Deadpool says otherwise , gotta make something worth watching to make people watch
my__name__is on
Two screens, why not both?
DroopBarrymore on
According to a 2024 report by the Entertainment Software Association
Hm.
LataCogitandi on
My Gen Z sister has an active dislike for film and television as a whole, so they may have a point here.
Nyaos on
I’m a millenial but I’ve felt this way for a long time now. If I have free time, I find interactive media a lot more enriching than a movie or tv series nowadays. I don’t have anything against movies, I just enjoy games more. My steam backlog is endless and there’s always something exciting and new to play.
tacticalcraptical on
I feel this way and many of my friends do as well. We’re all older millennials. We feel this way even more than before because movies are getting way too long!
hobbes_shot_first on
But how many would rather watch someone else play a video game than play a video game?
Villag3Idiot on
I’ll be honest. A lot of newer movies are just boring. I find myself watching a lot of older movies / TV series more. Other than that, I watch Youtube on the side while I’m doing something else rather than TV / Movies.
waffle299 on
Gen X as well.
not_creative1 on
Games these days are like a movie you are involved in anyway
CQReborn on
This is just my own 2cents, since the article focused mainly on Gen Z’s preference for interactive entertainment (As an explanation for why gaming is so popular with them), but: The entire movie industry is long overdue a crash and ‘Coming to Deity Moment of your Choice’ that brings the industry back to something approaching reality. Gen Z’s disconnect from the film industry is just a clearer example of a trend I’d bet my life savings are also visible with the older demographics behind them.
The market has reached an absolute saturation point of mostly samey garbage content for IPs that have been acquired by soulless corporate husks who have no interest in telling stories that are authentic and interesting to the settings they own.
Combine that with the fact that the writer’s room decisions & actor casting is happening with the chief focus being “Making moral statements about something in real life” with “Telling a good, authentic story” being a far-distant second, it’s no shocker Gen Z is checked out on it.
They have no nostalgia of cinema’s glory days of decades past to keep them hanging around hoping for a return to form like the generations before them, because all they’ve ever known is watered down junk (With a handful of noteworthy exceptions, I concede that point happily).
Dreaminginslowmotion on
I have a 15, 14, and 10 year old and I’m consistently surprised by how little they want to go see the latest and greatest movie. The middle kid actually saying he likes “to just watch at home streaming so he can talk during the movie”.
Games? It’s just Roblox, Fortnite, and maybe Overwatch. That’s all they need and never ever explore any classic games, as hard as I try. It’s like everything is consolidated between streaming services or one-stop Roblox / Fortnite servers now. It has all they want, so why look elsewhere?
PercivalSweetwaduh on
To be fair most video games are a lot better than most movies that have been coming out lately. Plus, kids are playing with their friends
cnobody101010 on
I rather watch a film made 20 years ago. Than one today.
Streaming films are like those 80’s direct to vhs movies.
MDA1912 on
That’s not a generational thing.
onihr1 on
45 year old guy here. Other than if my football team is on sunday, if im home alone im playing pc games. Wife is home? Then I watch tv with her if we have a show she likes and I tolerate.
All movies and shows than only I want to watch? Stream while at work.
Prinzchaos on
Not gen z but doing this since 1989.
eo37 on
A remake/reboot of a movie we have already seen
Mysterious_Fennel459 on
I’d rather play a game than watch tv also. I cant stand the crap reality and game shows on tv.
ThenIcouldsee on
Por que no los dos?
moonisflat on
Going to movies is so 2000s.
McCool303 on
I’m an old ass millennial and I don’t watch movies and watch maybe 5-10 hours of TV at night simply because my wife likes to watch shows with me. I’d 100% rather play a game than stare at the TV. But I’ve been doing this a long time. I feel like I’ve watched more than enough TV as a latch key kid in the 80’s & 90’s.
monkeymystic on
I prefer gaming over TV/movie streaming in general, even though I enjoy both.
Relaxing with a game let’s me «disconnect» and reset better after work etc, and it’s more rewarding overall imo
yeezy_fought_me on
Well, yeah. There are more quality games than there are movies worth the same amount of time today.
Getdunkled on
There isn’t a compelling reason for most people to invest 2+ hours in a movie anymore.
The medium is past the point where viewers are given constant innovation like they were as the technology developed throughout the 20th century. In addition, the corporate interests have squashed the artistry down to a near 0. Most movies and tv shows feel like advertising for something I don’t have any reason to care about other than the powers that be want more of my money.
I’ve stopped following all the franchises I used to watch due to their forcing out low quality content in an attempt to keep the IP financially and culturally relevant.
There’s just more interesting things to do with your time.
LiteratureLoud3993 on
50% of this Xennial would rather game than watch movies
I love both equally.. and I really like how gaming is now able to tell these wonderfully complex stories as the tech has progressed.
