CONT'D: Game Theories from the Digital Diva | Page 1, 2

In 1999, three movies, Existenz, Run Lola Run, and The Matrix employed the conventions of video games in their narrative structures. What do you think the future holds for the convergence of the gaming and cinema worlds, if any?

I think that gaming and cinema are as distinct as radio and billboards. They're both moving images, which is why we tend to confuse them or think they are going to converge, but beyond the fact that they are moving images, they don't have much in common. Movies are about linear storytelling, and games are about the ruse of interaction and they're really focused around the player. The player takes complete responsibility for the outcome. In a film, the viewer takes no responsibility and that's part of the pleasure of film. In fact, when I went to a screening of Run Lola Run in February before the film was released, the director [Tom Tykwer] was there and he was asked the inevitable question whether this would be great as a CD-ROM product. He said, "Absolutely not" because the film was so carefully constructed. The thing about Run Lola Run is that even though on the surface it seemed like a game, it's such a testament to the craft of cinema. The whole film was storyboarded so tightly; every scene; every shot, the rhythm; the pacing. The director also composed the music. He would go into the editing suite and do a rough cut of the scene and then go into the music studio and mix a song to 140 beats a minutes and then go back into the editing suite and edit the scene to 140 beats a minute. The whole impression that things could go anyway is a complete illusion and in a way Run Lola Run is the least game like film that came out last year because it was so tightly controlled by one person down to the frame-level.

Existenz illustrated a director's complete misunderstanding of what a game is because in Existenz all these people had bit parts in the game. In a game, nobody has a bit part everyone is the hero. While David Cronenberg called that a game it was more an exercise in improvisational theatre in a 3D virtual soundstage than it was a game. It wasn't a game at all.

The Matrix borrowed the aesthetics of video games but again, it really wasn't one; it was a linear story. That action sequence was scripted. You wouldn't get something that good in a game. The hero never lost those fighting sequences. That's why it's not a game. So, I think what you're going to see is a convergence of aesthetics, not a convergence of form.

I think where the real convergence is happening in the area of special effects. They are using a lot of the same equipment and the same software packages which is why they look similar and the people making are them are crossing the lines from gaming to special effects and vice versa. But the way that something looks doesn't necessarily correspond to what it really is. Cars are a perfect example of that. You know, you can put a really great paint job on a car with a motor the size of a lawnmower and it's not gonna be a drag racer.

2000 will bear witness to new consoles like Playstation 2, Dolphin, and possibly Microsoft's X-Box. In addition, the already released Dreamcast will initiate their online gaming capabilities in August or September. What are your thoughts on the new year and where it will take us?

I think it's going to be great. This year is kind of like 1995 in that the whole console universe turns over. When that happens it's always a scramble for developers. Everyone wants to leverage the technology as far as they possibly can so you're going to see some incredible technical demonstrations, but it usually takes some time for people to really understand the hardware well enough to get deeply into game design. And similarly with online access, people who make conventional games don't really understand how to make games for an online environment, much less a broad band environment because they've never done it and they're not used to doing it. It will be a year after those features become available that designers really hit their stride with regard to content. In the meantime, we'll just have Gosh! Wow! technology lust.

Finally, what's the most important piece of hardware or software from this past year?

Pokémon.

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Nick Braccia is PopPulse's founder. He lives and writes in New Canaan, Connecticut.
nbraccia@poppulse.com