According to an interview with MTV Multiplayer, George Miller, director of movies like Mad Max and Happy Feet, spoke about how video games may become a more effective medium of telling stories than books or movies.

“Games were the poor cousin to feature films when it came to storytelling but I think that it’s flipping,” said Miller. “Games allow you to be much more like a novelist.”

Earlier this week, Yoshinori Yamagashi, producer of Star Ocean 4, echoed Miller’s sentiments when he said, "I regard video games as a greater medium to provide people with deep emotional and exciting experiences."

Miller is currently collaborating with God of War II director Cory Barlog to transform Mad Max, the 1979 action thriller starring Mel Gibson, into a video game. Details concerning the video game itself have yet to be officially announced, and Miller said that they are still in the early stages of writing and designing.

“A really good game you need two and a half years,” said Miller, hinting that gamers might not see his post-apocalyptic vision hit video game consoles until 2011 or even later.

Personally, I would have to agree to some extent. I think the stories told in video games have the potential to rival that of movies, but I’m not sure I would say they are a more effective medium. For instance, I would compare a game like Gears of War to your typical Michael Bay film. It entertains with huge explosions and blood, but its plot and characters are almost non-existent. The fact that the gamer controls the action hardly means that they are dictating the direction of the narrative, and it definitely does not make the story any better.