Samus had a sled? The comparisons between Nintendo’s space-bounty hunter dont follow Orson Welles’ seminal directorial debut Citizen Kane that closely, but ABC News Report recently compared what some consider the best American film ever made to Metroid Prime (which was recently re-released in the critically beloved Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii.)
“Orson Welles was using cinematography to express something very personal and human. It wasn’t just functional anymore, it was actually tied to a specific meaning about people aging, people dying,” said IGN’s Michael Thomsen.
The report goes further into the comparison, noting the exploratory focus of the “dark and lonely” atmosphere as key to Metroid Prime‘s style and success. The post-mortem interaction with the alien civilization in Prime also mirrors the plotline of Kane‘s journalistic supporting cast, who spend the majority of the film searching for the reason behind the titular main character’s demise.
Think ABC News Report has got the right idea with this comparison? Let us know, or give a better one yourself, in the comments below!
On a personal note….NO.
No, no, no, no, no…in the name of all that is holy and delicious, NO!
I don’t really think the comparison is all that great at all, however, the fact that they acknowledge Metroid Prime in such a way is tremendous.
OK while ABC News was just reporting on it, I now officially hate IGN with a few more fibers of my being. Michael Tomsen knows nothing of film or video games. Let me outline what I think:
1. No game has ever approached the brilliance of Citizen Kane.
2. Metroid Prime, while an excellent game, is not as good as Super Metroid.
3. He talks like Citizen Kane is all darkness and loneliness. But it’s the classic story of one man’s hubris and how it led to his downfall. If any character could be compared to Kane, and none can, then it’d be Andrew Ryan from Bioshock.
4. In fact, thinking about it, Bioshock is a much more fitting comparison.
5. It’s blasphemy to compare any video game to such a sublime work of genius as Citizen Kane.
6. I’m probably gonna get an ulcer ’cause of this.
7. What about Planescape: Torment’s ‘post-mortem’ interaction?
8. What about Baldur’s Gate, where you spend the entire game searching for the reason behind Gorion’s demise, Sarevok’s rise to power, and your own lineage?
9. Cinematography stopped being ‘just functional’ in the 1920’s. Watch some Eisenstein, Mr. Thomsen, you Philistine.
10. I will deliver a swift kick in the groin to Mr. Thomsen if and when our paths ever cross.
11. IGN sucks.
12. What about Silent Hill 2? Dark, lonely, game spent trying to discover the fate of your wife, etc.
13. What about Max Payne? Ending first, followed by glimpses and flashbacks.
14. You can loosely tie almost anything into Citizen Kane just like you can loosely tie anything into anything else. This was just some stupid publicity stunt (that evidently worked) on IGN’s part and they’re probably trying to land some sort of deal with Nintendo.
15. So….Thomsen thinks that Metroid Prime was revolutionary by having ‘ancient ruins in space?’ HELLO–2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY–WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK THE MONOLITH IS?!
16. I’m distracted by hate and anger.
^You forgot Shadow of the Colossus, that is all about not being lonely and one man’s attempt to bring back the love of his life, all while endangering himself to do so.
I agree that Bioshock is a better fit to Citizen Kane, but really, no game can compare. It also goes kinda the same way that movies can’t compare to games in other aspects. Two separate mediums of entertainment should never be compared, unless there is a film/movie, play, book, comic, or game adaptation of something, then there deserves to be a comparison.
The key issue I see here is that the comparison only goes skin deep. Even when discussing cinematography, they speak only of a game’s aesthetic qualities. Kane was revolutionary for its shift in usage of an essential filmmaking component to tell a story, and no single game has done that yet. No fundamental game mechanic has been changed and adopted so deeply into the narrative of a video game. I look forward to the future were that has occurred, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that it hasn’t occurred yet, but a reasonable comparison just doesn’t exist.