Shits come a long way since playing Asteroids on my brothers Atari 1200
I don’t believe for a second that there is a shady cabal of trans activists trying to poison my brain with “woke” messaging (I mean, that’s complete fucking nonsense), but I do believe that large publishers have caused developers to lose their way and need to get back to making “fun” the core of gaming – and we will get back there for sure.
I live in a time when I can watch the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Mia Goth in some of the best horror roles to ever exist, but also play The Last of Us or Cyberpunk 2077… whilst listening to David Bowie
I mean, what a period to be alive in eh?
We truly are spoiled in that respect.
qtx on
I have seen thousands of movies in my life but the last 10 years or so it’s becoming harder and harder to actually sit down and watch a new one.
I could easily binge a complete season of a show in one go but the idea that I have to sit down and watch a full movie just feels like a hassle, a commitment I don’t want to take.
Binging for 8 hours on a show feels easier than watching a single 90/120 movie.
The dopamine you get from a single episode is the same as watching a whole movie. Every episode will have a beginning, a middle and an end to a story in 45 mins while in a movie it will take at least twice as much.
Knowing that watching two episodes will give you twice the excitement as watching a single movie in the same amount of time makes binging a lot easier than just watching a single movie.
Also the idea that you can just stop watching after 45 mins (the end of an episode) feels more freeing than having to sit there for 2 hours before you can stop.
unlock0 on
My parents had a 30 inch TV to share, a theatre experience was special. Now you can get a relatively comparable size screen (by viewing distance) for like $300.
The theatre experience is awful with phone users and other inconsiderate people. The prices are no longer worth it when you can have a better experience at home.
Not to mention games are engineered to undermine your psychology in a way movies can’t really touch. It’s like comparing porn to PBS.
Mullinore on
Yeah. Often if I am watching a show or movie, it’ll remind me of a game I like, so then I’ll stop watching and go play that game. For instance, if I’m watching an action movie. It might remind me of playing an FPS. So I’d rather go off and do that, and make my own action. There are exceptions, as there are absolutely engrossing movies and tv shows out there.
SemiAutoAvocado on
Well yeah they have the attention of a goldfish. Only yas queen movies can keep their eyes glued to a screen for more than 10 seconds, and they will need to have tiktok open at the same time anyway.
baroldhudd on
I suspect that ther are a lot of causes of this phenomenon, but I wonder if the social aspect of video games is the primary driver. It seems very logical to me that Gen-Z, which is perfectly accustomed to socializing virtually, prefers an activity to share with friends over another that is more commonly experienced alone.
0riginal-Syn on
I am Gen X, and I am more like this now. Doesn’t help the creativity in movies has gone down and more copy cat movies than anything,
nt261999 on
For $40-80 a good video game can easily be hundreds of hours of entertainment
33 Comments
Deadpool says otherwise , gotta make something worth watching to make people watch
Two screens, why not both?
According to a 2024 report by the Entertainment Software Association
Hm.
My Gen Z sister has an active dislike for film and television as a whole, so they may have a point here.
I’m a millenial but I’ve felt this way for a long time now. If I have free time, I find interactive media a lot more enriching than a movie or tv series nowadays. I don’t have anything against movies, I just enjoy games more. My steam backlog is endless and there’s always something exciting and new to play.
I feel this way and many of my friends do as well. We’re all older millennials. We feel this way even more than before because movies are getting way too long!
But how many would rather watch someone else play a video game than play a video game?
I’ll be honest. A lot of newer movies are just boring. I find myself watching a lot of older movies / TV series more. Other than that, I watch Youtube on the side while I’m doing something else rather than TV / Movies.
Gen X as well.
Games these days are like a movie you are involved in anyway
This is just my own 2cents, since the article focused mainly on Gen Z’s preference for interactive entertainment (As an explanation for why gaming is so popular with them), but: The entire movie industry is long overdue a crash and ‘Coming to Deity Moment of your Choice’ that brings the industry back to something approaching reality. Gen Z’s disconnect from the film industry is just a clearer example of a trend I’d bet my life savings are also visible with the older demographics behind them.
The market has reached an absolute saturation point of mostly samey garbage content for IPs that have been acquired by soulless corporate husks who have no interest in telling stories that are authentic and interesting to the settings they own.
Combine that with the fact that the writer’s room decisions & actor casting is happening with the chief focus being “Making moral statements about something in real life” with “Telling a good, authentic story” being a far-distant second, it’s no shocker Gen Z is checked out on it.
They have no nostalgia of cinema’s glory days of decades past to keep them hanging around hoping for a return to form like the generations before them, because all they’ve ever known is watered down junk (With a handful of noteworthy exceptions, I concede that point happily).
I have a 15, 14, and 10 year old and I’m consistently surprised by how little they want to go see the latest and greatest movie. The middle kid actually saying he likes “to just watch at home streaming so he can talk during the movie”.
