I continue to play the "massive multi-player game" World of Warcraft , which now has over eight million players, wandering through vast worlds of fantastic creatures, heroic quests, magical powers and epic battles. In short, these games are the gaming equivelant of the epic movie - an incredible visual experience in which one is involved and impacts the action, as opposed to simply watching immobile and apart from the action. In "WoW," we're not watching characters interact on screen with other characters - we're the characters, interacting with other people's characters. As the technology continues to advance, and possible character interactions become more complex, the similarities to the cinimatic world will expand.
Gaming is already a huge industry, bringing in more revenue than motion pictures. Games like this are just early examples of the future of entertainment - fully immersive, fantastic environments - experiences unlike anything that currently exists. This won't replace filmed entertainment - no more than televsion or motion pictures destroyed reading - this will eventually become another vast form of entertainment.
If you think people live their lives precariously through their favorite televsion show, just wait until they can live in that program, as well.
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