How Films And Games influence Each Other

There is a large overlap between computer games and movies, and while
many movies have been influenced by computer games, many computer games
have been influenced by movies. In fact some movies are really
extensions of computer games, while some games have been derived more or
less entirely from the movies that preceded them.

Looking back into the very first computer games before there were even
personal computers, games were played on what were called mainframe
computers. These were very expensive and for their time very powerful
computers that were connected to dumb terminals. One of the very first
computer games that were played on these was Star Trek; it was a text
based game and really had very little in common with the original TV
series, but it does lay down the foundations of computer game and film
hybrids.

The movie franchise The Matrix portrays an image of our planet overrun
by sentient machines which obtain their power from the bodies of human
beings grown in pods. The minds of the people are maintained in a
virtual world called the Matrix and some people are able to tap into the
Matrix and gain superhuman powers. It took very little time for the
first Matrix computer game to be released. This wasn’t just based on the
film, it included also around an hour of original video with the same
cast as appeared in the films; over 5 million copies of the game were sold.

Many movies have been influenced by gambling games; for instance the
movie 21 was based on the game of blackjack and card counting. That in
turn encouraged many people to try a little card counting for
themselves, which is an example of how movies that are influenced by
games can go on to influence how games are played. Unfortunately some
people thought that card counting techniques could be used in online
casino games, for instance Lucky Nugget blackjack;
they soon discovered that it didn’t work.

The worlds of films and games are intertwined, and they are likely to
become more so; perhaps in the future it will be difficult to
differentiate between the different media.