Masters of the Entertainment Industry (Or The Universe…)

Video games and television: two of the more common forms of entertainment in this modern era. The combination of new technology and the innate desire to, well, overcome boredom were the main ingredients of each of these. And despite being the latecomer to the race by over half a century, video games have surged to the forefront of the entertainment industry and into the hearts of enthusiasts worldwide. But what is the exact relationship between the boob tube and that next-gen console sitting above it? I thought I would find out for myself, and did some digging into how the two have been related in the past how they might actually grow together in the future. So brace yourself; this is my informative history of TV vs Gaming!

Let’s start off with the oldie of the two; television. TV only really became economically viable on a grand scale after World War Two. The economy was booming, and lots of those newly-created families fueling the baby boom had an extra wad of cash to blow on the quirky new gadget. And with the advent of this new living room fixture, all sorts of fancy-pants programs popped up on peoples TV screens. Supply and demand, right? And one demographic that seemed especially drawn to the world of television were the kids. They couldn’t seem to get enough of their Howdy Doody and Leave It To Beaver shows. But more than anything, kids were drawn to the cartoons that graced their TV screens, especially on Saturday mornings.

Graphically and thematically, it was cartoons that would ultimately have the initial affect on how video games started out. I mean, come on, a plumber who fights flying turtles and eats mushrooms that make him grow bigger? It’s a completely cartoon-ish premise (or just highly drug inspired)! Either way, our heroes of the early gaming era definitely resemble a cast of Disney cartoons more than Dragnet. And so, the earliest games came out with way more appeal to the children than to any other demographic, just like TV did.

I don’t think anybody really, really took video games seriously as a big industry when the very first games came out, though. The technology was just too fresh and ahead of itself to attract the attention of crotchety old investors, or anyone at the higher levels of the entertainment industry. And so video games were tolerated as a novelty, to be appreciated for their somewhat bizarre attributes.

That is, until the Nintendo Entertainment System came out. That fateful year of 1985 saw the rise of the single greatest machine of my youth. I remember clearly, my first video game experience as a five year old, shoving Metroid into the console and pressing power, the awesome title screen and music, and from that moment on began my love for video games. But enough about me. Back to the matter at hand…Once Nintendo had established itself as a fantastically successful enterprise worldwide did investors sit up and take notice. Competition sprouted up with Sega as well as Atari debuting new consoles akin to the NES. The business of making video games was finally, after years of being in limbo, starting to take on the face of a legitimately prosperous business. And what about TV? With the rise of the NES came a Saturday morning cartoon show based on characters from well-known NES games. And movies got the message too; Ever watch War Games?

Fast forward many years from now and we see elements that were previously confined to the realm of video game programmers making their way into other movies. Remember the huge deal over the CGI stuff in Jurassic Park ? Or what about the movie Final Fantasy, which not only was entirely based in the world of CGI, but was based completely on a Square Enix title that has its roots in the good ol’ NES.

The two mediums moved even closer to coagulation with the booming internet usage in the 90’s. Not only was the PC a natural medium for getting your game fix, it now could be linked to other players through this Al Gore-created monster of technological progress. Multiplayer madness! And, with the introduction of flash movies and games, the line became increasingly blurred.

That line just might have been crossed by video game company Kuma Games. This New York City based studio offers what is now called ‘episodic gaming’. Instead of delivering the whole game to the user in one single package, the game more resembles a TV series in its layout than anything else. Releases are introduced on a frequent basis and—what’s more—all are available for free via the Kuma Games website. This must be the most complete assimilation of TV by a video game ever; not only are the games made in episode format, they are available for free just like basic television programming!

In the future, expect to see more companies innovating the face of gaming like Kuma. There’s still so much to be done with this medium, and with the technological advances available to us being released at a steady pace, we might not have even touched the tip of the iceberg.