Comments on: Feature: Where’s the “Citizen Kane of video games”?

By: Cody

Cody — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:31:50 +0000

I often wonder precisely how dating in the games/movies analogy should work. I mean, if you’re going from the beginning of film, then Citizen Kane came out around 50 years after the medium was born. If you go from the beginning of games, it’s been around 40 years since the beginning. If you’re basing it off of the start of the sound era, then Citizen Kane came about 15 years later. That’s just about the same time it’s been since we switched to 3D. Either way, if the movie/game analogy holds true, our “Citizen Kane” should be coming soon.

I do agree that our “Citizen Kane” won’t be recognized as such for years after its release. And in regards to the serious art form image of games, I’d agree that the masses still view them as toys. I wonder what the general perception of film was at this point in its life span?

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By: Bleeder1

Bleeder1 — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:02:02 +0000

ok – it is only with historical perspective that something like Citizen Kane gains it’s reputation. Video games as an industry is simply too young.

Citizen Kane came out at about the time movies started being a ‘serious’ art form. Video games are not at this point yet, despite our Bioshocks & MGS etc. As a whole the industry is still viewed as toys by practically everyone who plays them, let alone people who don’t. When that changes, a particularly serious story driven game that is released at about the right time will then become the Citizen Kane of video games. But it won’t get called that until 20 years later.

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By: BrainedMyDamage

BrainedMyDamage — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:45:25 +0000

Whew…I might have to break my hatred for ps3 just for that game…if it’s any good.

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By: Cody

Cody — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:21:59 +0000

I’ve often dreamed of just such a game, and if you’ve been following MAG for the ps3 at all, that’s just what it aims to do. If they can pull it off in all the right ways, it absolutely will be a breakthrough for gaming. I don’t know if I’d consider it a Citizen Kane, given it’s general lack of story and heavy focus on multiplayer, but half the point of this article is that we don’t need a Citizen Kane. Games are different than movies. I’ll be sure to follow MAG for you and update you on it.

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By: BrainedMyDamage

BrainedMyDamage — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:38:23 +0000

Great article. I think a great breakthrough in gaming would be: Tying different genres of games into one, in which it actually works and is a great game. An example would be like some kind of war game, where there are some guys who are just normal COD-esque shooters. Then maybe some captains/leaders that don’t really do much shooting, but are there with the soldiers, kind of telling them what to do. Then you have like generals/commanders that play an RTS-style game…where each one works with another. It would be exceedingly difficult to put together, but man it would be worth it.

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By: Cody

Cody — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:30:27 +0000

As a quick side note, I probably feel that MGS4 is the closest thing we have to a Citizen Kane, but that’s only if you count cut-scene intensive games as an advancement for our medium. Ideally, I’d like a first person, completely in game title that uses interactivity as a strength to push the medium forward. Half-Life 3 maybe?

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