The San Diego Union-Tribune is carrying a story quoting notable directors Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis as saying they expect that like music videos and television before, video games will have an increasing influence on Hollywood films. They key, as Jason Jones has said himself, is that playing a game is about telling a story:

"It's important to emphasize story and emotion and character. This is one of the things that games don't do," Spielberg said. "Currently, what games do is they give you the entire story in the run-up to the actual game play from level to level. You get to see a movie, and you're supposed to remember what the stakes are for the characters. But there's no reminder, nothing refreshes who these characters are.

"The next big emotional breakthrough in gaming is being able to tell a story that is consistent throughout the narrative."

[...]

"I think the real indicator will be when somebody confesses that they cried at level 17," Spielberg said.

Did you cry when you found out about poor Sgt. Jenkins in 343 Guilty Spark? Hmm... perhaps a future poll idea. Heads-up from Voodoo Extreme.