The rising spectacle of playing video games

I recently saw Her at the cinema and it got me thinking.

It’s a fantastic film and, among many other things, manages to create a gorgeous, striking and yet unsettling vision of the future. I won’t go into details of the plot (I’m sure everyone is somewhat aware that it’s about a man and a computer and love, to put it way too simply), but, something Her touches upon in its vision of our future is video games.

'Her' by Spike Jonze

Perhaps oddly for a film about the future there are no gizmo-filled futuristic movie going sequences, but there is a good bit of gaming action. One of Theodore’s (our protagonist's) friends is a game designer, he himself plays video games and the director has a voice cameo as a foul-mouthed sprite within a game.

Amy Adams as 'Amy', a games designer in 'Her' and Spike Jonze (voice) as an in-game 'sprite'

No, it isn’t the main plot and for many probably not important at all, but like I said, it got me thinking.

In Her, video games are more of a spectacle than they are nowadays. Video games themselves take up the whole wall of a living room, players talk to other in-game characters who are themselves another person, playing the game itself involves hand gestures and body movement (no, not like the Wii), there is no pause function, and taking a break angers the other characters: generally, within the world of Her, to play a game is to do something – something physical, involving. It’s an event.

A video game's world takes over the living room in 'Her', and hand gestures control movement

In the real world, whilst video games are prevalent and enjoyed by many, and whilst multiplayer games are a common thing, they are most definitely not an event… not like, for example, seeing a movie is.

When you see a film at the cinema it's an authentic experience. It involves a journey there, booking seats, buying food, a darkened room, ear-splitting audio and, of course, a huge screen. Going to the cinema is an involving, engrossing and magical event. It was designed to be an event, it evolved to become an event and it remains an event.

The spectacle of the cinema isn't quite matched by video gaming at home...

For games this isn’t the case, at least not yet, but things are changing. It may not be quite the same as in Her, but, the Oculus Rift is promising players a new way to play video games. Using a headset and other gadgets players can experience the first virtual reality gaming experience – a fully immersive gaming experience.

The Oculus Rift headset and a representation of each eye on a computer screen

It’s all in early stages, and far from being the norm, but it is the start of something. How we play games is changing and what seems to be happening is the way games are presented to us is shifting. The same titles out now will be available on the Oculus Rift, but how you view them will be what changes.

Similar to the Rift is Microsoft’s ‘IllumiRoom’ research project, a system that uses a projector to map elements of a game’s world onto the wall it’s played against, creating an absorbing and involving experience for the player. Whilst only a proposal at the moment, it shows a similar emphasis on spectacle and bears a striking resemblance to the future tech exhibited in Her, as you can see in the promo video below:

Is the world of video gaming heading towards a future where to game is to participate in an event? Will gaming become the new cinema experience? Will the spectacle of playing a game be more important than the game itself?

At the moment, who knows? But, it’s gotten me thinking…