Back in the late '80s and early '90s a wave of independent films hit the art house cinemas all across the United States. Alison Anders, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee and Steven Soderbergh, to name just a few, rejuvenated the American film scene by releasing personal, small budget films that spoke to a new generation. The success of these films created a tsunami effect in film studios, which had become complacent with their Die Hard Terminator formula and had been looking for a way out from their spiraling budgets and their video game aesthetics. Soon after, studios began to create special financing opportunities and development departments for these indie auteurs, paralleled by the expansive success of the Sundance Film Festival, which became the delivery mechanism for hundreds of independent filmmakers looking for distribution.

The landscape of the video game industry now resembles the conflicted terrain of the film industry of the 1980s. It is estimated that the global market share for video games will surpass $40 billion by 2010, making it the most profitable entertainment industry in the world. But there’s a bug in the system. With production and distribution budgets rocketing to the high 20 mil per game, developers are facing a hard road ahead. If the wholesale price of a single game averages $30, developers must assure that they sell at least 1 million copies to match their spending budget. Instead of looking at more “affordable” solutions, game developers are using (or misusing) all their resources, to create faster consoles and fine tune their graphics to deliver seamless CGI quality. And while they try to bring us closer to reality, the game industry is losing it soul… and creativity.