Games? It’s just Roblox, Fortnite, and maybe Overwatch. That’s all they need and never ever explore any classic games, as hard as I try. It’s like everything is consolidated between streaming services or one-stop Roblox / Fortnite servers now. It has all they want, so why look elsewhere?
To be fair most video games are a lot better than most movies that have been coming out lately. Plus, kids are playing with their friends
I rather watch a film made 20 years ago. Than one today.
Streaming films are like those 80’s direct to vhs movies.
That’s not a generational thing.
45 year old guy here. Other than if my football team is on sunday, if im home alone im playing pc games. Wife is home? Then I watch tv with her if we have a show she likes and I tolerate.
All movies and shows than only I want to watch? Stream while at work.
Not gen z but doing this since 1989.
A remake/reboot of a movie we have already seen
I’d rather play a game than watch tv also. I cant stand the crap reality and game shows on tv.
Por que no los dos?
Going to movies is so 2000s.
I’m an old ass millennial and I don’t watch movies and watch maybe 5-10 hours of TV at night simply because my wife likes to watch shows with me. I’d 100% rather play a game than stare at the TV. But I’ve been doing this a long time. I feel like I’ve watched more than enough TV as a latch key kid in the 80’s & 90’s.
I prefer gaming over TV/movie streaming in general, even though I enjoy both.
Relaxing with a game let’s me «disconnect» and reset better after work etc, and it’s more rewarding overall imo
Well, yeah. There are more quality games than there are movies worth the same amount of time today.
There isn’t a compelling reason for most people to invest 2+ hours in a movie anymore.
The medium is past the point where viewers are given constant innovation like they were as the technology developed throughout the 20th century. In addition, the corporate interests have squashed the artistry down to a near 0. Most movies and tv shows feel like advertising for something I don’t have any reason to care about other than the powers that be want more of my money.
I’ve stopped following all the franchises I used to watch due to their forcing out low quality content in an attempt to keep the IP financially and culturally relevant.
There’s just more interesting things to do with your time.
50% of this Xennial would rather game than watch movies
I love both equally.. and I really like how gaming is now able to tell these wonderfully complex stories as the tech has progressed.
Shits come a long way since playing Asteroids on my brothers Atari 1200
I don’t believe for a second that there is a shady cabal of trans activists trying to poison my brain with “woke” messaging (I mean, that’s complete fucking nonsense), but I do believe that large publishers have caused developers to lose their way and need to get back to making “fun” the core of gaming – and we will get back there for sure.
I live in a time when I can watch the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Mia Goth in some of the best horror roles to ever exist, but also play The Last of Us or Cyberpunk 2077… whilst listening to David Bowie
I mean, what a period to be alive in eh?
We truly are spoiled in that respect.
I have seen thousands of movies in my life but the last 10 years or so it’s becoming harder and harder to actually sit down and watch a new one.
I could easily binge a complete season of a show in one go but the idea that I have to sit down and watch a full movie just feels like a hassle, a commitment I don’t want to take.
Binging for 8 hours on a show feels easier than watching a single 90/120 movie.
The dopamine you get from a single episode is the same as watching a whole movie. Every episode will have a beginning, a middle and an end to a story in 45 mins while in a movie it will take at least twice as much.
Knowing that watching two episodes will give you twice the excitement as watching a single movie in the same amount of time makes binging a lot easier than just watching a single movie.
Also the idea that you can just stop watching after 45 mins (the end of an episode) feels more freeing than having to sit there for 2 hours before you can stop.
My parents had a 30 inch TV to share, a theatre experience was special. Now you can get a relatively comparable size screen (by viewing distance) for like $300.
The theatre experience is awful with phone users and other inconsiderate people. The prices are no longer worth it when you can have a better experience at home.
Not to mention games are engineered to undermine your psychology in a way movies can’t really touch. It’s like comparing porn to PBS.
Yeah. Often if I am watching a show or movie, it’ll remind me of a game I like, so then I’ll stop watching and go play that game. For instance, if I’m watching an action movie. It might remind me of playing an FPS. So I’d rather go off and do that, and make my own action. There are exceptions, as there are absolutely engrossing movies and tv shows out there.
Well yeah they have the attention of a goldfish. Only yas queen movies can keep their eyes glued to a screen for more than 10 seconds, and they will need to have tiktok open at the same time anyway.
I suspect that ther are a lot of causes of this phenomenon, but I wonder if the social aspect of video games is the primary driver. It seems very logical to me that Gen-Z, which is perfectly accustomed to socializing virtually, prefers an activity to share with friends over another that is more commonly experienced alone.
I am Gen X, and I am more like this now. Doesn’t help the creativity in movies has gone down and more copy cat movies than anything,
For $40-80 a good video game can easily be hundreds of hours of entertainment