Arrogance Is The "Coin Trade" Of The Movie Business

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As some of you know, esteemed film director Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth," "Hellboy") is currently working on a video game called inSANE.

He also isn't afraid to make his comments known, and in an interesting podcast with Bioshock creator Ken Levine, the two visionaries spoke about the current state and future of video games. It's great because for all intents and purposes, Hollywood has long since dismissed gaming as a lesser form of entertainment. It's frustrating.

The primary differences are obvious; one is passive entertainment and the other is active, while one is forced to be a linear experience and the other can branch out into the concept of participant freedom. And these two guys have plenty to say on the issue. Said Levine:

"A lot of people in Hollywood look at games as junior varsity films. They just don't understand games…You have to go into each game with a certain amount of humility. Each time I go into a game I'm terrified at how to make it work."

Now, one would assume a film director might have an uppity response to that, but Del Toro, a gamer himself, has a very interesting reply:

"The opposite of humility is arrogance, and that is the coin of trade in the movie business. Movies are one of the peaks of human narrative. But I'm sorry to break it to the movie industry: So are videogames. The videogames we will be playing in 2020—they will be fu**ing masterpieces then."

This is just the kind of guy who should be making a video game, don't you think? We're hoping his project turns out well, so he doesn't get discouraged about his ambitious vision of gaming's future. As for Levine, we're positive that Bioshock Infinite will rule.

Tags: insane, guillermo del toro, bioshock, ken levine

11/1/2011 9:34:43 AM Ben Dutka

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