Film Producer Warns Videogames Away From Emulating Movies

Film producer Todd Eckert says the videogame industry runs the risk of becoming "little more than a marketing tool" if it continues to emulate the movie industry.

Speaking at the GameHorizon Conference in Newcastle, England, Eckert said videogames have the potential to become a great artistic medium, but that the industry needs to move away from the current trend toward slavish emulation of the movie industry that seems to be overtaking it.

"Today, the greatest potential for meaningful interaction between the entertainer and the entertained exists in videogames," Eckert told his audience.

"Games should become the world's dominant medium... the film industry sees itself as a funnel channeling pop culture down the throats of the masses. For some reason, the game industry still seems completely enamored with the film industry. And if we're not careful we'll become like they are - little more than a marketing tool," he continued.

"We all have the responsibility to make games the greatest artistic medium they can be and we can," he said. "I know some of you are here to make money, that's fine, but without the fundamental soul of the game, the medium is nothing."

The GameHorizon Conference is a two-day event aimed at CEOs, studio heads and other executives from developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers and other companies involved with the videogame industry. Many of the industry's top names are scheduled to speak at the conference, including Ubisoft Studio Manager Gareth Edmonson, CCP Vice President Thor Gunnarsson, XNA Chief Chris Satchell and Eidos Creative Director Ian Livingstone.

Source: GamesIndustry