The value proposition is just heavily skewed towards video games. Some games cost less than a single visit to the cinema and provide heaps more entertainment. Sure, it’s different entertainment and the social aspect of going to the cinema is a factor too, but I’m not much into cinemas myself, so I know where my money goes.
The social aspect of going into a dark room to watch a screen in silence? Vs talking a joking around on voice chat?
Have you been to a theater recently? You only wish it was silent.
Idk when it started but its fine to talk through the whole movie or fuck with your phone volume turned on now.
Add into it that a game can offer much of the same as a movie and given that it’s an interactive experience, you’re not just cheering on the hero, you are the hero.
And the social experience was risky before, but with smartphones being so prevalent, it has skewed the chances heavily towards a negative experience.
Social aspect of games is way bigger than movies. You don’t even talk during a movie.
I’m 40 and I’d rather play a video game than watch a movie.
For those that are curious, here’s the exact questions used and the %s by demographic
Generally speaking I’d also fall into the rather play games category, but it really depends on the context. Unfortunately there aren’t too many couch co-op kind of games anymore so if the goal is to spend time with someone playing a video game doesn’t often work great.
If you are interested, this is my Couch Coop To Do List for me and my wife (sorry for bad formatting):
A Way Out Asterix & Obelix XXXL: The Ram From Hibernia Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All! BattleBlock Theater Biped Bravery and Greed Bread & Fred Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake Castle Crashers Cat Quest II Chariot Conduct Together! Contra: Operation Galuga Cuphead Darksiders Genesis Death Squared Degrees of Separation Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition Divinity: Original Sin II Dungeon Defenders Dungeon Golf Earth Defense Force 5 Ember Knights Escape Academy Escape Simulator Fly TOGETHER! For The King For The King II Forced From Space Fueled Up Gauntlet Golf With Your Friends Grave Danger Hammerwatch Heroes of Hammerwatch Huntdown Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes KeyWe Knights and Bikes Kukoos: Lost Pets LEGO 2K Drive LEGO City Undercover LEGO Horizon Adventures Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris Lost Castle Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Magicka 2 Mekazoo Metal Slug Monaco 2 Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine Moving Out Nine Parchments Nobody Saves the World Operation: Tango Outward PHOGS! Pizza Possum Pocky & Rocky Reshrined Pode Portal 2 Rayman Legends River Tails: Stronger Together Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos Rooms of Realities Rotwood Sackboy: A Big Adventure Shift Happens Sonic Superstars Spelunky Starbound Struggling Surmount Team Sonic Racing The Adventure Pals The Expanse: A Telltale Series The Plucky Squire The Swords of Ditto Tick Tock: A Tale for Two Tipston Salvage Tools Up! Towerborne Trine 2 Unrailed! Unravel Two Unruly Heroes Untitled Goose Game Voyage We Were Here Together Who’s Your Daddy Wizard of Legend II ibb & obb
I think the first stat in the graph is the most important one and really speaks to the reason for the last one. I said this is another post about this article, but video games have become their own kind of third space. Going out with friends has become so expensive, whether you’re going to a movie or something else, and in a lot of places you can’t go to hang out without having to spend money anyways, so video games have become a replacement way to hang out with friends. And that’s before you start talking about stuff like friends who moved across the country for work or something.
My wife, kids and I play video games together by sharing the controller.
We were playing classic SNES games together. Like playing Super Mario World or Super Metroid. My youngest isn’t really good at bosses so he hands it off to his older siblings. Where my wife likes to draw various scenes from the game so we can color them later.
It started during the pandemic but we do it once a month now and it’s been a great family bonding experience.
Video games as a narrative vehicle have come a long way.
Go try ‘Detroit: Become Human’ or ‘Man of Medan’ or ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’. The stories in gaming are GD amazing.
I’m an old millennial and Ive usually preferred games to movies.
I think one reason it’s hard for me to watch movies (or even books) is having no control over the narrative. Writing in a lot of TV/movies are just too, well, stupid. Even if a game is bad, you can at least have fun with cheats/mods or having your own objectives. Movies/TV your stuck with their plot as a bystander to a story.
Writing in a lot of TV/movies are just too, well, stupid
Personally i find the quality bar for writing in games (especially AAA games) is much lower. A well-known game with writing that matches a mid-tier movie usually gets heralded as GOTY. I agree with your point about emergent stories, though.
Old millennial here, too. For me it’s that video games have gotten too exhausting for me. Simply consuming, without decisions, is what I prefer after a workday 😴
