Sunday, September 26, 2010

Video Games as a Cultural Industry

Video games being spin offs of movies is a very intelligent business tactic in today's society. Much revenue is being made for many movies that are being made into video games. Not only does this produce more advertising and product for the specific movie, but it generates more revenue for the producers of the movie and video game spin off. However, not all spin offs are successful and produce a positive revenue. As we talked about many times in class, the ET movie and video game spin off is a prime example of this essentially failing miserably.

The author gives an example of the video game that was released for the movie The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. The game was released a month before the movie came out. Not only did this give viewers a chance to get a taste of what the movie may be like, but it also stood as silent advertising for the movie. It constantly reminded the consumer that there is a movie coming out and the repetition and constant exposure increases the chances of more and more people that would likely go to the theater to watch the movie version of this video game.

With that being said, this shows how the video game and movie industries both function as a cultural industry. In our culture many people enjoy playing video games and many people enjoy watching movies at a theater, mainly for the experience. When both mediums are combined, a large cultural bond is formed that shapes and links the video game and movie industry together.

Do you believe ultimately this helps or hurts either industry in the long run?

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