Wait...is this a game or a movie?

In recent years, gamers may have been noticing something very peculiar about their video game characters.  They are beginning to be portrayed by real actors.  What started off as "Oh, that voice sounds familiar" has evolved into something far greater.

Let's look at the Call of Duty series as an example of this.  When Call of Duty: Black Ops released, the game garnered attention for it's voice cast.  Sam Worthington led the surprising voice cast, accompanied by Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, and Ice Cube.  While certain subtle facial features may have carried over from the voice actors, the character models as a whole did not resemble the likeness of their respective voice actors.  Other actors have been featured in more recent Call of Duty titles, but not to the extent of this game.

Changing pace, LA Noire, while not a perfect game, attempted something very unique.  Advanced facial recognition technology was used to capture all of the performers and all of the facial exaggerations made.  As a result, in interrogation sequences, faces would react accordingly to display the sense of emotion they were feeling, or to provide the player with a hint that someone was lying.  While the actors did a fantastic job, many would argue that there was far too much repetition and simply not enough "game play" to be had.

Mad Men's Aaron Staton, portraying protagonist Cole Phelps

As a game I have yet to play, the visuals of Beyond: Two Souls still amaze me and this stands as the definitive example of this post.  Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe's likenesses are captured so perfectly, that it almost feels eerie:

Green Goblin's totally gonna get Juno.

All in all, the advancements that have been made are staggering.  At points, the line between video game and movie is so minimal, that it feels like someone is playing their way through a blockbuster film.  As we move into the next generation of gaming, with the release of the PS4 and the soon-to-be released Xbox One, who knows who will hop on board to come and invade our games...

Omar's coming.

 Who would you like to see?