| My father (1951) went through Tandy's Dancing Demon through text adventure games, Lode Runner, Prince of Persia, Doom and modern video games. He went from black and white mummies movies through Rambo to Matrix. I (1980) was raised with Lucas Arts games, and you know the rest. The gap between my father and me is huge. He saw the entire entertaiment industry transforming, from technology and from content points of view. I've seeing the same things since year ~2000. I am tired of nostalgia, seeing the same things over and over again... The same formula up to the point I can predict how most movies will end. While I enjoy Ron Gilbert doing Monkey Island again, and retro games, I still expect something more. And it's not coming. I surely can see there are more modern topics like inclusion and the kind in most American movies and games, but I don't think it's enough for a change in the industry like the ones my father saw. And Modern tech like deepfakes will only enforce nostalgia... Entertaiment industry is stealing my middle-age. |
Early film (as soon as people realized that film != theatre, at least) was wildly experimental, because qualities of the medium were still largely unexplored. But after a while the rules became more and more codified, so that if you wanted to find something "new/more", you often had to look past the mainstream offering. Which, I mean, makes sense? As demand grows, a part of the industry will inevitably focus on the "tried and true" formulas. It allows them to play it safe and get more-or-less predictable returns on their investment.
(And about Ron/Monkey Island, actually he is being very clear he is not doing a retro game and he definitely wants to move the franchise forward. I surely hope so!)