The biggest video game of all time looks like a movie
The biggest video game of all time looks like a movie
史上最伟大的电子游戏看起来像是一部电影
Rockstar’s GTA VI preview further blurs the lines between Hollywood and gaming. Rockstar《GTA VI》的预告片进一步模糊了好莱坞与游戏之间的界限。
I think I know why Rockstar Games debuted its “extended look” of Grand Theft Auto VI on Netflix instead of immediately dropping it for free on YouTube. Unlike most video game trailers, the almost 27-minute preview of GTA VI felt more like a slice of a prestige crime drama than any video game trailer that I’ve ever seen. To make a new game that lasts another decade or more and potentially rivals the success of its predecessor, Rockstar is clearly trying to further blur the lines between Hollywood and video games. 我想我明白为什么 Rockstar Games 选择在 Netflix 上首播《侠盗猎车手 VI》（GTA VI）的“加长版预览”，而不是直接在 YouTube 上免费发布。与大多数电子游戏预告片不同，这段近 27 分钟的《GTA VI》预览片段给人的感觉更像是一部精品犯罪剧的片段，而非我以往见过的任何游戏预告。为了打造一款能延续十年甚至更久、并有望媲美前作成功的新游戏，Rockstar 显然正试图进一步模糊好莱坞与电子游戏之间的界限。
The line between games and movies has been getting consistently fuzzier. Look no further than this year’s James Bond game, 007 First Light, which has the snappy pacing, acting, and cinematography of a great action film. And TV shows and movies are increasingly pulling from video games for inspiration, to say nothing of entire TV and movie franchises being built around successful video games. Now, a video game trailer has wedged between prestige TV and streaming hit movies — after watching the GTA VI preview, Netflix is suggesting I watch Breaking Bad next. 游戏与电影之间的界限正变得越来越模糊。看看今年的詹姆斯·邦德游戏《007：第一道光》（007 First Light）就知道了，它拥有优秀动作电影般紧凑的节奏、表演和摄影。电视节目和电影也越来越多地从电子游戏中汲取灵感，更不用说围绕成功的电子游戏构建的整个电视和电影系列了。现在，一部电子游戏预告片已经跻身于精品电视剧和热门流媒体电影之间——在看完《GTA VI》的预览后，Netflix 甚至建议我接下来观看《绝命毒师》。
Rockstar is keeping GTA VI’s plot details close to its chest, but the video gives the broad strokes: GTA VI is about protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos working together in Vice City. Across the tightly-edited video, which jumps between cutscenes and moments of actual gameplay, Jason and Lucia do a lot of GTA-style crimes: they evade cops in gunfights, pull off high-stakes robberies, and shoot a lot of people. But they also have moments of chatting leisurely in the car or even bickering about what clothes to wear. Rockstar 对《GTA VI》的剧情细节守口如瓶，但这段视频勾勒出了大致轮廓：《GTA VI》讲述了主角杰森·杜瓦尔（Jason Duval）和露西亚·卡米诺斯（Lucia Caminos）在罪恶都市（Vice City）携手合作的故事。在剪辑紧凑的视频中，画面在过场动画和实际游戏操作之间切换，杰森和露西亚进行了许多“GTA 风格”的犯罪活动：他们在枪战中躲避警察、实施高风险抢劫，并射击了许多人。但他们也有在车里悠闲聊天，甚至为穿什么衣服而争吵的时刻。
The video also isn’t just an uninterrupted vertical section of gameplay, like video game deep dives often are. Instead, it artistically cuts between different sections, storylines, and characters to paint a picture of what to expect. I didn’t always know what was going on, but by the end of the video, I had a sense of who these people were and the city that they live in. It felt, well, like parts of a movie. 这段视频也不仅仅是像常见的游戏深度演示那样，展示一段连续的游戏过程。相反，它艺术化地在不同片段、故事情节和角色之间进行剪辑，描绘出玩家可以期待的内容。虽然我并不总是清楚发生了什么，但视频结束时，我已经对这些角色以及他们所居住的城市有了大致的了解。感觉就像是……电影的一部分。
GTA VI will still be very much a video game. Rockstar invited a handful of outlets to preview GTA VI, and their coverage dives into things like the expansive map, the six-star Wanted system, escalating requirements to steal cars, and reactive NPCs. Those will almost certainly make for a vast sandbox to play in, building on the already immersive worlds of previous Rockstar games like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. For GTA VI’s extended look, Rockstar instead opted to show setup, action, and dialogue scenes, leaning on story and atmosphere over gameplay mechanics. It’s a cinematic choice. 《GTA VI》本质上仍然是一款电子游戏。Rockstar 邀请了少数媒体预览《GTA VI》，他们的报道深入探讨了广阔的地图、六星通缉系统、偷车难度的提升以及反应灵敏的 NPC 等内容。这些元素几乎肯定会构建出一个巨大的沙盒世界，并在《GTA V》和《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》等 Rockstar 前作已有的沉浸式世界基础上更进一步。对于《GTA VI》的加长版预览，Rockstar 选择展示设定、动作和对话场景，侧重于故事和氛围而非游戏机制。这是一个电影化的选择。
Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about a video game trailer. Yes, I know that part of this Netflix video is all just marketing hype — and Netflix probably saw it as a way to get new subscribers. And the trailer isn’t only available on Netflix; Rockstar let creators share reaction videos and is publishing the extended look on its YouTube channel and its own website at 9PM ET. 也许我对一个游戏预告片想得太多了。是的，我知道 Netflix 视频的这部分内容只是营销炒作——Netflix 可能将其视为吸引新订阅用户的一种方式。而且这段预告片并非只在 Netflix 上提供；Rockstar 允许创作者分享反应视频，并于美东时间晚上 9 点在其 YouTube 频道和官网发布了该加长版预览。
But expectations are high for GTA VI. 13-year-old GTA V has sold more than 230 million copies, making it one of the top-selling games of all time. Rockstar’s previous two trailers for GTA VI have racked up hundreds of millions of views. GTA Online is a big cash cow in its own right, too. But Rockstar can always do more with a game many years in the making that might be fighting for time with the Netflix library. If Thursday’s preview was any indication, all those titles might get real competition when GTA VI launches on November 19th. 但人们对《GTA VI》的期望很高。发布 13 年的《GTA V》销量已超过 2.3 亿份，成为史上最畅销的游戏之一。Rockstar 此前发布的两个《GTA VI》预告片已累计获得数亿次观看。《GTA Online》本身也是一个巨大的摇钱树。但对于一款历经多年开发、可能要与 Netflix 资源库争夺用户时间的游戏，Rockstar 总能做得更多。如果周四的预览有任何暗示的话，那么当《GTA VI》于 11 月 19 日发布时，所有这些影视作品可能都会迎来真正的竞争对手。