Gaming killed the movie star?

I just finished playing the second season of The Walking Dead on Xbox Live Arcade, after I noticed that I could get the first episode for absolutely free!

[breakout title="Joanne Kendrick" align="right"]Joanne Kendrick is a gaming blogger, and will cover news and reviews from the gaming world. She has written for the gaming websites Ready Up and Made2Game, as well as PlayGamer magazine. You can read more from her at Checkpoint Reached.[/breakout]

Due to the absolutely hectic year I have had, I was a little late to the party and so I was able to play it all in one go (think junk-food-infused Netflix marathons) and finished it all quite quickly. This was a much different playing experience than I had with the first season, as I played them all as they were released, eagerly anticipating the next. I would literally stop what I was doing, whatever I was doing, and dash home with my hands in the air each time I heard a new episode had been released.

While playing the second season the way that I did got me thinking. I very intentionally compared the game to Netflix previously, and I did so because of how rapidly gaming is catching up with movies.

'Yes we know, Jo,' I hear you say. 'The graphics are almost life-like these days, you must have been living in a cave not to notice that!' and while you are certainly right about the fact that graphics are constantly improving and machines are constantly getting stronger, there's more to it than that.

There are a few things that are making games one step closer to swiping the entertainment crown. Story is important in everything. Books, movies, theatre. Sure, there are duds in everything too, but they are harshly critiqued. If the story or acting is awful in a film, there isn't really much you can do to bring it back. You can't even make it pretty, as the lack of anything else will make it an empty box with glitter painted on. If the story or acting is awful in a game, yet the mechanics are top notch, you still have the chance of a top seller. Look at Deadly Premonition, that game didn't even have good mechanics, or anything else for that matter...

Games these days are rife with decisions and choices that affect other characters. It's slowly becoming normal to choose where the game goes, who lives and who dies, who likes you and who doesn't. Mass Effect, Fallout, Heavy Rain, Skyrim... These are games that provide hours of entertainment that you control. It's a thing that is impossible to do in movies, though never say never, but then would this turn it into a game..?

It's not just choice, but games are developing movie-like structures, from the big games which wrap up the story in an instalment or two, to those which have a Walking Dead episodic style.

Like movies, there are different genres too

While I do sometimes like to sit down with unhealthy food and watch TV until far too late, I enjoy sitting down with unhealthy food and playing games more!

Now, imagine a long haul flight with three or four movies to keep you occupied during your time in the air. It'll do, right? Now imagine that same flight with a choice of three or four games to play throughout. Better?