
Watching Movies in 'Fortnite' Is More Fun Than a Theater - elsewhen
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xg8gak/watching-movies-in-fortnite-is-more-fun-than-a-theater
======
kstenerud
"A crowded theater on opening night fills me with a kind of energy I don’t get
anywhere else."

Wow, I couldn't be more different. I generally wait until the hype has died
down around a movie before seeing it in the theater so that it'll be as empty
as possible. To this day my favorite movie experiences have been in deserted
theaters.

~~~
ashtonkem
This is basically an introvert vs extrovert thing.

My favorite way to tell this is to ask if someone prefers beaches or
mountains. Extroverts prefer beaches, introverts mountains, and a lot of the
population sits somewhere in between.

~~~
myself248
Partly, but I don't think it's that simple.

I'm about as introverted as you're likely to meet, but I enjoy the hell out of
MST3K. Making fun of a movie in ways the creators didn't intend, tickles my
sense of humor. Doing so in a setting where I don't need to share my physical
space with my co-conspirators is just awesome.

Going to a crowded theatre sucks. Going to a popular drive-in and knowing that
there are hundreds of other cars full of people enjoying the show, and if the
weather's nice and the insects are -icided and the windows are down and we can
hear each other laughing, is a fun collective experience.

There are some movies that prefer to be experienced alone, or with one other.
There are books that need to be read from the page, not narrated by
Audible.com. There are albums that crave headphones and a comfy chair and a
silent room, and there are albums that thrive on the open road with windows
down and hair flying. I think that's part of the art, as much as the audience.

~~~
ashtonkem
You’re describing the difference between interacting with other people during
an experience, and everyone sharing the experience together without having to
interact. I believe that this is still a introvert vs. extrovert thing,
although the media in question is certainly part of it.

------
ksdale
My wife and I spent an hour or so in the Party Royale with our young kids last
night, and it was very cool. As someone who has played a _lot_ of computer
games, it feels like we're entering an exciting era of virtual connection.
Being able to hang out in a virtual space that the kids enjoy, with obstacle
courses and time trials that are interesting for adults as well, and
everything graphically enticing...

I've spent a lot of time hanging out in MMORPGs, but something about the Party
Royale felt more... real, though it's hard to explain. Maybe the movie playing
offers some connection to reality, or maybe knowing that Epic is constantly
adding content and making changes makes the world feel more alive... or maybe
I'm just getting old. Whatever it is, it makes shelter-in-place feel less
oppressive and it's one small sphere in which I'm excited for the future!

------
yodon
Whenever topics like Snow Crash and the Metaverse come up, I'm amused at all
the comments from people talking about what it will be like when the Metaverse
is invented. The Metaverse already launched. It's called Fortnite.

Epic isn't done building it, of course, but they know what they are doing and
have read every chapter of Gibson, Stephenson, and Ready Player One (just as
those authors have paid attention to the actual real life career of Tim
Sweeney at Epic). The team at Epic also has insane amounts of money to throw
at their work because they have demonstrated success in game design, economy
design, and large scale low latency architectures. The fact that it's an
actual real functioning product is why it doesn't look like what most people
thought v0.1 of the metaverse would look like.

------
chiph
> I thought I’d hate all this chaos, but it was fun. I threw tomatoes at the
> screen and launched myself into the air with the grappling hook, trying to
> come down on top of the screen as Leonardo DiCaprio droned on about dreams.

So, like going to see _Rocky Horror Picture Show_?

------
Animats
The Forbes game reviewer was less impressed.[1]

[1] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/06/26/i-am-
watch...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/06/26/i-am-watching-
inception-in-fortnite-and-metaverse-aside-its-not-great/#5ca7173e6a26)

------
dmazin
I distinctly remember we would watch movies and music videos in Second Life.
The feeling of presence was very strong.

------
thefounder
Ok so I guess this is the level of the cinematic experience after watching
movies on mobile phones.

------
myself248
This really is fun. And it's like an underground rave, everyone there knows
it's just a matter of time before the feds show up.

Just imagine if the film industry would figure out a way to embrace this and
legitimize it, instead of (wait for it) trying to sue their most innovative
and diehard fans...

~~~
crtasm
There's nothing underground about it, the film screenings are organised by the
makers of the game.

But if you want something a bit more underground, try the channels on
[https://cytu.be/](https://cytu.be/) that pull content from google drive.

------
krustyburger
This, of all things, has finally convinced me to make a Fortnite account.

------
catalogia
That's a low bar. Even watching movies on my phone on a city bus is more fun
than a theater; my headphones do a better job of blocking out other people
talking, and there's less risk of somebody spilling their cola on me as they
try to waddle past on the way to the bathroom.

If movie theaters finally die, I'll actually be glad. The only time I go to
them anymore is when I'm socially pressured into going by
friends/family/coworkers who already bought the tickets.

