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"Cinegames" = Video games in movie theaters - coming to USA soon

thelastboss.com — This $390,000 setup involves entire modified movie theaters in Spain, which have been hugely successful when also tested in Germany and Canada. The plan for America is to replace the 20 minute movie previews with interactive games for the audience to play, including Battlefield1942 for teens, and Bingo for elderly.There's educational goals as well.

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  • seatortoise, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Video games are becoming more like movies, movies are more like video games, let's put video games in a theater -- another step towards an interactive movie experience...I feel convergence coming on.
    • Tygell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Sounds like a good idea to me. My wife and I always have mini competitions answering the trivia questions they show amidst the local ads currently.

      I wonder how they will decide what game to show? Certain movies draw certain crowds, and I know I'd hate to show up for "300" and get stuck with bingo night. Maybe some sort of algorithm based on the movie's genre, and rating. War movie + Rated R = UT2004, Dora's Adventure + PG = Animal Crossing. Yes, I'm stereotyping a little, but you get the idea.

      I've also seen video games on an airplane recently. I forget what airline it was, but I played Othello with some random passenger for a good 2 hours. He beat me silly, but it was fun.
    • soviyet, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5The video is nightmarishly slow and is pretty much just fullscreen video of BF1942 and a racing game. I grabbed a couple of highlight screenshots though:

      http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/27-133040L/2325/jpg/02/2007/img4/glowfoto
      http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/27-133048L/1351/jpg/02/2007/img4/glowfoto
      http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/27-132203L/1697/jpg/02/2007/img2/glowfoto

      The director of the video didn't quite get what I wanted to see -- which is how it looks to be in there. Those three shots were the closest they came to showing that.

      I think I remember them doing this with Gears of War at the IMAX theater in Universal Studios last year, which would have been a wonderful event to be at.
    • soviyet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Haha I knew I remembered this, GoW on IMAX: http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/27-133419L/7325/jpg/02/2007/img4/glowfoto
    • ezweave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There's a theater in Denver that has been doing this for a couple years. It's a trivia game where you push a little keypad you get from concessions. You get entered for prizes and stuff. It's nothing fantastic, but it passes the time. They put ads in it.

      http://www.regencymovies.com/main.php?theaterId=10
    • Charlotte_Web, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Hey, here's an idea... how about dropping the ads and the games and STARTING THE MOVIE 20 MINUTES EARLIER!!!

      I'm not sure how this is supposed to fly, though... those ads produce revenue for the theaters; what's their financial incentives to upgrade all of the seats to gaming stations while losing ad revenue? Doesn't make sense.

      However, the scene showing everyone in the theater playing the same game with an overview on the screen looked insanely cool. I think a lot of people would pay just to have a 2 hour gaming session.
    • EmperorAwesome, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@seatortoise

      Yeah, me too. It was called Indigo Prophecy.
    • rshu4you, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The punks in our theatres would destroy those screens in days.......
    • Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2*Can't wait until I can play E.T. (Atari) the next time they re-release E.T. in movie theatres.*
  • DiggityDugged, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Actually, now that i think about this more, this is probably dangerous. if one person stands up and blocks the screen they're going to get attacked - i can see it happening eventually.
    • terrab0t, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Judging by the video, the theatre screen is just showing random camera views from the multiplayer game. People play with the little screen in front of them. What could be very troublesome is the fact that people still need to walk in front of other seats to get to their own, and that will mean waking in front of some guy's screen during a game he can't pause.
    • Kuipo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1wow terrab0t. I hadn't even thought about that. You'll get a lot of people waiting in the isles to go past lines of BF players!
  • AttackMantis, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Sounds pretty cool.
    Don't watch the movie...
    Play the movie!
  • Holyfool19, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4The video is in some sort of weird, hispanic sounding language. Probably Russian.
    • Brocclibob, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Play the wii the way you were ment to, In cinema glory.
    • poobread, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Um, Spanish? Russian really isn't "hispanic"...
  • SpectralSounds, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24I wonder if the lil teenagers will be yelling, "PWN3D!!11!1" and "J00 suxx0RZ!!11 ROFTMLAMO!1!!!!oneone!11" in the theatre.

    Probably not, because without that anonymity behind the monitor, someone would jump over the seats and kick them in the head.
    • kakwakas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17I think the funnier part will be the cries like "PLAYER 18 YOU'RE A GODDAMN SCREEN-LOOKER!"
    • skyfire1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9It would be the greatest idea ever. If anyone is cheating you can finally kick the ***** out of them.
    • COlson87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wonder how nasty those controllers will get after just a few movies.

