Taking a look back at the history of video games, it’s hard to believe how far they’ve come. Going from telling a story using pixelated images to the cinematic masterpieces we see today is nothing short of breathtaking. If we could travel back in time with today’s video games in hand, gamers would be shocked to see that games now look like movies. Technology has made all of this possible and allowed game developers to incorporate cinematic elements like detailed narratives, rich character development, and stunning visual artistry into the games they create. Doing so has taken the gaming experience to a new level and turned it into its unique form of entertainment that has surpassed movies and music in popularity. This article looks at how video games got to this point and explores their impact on modern entertainment.

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Early beginnings

The early 1980s were when video games began to incorporate rudimentary narrative elements, laying the foundation for the cinematic masterpieces we see today. Donkey Kong, released in 1981, is one of the best examples. The game has a simple yet compelling storyline that sees Mario trying to rescue his girlfriend, Pauline. While it doesn’t seem like much of a story by today’s standards, back then, its narrative framework was groundbreaking. Instead of just scoring points, gamers now had a new objective — saving Mario’s girlfriend.

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The golden age of storytelling in games

Even if you didn’t live through it, you’re probably familiar with the golden age of video games, which took place in the late 1980s and continued through the 1990s. This time period saw the release of some of the most iconic games, including The Legend of Zelda (1986) and Final Fantasy (1987), which took storytelling to the next level. In The Legend of Zelda, the gamer plays as Link and sets out on a journey that includes Princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. The game’s non-linear gameplay was revolutionary at the time, and its puzzle-solving elements added a twist that was new to players.

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Cinematic Techniques in modern games

Many of today’s video games are almost indistinguishable from movies; they’re visually stunning and have detailed backstories with characters players can connect to on an emotional level. However, when we speak about games in cinematic terms, we often overlook casual games, which have also benefited greatly from technological advances. Think about poker, for example. While not a video game, it has been remade in the digital era. Instead of traveling to a land-based casino or organising a game night with friends, fans of the world’s most famous card gamers can log onto their computers or mobile devices to play this game.

Online casinos use advanced graphics and other techniques to make playing poker online mirror the in-person experience, which takes a level of creativity that we see in the movies and AAA video games. For those new to poker, online tutorials about poker hand rankings and other information are available to help. Mastering terms like the royal flush and three-of-a-kind are important for success in playing this card game.

Games like The Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption take cinematography to another level, with realistic graphics and dynamic camera angles designed to bring their stories to life. If you’ve played a modern video game, you know they often feature cutscenes that give you information about the game’s plotline and the characters. The pace of AAA games is similar to that of a movie, and the integration of voice acting and motion capture makes the characters feel real to players and those watching them play.

That’s one reason why games like The Last of Us have successfully been made into a TV series: all of the elements are already there. It’s also a reason why gaming has become a spectator sport; watching someone play one of these games often feels like sitting down to watch a movie. Similarly, Five Nights at Freddy (Emma Tammi, 2023) has been a success on the big screen. And that’s what it’s all about; these narrative-driven games get players invested in the game’s outcome, and that’s why they’ve become so popular.