult social problems through this direct interaction.  They are thought experiments, actualized.  In games we have a unique opportunity to explore the deepest limits of our psyche to see what we’re really constructed of.  The beautiful thing is, because it’s a video game, there’s no external harm done to anyone.  And while the consequences may be fictional, if the game is good that doesn’t mean that they aren’t real, or at least impactful.  As a net result, we come out of our games having learned something about ourselves; we are literally more complete people.

from Nightmaremode

I think it’s interesting that these arguments used to be made by theater, about why it’s useful to attend/support theater. These days, I don’t see many regional theaters making this argument, and honestly, I wonder if video games ARE a better medium for making these kind of connections. I guess this also explains the recent trend in theater towards immersive theater.

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