Art and Culture # 130: The Movie “Experience” Vs. The Video Game “Participant”
If Einstein, the greatest scientist of the 20th century said, “all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it.” With movies and video games, the two different mediums of the 20th and 21st century, are bound by two modes of thought. The 80’s action movie represents Experience and the video game becomes participation.
The 80’s action movie, in its own right, was the mode of thought for all boomers and gen-exer’s, because video games weren’t a cinematic event that Sony Playstation players could point to and rival the film industry. The 80’s action and science fiction/fantasy films of the day—Total Recall, Predator, Aliens, The Terminator, Rocky, Rambo, Red Dawn, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard, Robocop, Conan the Barbarian, Batman 1 and 2, The Running Man, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Tango and Cash, Highlander, Black Rain, Escape from New York, Star Wars—were events to be watched because these films in particular, were expertly crafted, giving the audience the chance to experience horror, blood, and violence in the safety and comfort of the movie theater. With Arnold Schwarzeneger saying “stick around” after a bowie knife kills a guerilla in the “Predator” had that witty humor that makes me say, “This is like an old family film.” It’s comforting, scary, and hilarious. Everyone joining in and screaming and laughing and becoming a primal version of what they wouldn’t be in the real world. It was all fucking incredible and our parents didn’t know what they had.
Seeing all the blood and gore could help keep the violence on the screen, but after all that was over, and the writing and the technique made the audience swell up they came out of the theater and said, “That was an experience, and I want to see it again.” But the movies had one defining flaw. It didn’t let you become the action hero in all their movies. It was an experience to digest. You were experiencing what it was like to be the action hero, but the words and the actions weren’t yours.
Gaming, at the time, was only rudimentary and table top gaming, which for the cinematic game, for the action genre, took off with Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare changed the way people would participate with their chosen medium. Captain Price, Soap McTavish, all were recreating the modern myth of 80’s action movies, giving players the freedom to shoot your way out of any situation. While the narrative was streamlined, the edge and the intensity was unlike any other.
Each command made on the keyboard or controller rumble could bring the player into the story, as the player was the one in the drivers seat, while the narrative pushed the player forward. The campaign of any video game, a great one, is still reminiscent of a great book, because the player is participating in the games coordinated button prompts that let a scene unfold.
That alone has led to a billion dollar industry in 2025, which despite many games like Concord being one of the most massive flops in video game history, taking eight years to make, but eight days to fail, and with Social Justice messages dying out of gaming, being the ultimate bad ass is what video gamers always wanted.
It’s why people are attracted to Flynn Taggert, aka Doom Guy, as he fights demons in hell, or Joel Miller, taking Ellie across the waste lands of America to the Fire Flies, as being this ultimate bad ass proves that it makes money but also helping players participate whereas movies do not care about their fans, anymore. Because participation is still the main event of a video game.
Even Solid Snake, the legendary bad ass warrior from Metal Gear Solid, has been responsible for much of all gamers imaginations, and letting players participate in all his journey and struggles. Because all of this helps players partipate in the memories game developers want to create for the players.
But both have their place, but it’s not like it’s a loss. We can always rent out big movie theaters to play our video games in once movies fade away.
(Note: This video does a good job at explaining why video games are the superior art form to movies)