War games

I'm pretty sympathetic to the thesis that video games succeed where other mediums fail -- for example, many games produce the amazing visual experience that's lacking in modern "art." But if there's any area where video games are lacking, it's in plot, with only a few exceptions (Eternal Darkness is one). The stories and dialog are of the comic-book-for-13-year-olds vein, even in games rated for ages 17+.

So I think Glenn Reynolds's reader is wrong when he writes:

Did you know that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the video market has moved 3 million copies...that' s a 'box office' of 150 million.

And it's about the current war against terror...

So, if as Hollywood whines that the public doesn' t want Iraqi War movies, why is this selling so well, top of the rental lists, and ever so popular? At this rate it'll be the successful game companies, that gives the pubic what they want, who'll buy out the studios for their IP and name. Hollywood appears to have missed the impact of the technological shift as badly as MSM has. The public is getting the entertainment they crave, just not in the form that the old gatekeepers dispense.

Here's where this goes off course: "The public" doesn't buy "Call of Duty 4"; young, explosion-loving, military-admiring males do. It's possible that these same guys would see a movie in high enough numbers to make it worthwhile, but there's no reason to assume they would. Game-based movies are pretty risky to begin with.

Also, comparing a total sales figures between a $50 video game and a $10 movie ticket isn't exactly fair -- to match the two, you'd have to get five movie viewings for each game sold.