Basically, what point are you trying to make, and what evidence do you have to support that point?

Is this seriously not self evident? Look at the very best of both media. The best of film and television completely blow away the best of games in terms of story and exploration of the human condition. It's not even close.

No, it's not self-evident. Enlighten me.

Show me the very best of film, television, and games, and convince me that the very best game story is not even close.

Bonus: Show me how the very best of game stories would work better as a movie rather than an interactive experience.

Let's start with what you consider the best to be in terms of game story. Tastes are tastes after all. Make a list, and I'll show you how it was done better.

Nice try to avoid your issue and pass the burden of proof, but I want you to tell me. What is, in your opinion, the very best game story, and how it's "not even close" to your favorite film story.

Give me that one example, if you can, and I'll give you my list.

I used to believe that. As someone who liked games I constantly graded their stories on a curve compared what I saw and liked in other mediums. Then I played The Last of Us. The bar has been raised.

I'm not sure that really serves as a counterpoint to what he's saying. While I do believe that there is some added value to the story from actually playing as Joel and Ellie and in a certain manner actually experiencing the story sort of through their eyes, I'm not really convinced that The Last of Us couldn't work just as well, or even potentially better, as a movie. It doesn't really do anything that only a game can inherently do at least as far as story is concerned.

It might be a little unfair to compare film and game stories, because games are not about stories (they are about interaction) thus the story is always support rather than the focus. That being said, you can still look at the types of stories in games and realize that on the whole they do not fare as well as those in other media, discounting the above point.

I used to believe that. As someone who liked games I constantly graded their stories on a curve compared what I saw and liked in other mediums. Then I played The Last of Us. The bar has been raised.

I'm not sure that really serves as a counterpoint to what he's saying. While I do believe that there is some added value to the story from actually playing as Joel and Ellie and in a certain manner actually experiencing the story sort of through their eyes, I'm not really convinced that The Last of Us couldn't work just as well, or even potentially better, as a movie. It doesn't really do anything that only a game can inherently do at least as far as story is concerned.

So my wife and I recently watched The Last of Us (games as movies version) on YouTube. It's about 6 hours long. It didn't have nearly the same impact as playing the game. TLoU is one of the few games I've played where the developers really leveraged the nature of the medium to strengthen the effectiveness of the story. Watching it still gets the points across, but playing it makes you feel certain developments more deeply. I found I was more tuned in to the subtle shifts the Elie and Joel's relationship while playing. Because it was literally my direct responsibility to keep her safe, I noticed every tiny little change in her behaviour. The way she starts off glued to Joel, hiding behind him for protection, following mere footsteps behind, hiding at the sight of danger... The first time she throws a brick at an enemy, I almost let myself get killed because I was momentarily shocked. "Woah, she's stepping it up!" I thought. Then to later see her actually taking the lead, running ahead of Joel. While watching it, those sorts of significant little details just seemed to go by without making much impact.

All of this isn't to say that TLoU couldn't be made into a good movie, but I've never had a movie affect me the way TLoU did. I feel like Naughty Dog really leveraged the player's active role in the story to create an experience only possible with a game.

I used to believe that. As someone who liked games I constantly graded their stories on a curve compared what I saw and liked in other mediums. Then I played The Last of Us. The bar has been raised.

I'm not sure that really serves as a counterpoint to what he's saying. While I do believe that there is some added value to the story from actually playing as Joel and Ellie and in a certain manner actually experiencing the story sort of through their eyes, I'm not really convinced that The Last of Us couldn't work just as well, or even potentially better, as a movie. It doesn't really do anything that only a game can inherently do at least as far as story is concerned.

You're introducing a different discussion. He didn't say anything about interactivity and which is better, a movie version of a game version of the same story. By those lights video games might win considering all the dogcrap video-game-based films. I'll agree with CruelLegacy about the superiority of playing it versus watching it being played (worth noting: the latter is not the same as a movie version even though there's a youtube video called that). But again, this is a different topic.

Cody said, "Look at the very best of both media. The best of film and television completely blow away the best of games in terms of story and exploration of the human condition. It's not even close."

I say in terms of story and exploration of the human condition, the best of film and television do not completely blow away "The Last of Us." It's pretty damn close. The Last of Us being so competitive by these measures is precisely why I'm looking forward to its film version.