      I hate using the computer labs at school because people pretty much leave KFC all over the keyboards and mice. Wonderful idea.
    • wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1At least now I can find the ***** useless plane campers and give them the beating they so richly deserve.
  • kansascowboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4heres a youtube video, not as long, that shows what the theater looks like
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=N772Dr4Oe0A
  • illegalcortex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Time to stock up on Purell...
  • egbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Knowing how people treat movie theaters the LCD screens would last about 1 day.
  • BarryGoneWild, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3mmm nothing like the girls gone wild ads on this site while at work nothing gets the heart beating :|
  • ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3and just how exactly are you supposed to control the games? with the vandalized keyboard that they attatch to your seat?

    i'm not saying that the equipment wouldn't be ruined in other places, but definately in america
  • WallnutBoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Finally! Now Geeks can trick their dates into thinking they're gonna see a film, when instead.....
    • skyfire1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7...their girlfriend dumps them and joins me in bed!!!!! Winner!!!!
    • thewrathoffluff, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Or instead of taking a girl with you, you could try to pick one up there.
    • TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5normally I would not digg up skyfire1, but hey that rhymed...
  • uberdork825, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0My God this is the coolest thing ever! You could go to a LAN party whenever you want and pwnzor noobs!

    @WallnutBoy: hehehe...
  • AnotherCanadian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8at the IMAX theater in winnipeg, canada, you can play 60$ an hour to play halo on the IMAX screen.

    what a horrible waste on money
    • maddla, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It would be a waste of money because that theater in winnipeg is probably using an LCD projector to projector the largest image it can even with a wide-angle lens.

      I have done a bunch of installations in theaters which has been equipped simple capabilities to run a PS3 on a hi-def projector. The images look like crap on everything except a PS3 with an upconverter.

      BTW you can rent theaters in the Landmark Theater chain for a reasonable price, most theaters have some digital capability for that and if not they will put in a pretty high end LCD or DLP for you, if you and your friends wanna have a fun time for a few hours.
  • hotlunch, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4We've had a PC gaming arcade at Showcase Cinemas in Ann Arbor, MI since last year. It's pretty cool. There are about 30-40 networked PC's in a private 18+ room. Along with a couple PS3, Xbox360, and WII gaming pods. In the main/public area there are numerous console gaming stations with rated E for everyone games. There's also a snack bar and you can buy software and hardware at the service desk.

    Cost is $7 for the first hour, then $6 an hour for every hour thereafter. And you obtain a screen name when you set up your account, which then records your game stats, playing time, etc.

    The PC's are high end alienware machines, the room is dark, with logitech mic headsets, tons of games on the server, and on-site tech support.

    http://www.cygamz.com/
    • Kuipo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I almost dugg up your comment till you posted the link...
    • Cink420, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hmm good to know. I live in Brighton (about 15-20 minutes from there) and I turn 18 soon. Will have to check it out next time I'm in town
  • Pureeviljester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3BUT I LOVE TRAILERS!!! it should be playable during the annoying crap before the trailers. like a treat for the people 30 mins early that have nothing to do
  • Kuipo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Is it just me... or would other people rather stay home and watch the movie at home and play games on my own time? If I wanted to play games... I DON'T want to be cut off after 20 mins or whatever just because it's movie time. I'll play games at home on my 20" monitors (as apposed to their 17"), with my own keyboard/mouse that I KNOW isn't sticky from the last gross person (who plays any FPS with a controler?) , on my high end machine.

    If I really really felt like paying someone to play games, I'd go to a netcafe. If I felt like watching a movie, I'll watch a DVD or download it. What I DONT want to do... is play someone else's game, on someone else's machine, according to someone else's time frame.

    Thanks for the story, I like reading about new things upcoming. But I don't see this flying with people in the long run. This seems more like the movie theaters realizing that the masses don't want to just watch.. they'd rather interact. But unfortunately for them... this isn't a way to combine them
    • skyfire1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2While I sympathize with your opinion, I then remember that most people get to a movie theater early and realize that they've watched lightbulbs and coca-cola adds too many times.
    • Kuipo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's a decent point.. but I still wouldn't play their games while I'm waiting. Bring a DS or, dare I say it, a book and a small light. It seems to me that if you got there 10 mins early and you can't talk with your friends quietly or entertain yourself for that amount of time, that you might want to learn some patience.

      PS. This is not directed at anyone in particular.
  • VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've already been doing this for a couple of years now while waiting for movies, I call it "Nintendo DS local wifi."
  • fixty, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0What they SHOULD do is make a system where you bring your own wireless console controller from home if you want to play - oh and bluetooth wireless headphones - and you play on the BIG screen. They could divide it up into 4 games so there'd be a genre for everyone's taste. Yeah! Only certain types of games would lend themselves to this sorta setup, but Wii-like games seem like a perfect fit already...
    • nado84, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You being serious? Maybe you just don't think before you type stuff in your comment; if you needed all that equipment it would be a massive failure. The mainstream customers won't be bothered to bring extra gear with them, if anything it will more likely be like on airplanes where they hand out your headset and a game pad and check to see that you return it after you're done. Though this brings a risk of theft.

