1. The Intersection of Hollywood Film and the Video Game Industry Randy Nichols Department of English Bentley University rnichols@bentley.edu Twitter: r_j_nichols

2. Video Game Myths Video games are only played by kids Video games are played mostly by males Violent video games are the biggest sellers

3. Game Technologies Historically… 1972First Epoch Games and consoles are linked Examples Pong (1972) 1976Second Epoch Games and hardware separate Examples Atari 2600 (1976) Nintendo NES (1985) 2000Third Epoch Games and hardware separate, Ability to use other media Examples Sony PS2 (2000) Xbox (2001) 2010Fourth Epoch Games and hardware separate Ability to use other media Ability to make other media? Ability to download content? Examples Xbox 360 (2005) Wii (2006) Sony PS3 (2006)

4. Location, location, location… ArcadesHome Pay-to-play minimizes the need for story, characters, etc The move to home play – and to continued play – places an emphasis on story and character, making games work more like Hollywood film

5. Video Game Software Profits, 1979-2003 Historic Software Sales for the Video Game Industry In Millions of U.S. Dollars Source: TheESA.com and industry reports

6. Software Sales VS. Hollywood Box Office, 1995-2001 REVENUE COMPARISON IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS Source: TheESA.com, the Motion Picture Association of America

7. Logics of Video Game Production Mainstream video games are designed to make a profit Games must be engaging (though not necessarily entertaining) Planned obsolescence keeps the industry profitable Long-term audiences mean long-term profitability Typical production centers around major shopping events Self-regulation is preferable to government regulation

8. Video Game Market Structure Software Developers Hardware Software Developers Publishers Retailers Contracts Initiated from Both Sides Exclusive Contracts Individual Contracts

9. Market Leaders, 2000

10. Game Sales Internationally

11. Video Game Audiences Average Age of Video Game Players Source: TheESA.com

12. Video Games and Gender

13. Profitability of Games Based on Films…

14. Profitability of Films Based on Games…

15. Challenges… From Hollywood to Video Games: Unionization From Video Games to Hollywood: Loss of audience Expectation of Interactivity CGI as a replacement?

16. The Intersection of Hollywood Film and the Video Game Industry Randy Nichols Department of English Bentley University rnichols@bentley.edu Twitter: r_j_nichols