Video games: links with film and Switzerland
Film focus
Born at the end of the 1970s with Pong, Space Invaders and Pac-Man, video games quickly took inspiration from films, particularly science-fiction. The software took up the universes of Star Wars, Tron, Star Trek, or even Indiana Jones and James Bond. Players had to use their imagination to relate the large pixels of the first consoles to the film which these were supposed to represent. Today, the release of a video game for a big budget film has practically become a rule within the leisure industry. The arrival of more and more powerful consoles and computers brings the video game experience closer and closer to the realism of the film, where the player finds himself in an environment very close to that seen on the big screen. The work required of the imagination is gradually reduced as the visual authenticity increases, giving the player the opportunity to visit the film world, in a sort of complementary approach to the full length film.
It took two decades for the opposite trend to occur, that is, the making of films based on video games. In the 90s it may have been an arduous task to transform the best excerpts of an action film into an arcade game but making a full-length film on the inspiration of a plumber with a moustache (Super Mario Bros en 1993) or the characters from a fighting game (Street Fighter in 1994; Mortal Kombat in 1995 and 1997) was not enough to make an impact on the history of cinema. However, script-writers today are still working at the job. Using the greatest video game successes, they transform virtual heroes into real characters, such as Lara Croft (Tomb Raider in 2001 and 2003) or the protagonists of Resident Evil (3 films in 2002, 2004 and 2007).
Video games are in constant and extremely rapid evolution, bringing regular changes that are just as consequential as the introduction of sound and colour were for cinema. If the latter still takes little inspiration from video games, they on the other hand continue to absorb more and more techniques from cinema, in an attempt to reproduce for the user the sensations felt in the darkened halls.
Swiss focus
In Switzerland, more than 21% of households have a video-game console and 3 out of 4 households own a computer. On top of that, 14% of households with an Internet connection play online at least once a week. In 2005, Swiss households spent nearly 1.5 billion francs on home entertainment. Additional proof that the video game is fully present in our society: at Christmas in 2006, video games were among the three most popular presents bought in Switzerland and in 2007, the tendency was repeated. Aided by easy access to new technologies, ease of use, range of choices and low prices there are many other factors which have helped video games become part of everyday life as a leisure activity for the public at large and for families.
Overall there are two main categories of players. Those who are committed and who invest a greater or smaller amount in their pastime (also called “hardcore gamers”) and occasional players (or “casual gamers”). The first group has been forming clans or associations for a long time to live and share their passion in a community, so the potential for expansion lies with the second category. It is becoming more and more common to attend video game meetings of people with little experience of the scene.
Moved by a common passion or an awareness of the impact of video games on our society, numerous private and public organisations try to ensure the safety of the videogame inheritance in Switzerland. Since 1995, “Bolo’s Computer Museum” with one of the largest collections of computers in Switzerland has brought together more than 500 machines from card punchers to the Commodore 64 which marked the golden age of the video game in the 1980s. The “Musée Suisse du Jeu”, in la Tour-de-Peilz, is the only official Swiss museum to offer a permanent exhibition on the history of the video game from its beginnings until the present day. In 2007, the museum “La Maison d’ Ailleurs” dedicated an exhibition to the Swiss artist Christian Scheurer, who notably worked on several famous games including Final Fantasy IX and Spore.
As we stand at the beginning of the 20th century, the video game looks set to become the main leisure activity in the country. Nonetheless, video game creation is almost inexistent in our country: most designers live in self-imposed exile to work free-lance or for one of the large organisations abroad. The situation could change in the next few years after the first encouraging signs such as the appearance of the ESIJV (Ecole Suisse d'Imagerie Interactive et Jeu Vidéo, Vevey, a private school) or the establishment of administrative centres such as Electronic Arts or Take-Two in Geneva.
The complete version of this text is available on the French version of this website.