      One way i could imagine it may work was if you received a key or your ticket had a bar code that opened a compartment on the back of the seat in front of you and voila game pads and headsets... though that would cost a lot of money and may not be a practical solution either. Who knows how it SHOULD be, I think its interesting that they're pushing the concept though. Could make the wait more enjoyable and still fill their marketing criteria.
    • fixty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thus Spake Nado84: "if you needed all that equipment it would be a massive failure"

      Actually that's what I thought about building LCD screens into *each* seat-back and having wired controllers. The germ aspect creeped me out too, and games played on seat-back LCD's wouldn't draw non playing attendees into the fun Wii style - especially like it would if the controller communicated a recognizable avatar to the console or whatever powering the game.

      So my next thought was how, technical issues aside, could we solve the complexity, cost, maintenance, germ and fun for all problems. Of course the closest thing at hand today would be the Wii.


      I was simply wondering if such a setup would THEORETICALLY solve the aforementioned problems with the system as described in the article? Again, this is just a "wouldn't this be cool" thought exercise, so please Mr Nado84 - don't take the speculation that follows personally.

      But I imagine a few years down the road the Wii controller scheme could achieve such mind-share that even cell phones may come with advanced motion gesture sensing abilities, perhaps licensed from Nintendo. Hell maybe Nintendo markets a cell phone someday, or builds it into their Wii controller. Such a move would confer on their product such ubiquity, as owners of the phone would have functionality not even the much hyped iPhone can provide (unless Apple licenses it...), that new and unforeseen revenue and licensing streams would appear - such as my idea for wireless mass theater gaming on the big screen. I mean, if it works in the home with 4 people, why wouldn't it be fun to add more people? But who needs the theater actually... small energy efficient laser based projection systems are coming to market soon and in a few years you may be able to plop one down and project a game on the side of a building and it would be cool as hell if the neighbors or random people walking by could join a pick-up Nintendo game.

      I like that... a pick-up Nintendo game :)
    • sctechguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@fixty: Spake? You're just pulling archaic words out to try and impress people. You're not even using the word correctly in your example.
    • fixty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sctechguy: actually, it was an allusion to "Thus Spake Zarathustra" by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, so the usage was intentional yo. but man, why you gotta hate? nado84 and you all jumping down my throat 'cause i thought i had a cool idea. sheesh. i could come out and sling insults back your way, but that's your thing and i leave you two to it. peace.
    • sctechguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh, believe me, I knew what it was in reference to, hence why I said that you were just using archaic words (such as spake) to impress people.
    • fixty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Were that true you would not have claimed I used it incorrectly. But whatever, trolls gotta eat, and you've made me feel oh so special - like a time traveler in a Mike Judge movie. Sctechguy, *you* impress people. People like *you*. I like you.
  • Raian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Wow this looks efficient....maybe they can put 300 PS3s under everyone's chair while their at it in a lead safe lined with gold.
  • Gunsmith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Big Screen, bomber man, 500 controllers, sorted ;)
  • masterkenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cool idea. What's with the swanky porn music in the video though?
    • mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's the 'recreational' reel that the projector guy forgot to remove from last night...
  • eiknarf05, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No more previews? Blasphemy!
  • ChrisrWilliams, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yarr be messing with my cinemovies.
  • polyGone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How would you ever call dibs on the controller?
  • DaveManDave, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Itd be fun to play Battlefield against a whole theater but i want to see trailers! Without trailer i wouldnt know what movies are out.
  • qafdemo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0This shizzle aint comin' to the USA. We is too ghetto. You herd.
  • neut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A few local theaters have been hosting gaming for about a year ... and recently a mini-theater has opened a full time gaming operation. they seem to be doing well as the mini-theater is actually running commercial which is unusual for this area. I have no idea what the experience is like as I really don't have interest in attending.
  • marcomc2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1*****.
  • biff198, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It would be smart if they put WoW on those computers. That way, they would get to sell another ticket to the people that were too engrossed in that to watch the movie.
  • guitarmaniac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I love those 20minute movie trailers
  • masterthiefster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My biggest problem besides germs would be keybindings (assuming they have PC games). I always customise my bindings a little (say, jump to space or something); without it I'd keep hitting the wrong key, but if I chose to change it that would waste valuable fragging time. Of course it could be they'll just use wired Xbox 360 controllers since some PC games do support those...
  • Cyber_Akuma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When I first saw the title I thought it was going to be an article about Machinima making it to movie theaters.
  • joerod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this is what im talking about. i love this idea! movie houses cry that no one comes to the movies, now they are finally doing something about it.
  • donboston, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0nice story....liked it
  • keldorn2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The screens will end up with soda, popcorn butter, and gummy bears on them etc.
  • Wytefang, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This could have been cool had they actually selected modern, good games.
  • emeraldmist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I really like this idea, I think that it will definitely bring the gaming world and movie world a step closer, and create more gamers, it would be a great place where people who don't want to spend the money on buying a game to go a play it.

    There of course would be problems because there are always jerks in the world, but I'm sure there would be a way to keep people from ruining the experience (or equipment).
  • ka0tic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1endgame WOW raids!
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