14 DAY TRIAL // It's hard for videogame aficionados to become socially accepted with all the faults of modern society, from obesity to lack of education, blamed upon them. But it seems that more and more people involved in the business have begun seeing them as something that grown ups can do and enjoy without being stigmatized.
Eliza Dushku, who is now playing the lead role of Echo in the Joss Whedon series Dollhouse while also providing the voice and likeness for the main character Rubi Malone in WET, told the BBC that “Videogames have almost become acceptable and cool for grown ups - not for people who are just in their teens. I know so many people - friends, actors, directors - who are older and used to maybe play in private, but who can now say it loud and proud.” Dushku has a long history with videogames, having also worked on Saints Row 2 and on Yakuza. WET is set to be published by Bethesda.
The opposite opinion comes from Mickey Rourke, who staged a comeback worthy of an Oscar last year with The Wrestler and is now lending his voice to Dick Marcinko, the main character in Rogue Trooper. He stated that “I don't really think people yet are comparing the two, insofar as somebody's performance in a videogame as opposed to a feature film. The fact is when I go out and see another actor we're not going to talk about videogames.”
Hollywood seems eager to embrace gaming, releasing both videogame companions to summer blockbusters, like Harry Potter and Transformers, and talking games themselves as sources of inspiration for feature movies, like Uncharted 2 or, weirdly, Asteroids. This synergy has led to some successes but also to quite a few spectacular flops. It appears that it might be some time until actors begin listing videogame roles alongside movie roles on their resumes.