I meant to get back to this much sooner. So here goes, while I don't see in the interview where he said what is in the title I'll respond to that first.
Video games can learn plenty from movies. From the simple of color lighting, sound and effects there are many thing that can be learned.
Movies went through some major transitions, adding sound, then adding color. Those significantly changed the way movies are seen and viewed and made. In that case though, almost all movies are now with sound and color. Only someone trying to go for style or a time piece take one or both out.
Games have had some transitions as well some of the earliest are mostly gone do to the user interface being an issue, you don't see games now where you have to type in what you do, you can control the character to do it.
Other transitions are more just expansions 3d games didn't put a stop to all 2d games.
Storage media allowing audio big enough to have voice actors, didn't mean all games without it were gone. Though it did allow some games to be more immersing.
Better graphical capabilities allowed for more beautiful characters environments enemies and effects. Not all games put them in but so many benefited.
Many of those improvements benefit from things learned in the making of movies.
Enough on that though.
Things that he said that bothered me. "I have never though of games as a means of Storytelling"
Maybe there are things missing here or lost in translation, but the fact it while all games don't have to tell a story, games can be an amazing means of storytelling. In some ways one of the best because the player can be involved with it making it happen and not just watching it happen.
The part in there about the director making the movie and him wanting to make the player the director. That just makes little sense to me with many of the games he's made. The player in most games is an actor not a director some open word games allow more of a feel of director and some games where the player is actually creating the levels and world he really is.
His line about people trying to make names for themselves seems odd to me when so many of those that are aren't doing it with the stories but with there indie games.
If he thinks that the market is moving towards more narrative driven games he's missing the onslaught of the mobile gaming market. As well as missing that many of the best selling games every year aren't being bought for the story, but for people to shoot at each other online. Or play sports. Those are much more focused on gameplay than story.
