Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnik Sees Possibility of $20-40 Tablet Games, Doesn't Believe in Interactive Movies

In a provocative interview with Forbes, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnik divulged his thoughts on everything from Duke Nukem to Rockstar. One particularly interesting tidbit was on the price point of tablet games. When asked if he could see higher price points on these products, he responded as follows:

“I don’t see why not. Tablets are ubiquitous. And tablets are a great game platform. And it’s the right sized screen. And you use the tablet to have an engaging experience. So if all of that’s true, I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to sell a robust product for the same price point.”

Zelnik goes on to describe his rationale: according to him, the only reason that tablet games aren’t priced higher, is because they’re fleeting experiences that only last five minutes, and not for a hundred hours like their ‘big-screen’ counterparts. “My take is that small screens will be used for a quick but interactive entertainment experience. Mid and large screes can be a robust and engaging entertainment experience,” says Zelnik.

Further, Strauss suggests that ‘interactive movies’ ruins any semblance of a story. “Movies are a story, and as soon as you interact with a story you ruin the story. You pierce the veil of suspension and disbelief as soon as you interact with it.” He goes on to state that even though efforts like Heavy Rain are beautiful, there’s no reason to “do it.” His philosophy is that people come for the gameplay, and stay for the cinematic elements and feeling. Hence the mantra at Take-Two games is “DNA is gameplay, and our clothing is cinema.”