Weekend Reading: 5 Reasons Why Games Are Better than Movies

The movie-making and gaming industries are becoming closer and closer these days, trying to deliver one all-encompassing experience to the end user, from which the biggest amount of money can be extracted. We see properties being developed from the ground up already including a movie, comic book and, last but not least, a video game. But are movies still better than games, or are the virtual creations now better than their Hollywood counterparts?

For my example, I'll be using X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a project that has seen both a movie and a video game being released at the same time this month. I've already reviewed the game, which made me wonder whether it was actually a better experience than the movie I saw last week. Here are five reasons why playing a video game is much better than going to see a movie.

First of all, and a thing that movies can't achieve, there is the interactivity between the action on screen and the viewer, or in this case the gamer. You are controlling Wolverine and telling him where to go, who to kill and what to do. Sure, the action is on rails, as you can't do anything you want, but, at the end of the game, you get the feeling that you made it all happen, even though it was Wolverine's story.

Second of all, a game is much longer than most movies, which gives the gamer a higher degree of entertainment, in the form of multiple hours spent interacting with the main characters, as opposed to one and a half to two hours spent watching them interact on a big screen. Because it is longer, the game can focus on more important moments and really make the story much more intense than the cheap thrills that action movies recreate when they're trying to fill in the gap between the last explosion and the next.

On the number three spot is the fact that in a video game you have the ability to play and pause your experience with ease. Sure, this thing is possible if you watch a movie on a DVD or a Blu-ray disc, but if you're going to the cinema and if you're not careful, a precious plot twist can escape you, leaving you bugging others, asking them what just happened. With a video game you can pause it, exit it and start it back up again when you have the time. You can also watch the cut scenes and replay the most interesting moments, anytime you want.

In the fourth place, you can also play a game with your closest friends and take turns at controlling the action, if it doesn't have a cooperative mode. No more praying that you don't end up with some loudmouth while buying tickets to a movie, no more stupid people who would rather ruin everybody's experience just so they can get a kick out of it. You're in your living room having fun with your friends.

Last but not least, you get access to a great degree of exploration while playing a game. I felt quite happy when I found the Easter Eggs while playing X-Men Origins, especially since they were about both video games, World of Warcraft and Portal, and about a TV series that I enjoy, Lost. You can't just pause a movie and order the character to go to a nearby street or enter a grotto in a mountain just so you can check it out.

These are the things that popped into my head. Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment with your opinion and your own arguments about this debate.