April 30, 2008 -
Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin appeared on the CBS Evening News last night during tech reporter Daniel Sieberg's segment on the Grand Theft Auto IV launch.
Hal spoke about how games are becoming as influential as movies in terms of entertainment.
And while it doesn't appear on this video, did anyone notice the snotty aside which Katie Couric directed toward GTA IV?
As Sieberg wrapped up the GTA IV segment he said: "Of course, that's assuming you'll want to spend more time with characters... like these..." As Couric came back on camera she dropped an acid, "No thanks."
GP: Thanks to GamePolitics reader Mark of Cain for YouTube'ing the video of Hal's appearance!
Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics…
Hal spoke about how games are becoming as influential as movies in terms of entertainment.
And while it doesn't appear on this video, did anyone notice the snotty aside which Katie Couric directed toward GTA IV?
As Sieberg wrapped up the GTA IV segment he said: "Of course, that's assuming you'll want to spend more time with characters... like these..." As Couric came back on camera she dropped an acid, "No thanks."
GP: Thanks to GamePolitics reader Mark of Cain for YouTube'ing the video of Hal's appearance!
Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics…
Comments
http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2008/04/29/column_movie_tiein_games/
Remember "don't trust anybody over 30"? It is more like 40 now, but still applies. Those under 40 "get" video games and their entertainment value.
And how come they always pick the worst gamers ever to do the demo videos? I was just waiting for Niko to drop while the player was trying to punch the cop. Going hand-to-hand with the law is a pretty good way to get busted in real life or GTA.
Fangamer
To us gamers, these women have already been introduced to us and we have to first talk to them and even help them before they ever kiss.
That parting shot isn't surprising from the talentless hack that Couric is. I remember she did something similar with Manhunt 2, suggesting that anyone that would want to play the game had something wrong with them mentally.
I'm 43, and I "get" video games.
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Papa Midnight
I don't watch movies,TV shows,or anything like that anymore,except for Scrubs,South Park,Family Guy,The Soup,and That 70's Show.It's just when I see a movie that's not Hot Fuzz,I think,"Now how could I have better spent my time?".Games are more absorbing,more worthwhile than any movie nowadays(save for,once again,Hot Fuzz).
Games can be better than movies & shows but the criteria for mesuring them is far too different. Sure a good plot and decent acting and characters benefit them both but for games those are just a means to an end. Also Sean of the Dead even better than Hot Fuzz in my opinion.
-The woman Niko Bellic was making a move on was a woman you had been dating since nearly the beginning of the game. To get to that point I image you'd have to take her out on a number of dates first. The prostitution scenes in GTA IV are far less "in-depth." Way to misrepresent.
-New video games cost $60 to buy. New movies cost around $10 to see. And my guess is the near $10 billion/year number they gave only counted retail and the box office. The fact people spend (around) the same amount of money on video games as movies is not that ridiculous. That doesn't mean the same number of people play video games and watch movies.
-Katie Couric is a bitch. Letting preconceived notions (especially when those notions are bullshit) get the better of you makes you look like an ignorant fool.
@ Ken
Chronicles of Riddick was a pretty good movie to game adaptation, and let's not forget f-ing Goldeneye. Seriously I'm suprised that I'm the first to point that out. Now for game to movie adaptations... I got nothin (seriously anyone wanna defend the Rock in Doom? I won't.)
I agree that the coverage wasn't bad, but certainly lacks a lot of the depth we are getting from the print media (Go NY Times!!). Could it be the different demographic that is pushing them in a different direction??? hmmmm...
You find the same damn characters on prime time TV. And books.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=167330&title=grand...
The second video is especially poignant - comparing longtime super-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's views on torture to GTA IV. (Scalia says that the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution doesn't apply to torture because torture isn't punishment.)
Transcript (after Jon Stewart plays clip of Scalia saying this):
Aasif Mandvi, Senior Virtual Correspondent (playing GTA IV): I'm sorry, did Scalia just say torture is not punishment?!
Jon Stewart: Yes, that is his legal argument. Semantics, yes.
Mandvi: In what kind of world can inhumane acts of brutality be dismissed so glibly? Wait, wait! Is that guy real, or an avatar?
Stewart: He's real. He's human.
Mandvi: Wow! That is fucked up! And Jon, that's coming from a guy that just ran over a crossing guard in an El Camino! Yeah! C'mon, c'mon copper! C'mon! I will cut you in your donut hole! Yeah!
I'm glad you said "most," because one of the best videogames was one adapted from the movies: James Bond: Goldeneye.
Spekkio: I saw those clips. Jon Stewart is excellent as usual. I'm surprised they're not on GamePolitics' front page, though.
Games can. Games can cost just as movies to make so what do you expect? GTA4 costs 100 million to make and it will profit with an upwards of more than 300 million. Halo 3 has done so. You can point that only blockbusters but then I can say the same with movies as well.
As for Catie, I hate naive self-centered people. She is full of herself.