Should the Film Industry Fear the Video Game Industry? - HALO 3 to Blame!

[JohnCrichton]

I had this article pointed out to me. (http://adage.com/article?article_id=121130)

Basically it blames HALO 3 for a record low in the box office take.

Now, we know some video games avoid the blast radius of AAA games, and movies avoid the blast radius of other AAA movies, but.... are we entering an age where movies now need to side step the blast radius of video game releases?

[Undrave]

Probably for such 'event' game as Halo 3. Normal high profile game not so much. I wouldn't want to be the director who's movie comes out at the same time as Super Smash Bros. Brawl or the next GTA ><

[PowerZord]

They always have somebody to blame for the lack of quality on their movies.. piracy, economy, now video games? that's interesting..

[Tanooki]

bah. they're just trying to blow off steam because they're making remakes... crappy remakes

[Undrave]

They always have somebody to blame for the lack of quality on their movies.. piracy, economy, now video games? that's interesting..


bah. they're just trying to blow off steam because they're making remakes... crappy remakes

You both got points. If they were making better movies they'd have better sales...

Still I don't think the influence of video games can just be ignored. Also note that in this day and age people prefer to bulk up their home theatre and stay home, rather than GO to the movie. That's why one of the gigantoplex around here closed down and now NOBODY is showing movies in original English version ><

DAMN YOU SUBURBAN JOE! DAMN YOU!

[Wounded_Dragon]

Is it *just* the video games though, or the marketing blitz and preceding games that built up steam for it.

[BigLouMan20]

I always thought less people went to the movies because of high ticket prices, cell phones going off, and people just waiting for the dvd release.

[Simpler Simon]

You could attribute some loss to Halo 3, but it's doubtful whether the movie would've hit the projected numbers anyway.

I'd say there's more basis for comparison if Halo 3 interrupted something like The Dark Knight or some other high-profile blockbuster that hits exactly the same demographic.

[Paul_Cousins]

I had this article pointed out to me. (http://adage.com/article?article_id=121130)

Basically it blames HALO 3 for a record low in the box office take.

Now, we know some video games avoid the blast radius of AAA games, and movies avoid the blast radius of other AAA movies, but.... are we entering an age where movies now need to side step the blast radius of video game releases?Does this mean that the Film Industry is going to start suing the game industry for "lost revuenue"?

[Squall]

I don't think video games are a 'threat' to the movie industry; it's not like the movie industry will go broke, and movies will stop being made, just because video games now equal them in popularity.

Just like every other medium, it's finding its place among the types of entertainment available to people, which has been expanding since recorded history began. From literature, to sports, to plays, to concerts, to radio, to the movie theater, to TV, and now video games, too. And just like every other medium, its invention won't kill off any of the others. They're all going to coexist together just fine.


Still I don't think the influence of video games can just be ignored. Also note that in this day and age people prefer to bulk up their home theatre and stay home, rather than GO to the movie.

As LCD/plasma widescreen flat-screen flat-panel HDTVs (try saying that three times fast! :p ) become common place, along with the home theater systems surrounding them becoming cheaper, too, movie theaters will experience a significant decline - and they've already started feeling the early effects of this trend. It won't be the 'death' of the movie theater, but it will mean that there will be much fewer movie theaters in the future than there are now. Kind of like how the invention of the movie theater didn't kill your traditional plays or concerts.

However, Hollywood has seen that they can make as much money on DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray sales as they have in the movie theater in the long run, though.

I will admit though, that if any medium has suffered greatly in the last 10-15 years, it's TV. Television has taken three major hits it has yet to recover from, or adapt to - from the Internet, video games, and DVD. A large part of TV studios' revenue nowadays, though, is from DVD seaon and series set sales, so there's some recovery there, I guess.