Panem et circenses (the 21st century edition)

Skyrim running on a Mac via a Windows Not-Emulator

I used to play a lot of computer games. I grew up with computers, and from Zaxxon onward, up until I started my PhD, video games were something I looked for, played and enjoyed. (I had a short stint with multi-player games up until my younger brother started piling on humiliating defeats on all of his siblings in basically any FPS game.)

Nowadays it is something that I allow myself in periods of quiet or to relieve some stress when I'm overworked. Marion sometimes sees me disappearing for the evening in the medieval lands of Skyrim, or driving a truck in the surprisingly successful Eurotruck Simulator, or impersonating a coloured rectangle leading a revolution in Thomas Was Alone.

Assassin's Creed IV plastered all over Times Square

While not as up to date with every single new game, I am usually quite aware when a big Triple-A title is coming out. However I did not imagine that the rest of the people around (most of whom do not know what Triple-A denotes in this context) would have to be as well. I realised that at the very least here in New York, these games are treated much the same way as blockbuster movies and new technological gadgets. Advertisements for upcoming games take up entire street corners, or decorate the rooftops or invade the subway stations. All this elicits an eerie feeling of connection between the images I encounter while browsing the net, and the ones I see when walking outside.

COD:Ghosts all around the Times Square subway stations

Grand Theft Auto V ads in NoHo

It seems obvious in truth that it should be so. As the saying goes "If you can sell it you should market it", and it seems a notion that is put to work with gusto in a place like Times Square. And it is also true that, with budgets of several hundreds of millions of dollars for these games, years of preparation and thousands of people involved, there is a definite parallel between video games and big hollywood titles. And as with all situations where a niche starts becomes mainstream, a rift starts appearing between games that are made like movies and other, more independently made video games, that are still in the spirit of "a couple of guys working from their living room". These games, following the destiny of indie films and music, will likely remain obscure to most people, much as most video games were ten years ago.

I happen to find myself attracted more and more by these games, with their pixel-art graphics, 8-bit music, one very brilliant idea and hours of unfettered fun. I will probably keep on trying out the big names every now and then (Bioshock Infinite is one such title which was not only very enjoyable, but has also garnered attention from established media but I will likely not have their soundtrack on my iPod