I want to say what I know many gamers have thought, but few say for a fear of a backlash. I truly believe that gaming has surpassed Hollywood in terms of storytelling and set pieces. Though it can only be said about a handful of titles, video games immerse you a great deal deeper than watching films, because with gaming, for the most part, you are in control. You are part of narrative process by dictating what happens next, even if the game held your hand to get you there.
And the other element that propels gaming past movies, for me anyway, is that gaming makes it easier to suspend disbelief. Gaming makes the worlds you find yourself in more believable. We are not trying to digest the fact that the worlds in these games are shoddy CG pasted on top of real life. With games, we know they are CG, and coding, and I think we tend to be more forgiving for that reason. And again, I feel the need to stress that my views on gaming surpassing films is really only applicable to a handful of games and moments, which I will talk about here. But I can tell you that these moments dropped my jaws in ways that films can only dream about, and this is coming from a guy who makes his living talking about films.
And something essential that everyone reading this needs to understand is, the rising up of one medium will not kill the other. Gaming will never render Hollywood and big budget films obsolete, and I truly believe at some point, both mediums will figure out how they can interact to maximize their potential. And if these great gaming moments help set up Hollywood and silicon valley for a true merging, I am all about it. And I am not talking about computers being used to make special effects or to use dead actors (they already pretty much do that and it sucks), but more so, games and films interacting in ways only Philip K. Dick could have imagined.
For now, I can safely say that, in my opinion, these five moments from gaming outshine Hollywood in terms of scope and the overall sense of raw emotion (be it awe or sadness) that they instill in all who witness (or partake in) them.