Harkening back to the simpler times, perhaps a little less simple than those whose first gaming experience involved watching cave drawings erode gradually on the walls, the idea of audio and visuals in gaming was fairly simplistic. A game looked the same no matter whose house or what TV I happened to watch it on, though it may be bigger or smaller based on the screen. Sound usually wasn’t an issue, either, with the speakers built-in to any old CRT giving just enough audio to give the blips and beeps cadence across the room.

Fast forward to now, where the set-ups for gaming take more intricate planning and large budgets as people setting up their home personal home theatres in the days of the first surround sound systems. HDTV rules the gaming space for those with the capacity to utilize them, and even many of those who don’t are starting to feel that stinging sense of inevitability that comes along with the changing of times and the advancement of technology. While the Wii doesn’t come off with the same 1080p resolution of its current generation brethren (or fierce blood rivals, depending on your mentality) there is something still more inherently fun about having the larger space to move around in, or the larger screen to point your remote and immerse yourself as much as you can in the experience. Of course, now that we have turned our homes and living spaces into small theatres, how can we bring this experience full circle?

For those of us North of 45, Cineplex Entertainment (owners of the Cineplex brand of theatres) are going to begin opening their doors not only to movie goers, but to gamers. For those who had sat in any theatre after or before a night of gaming and thought to themselves how great it would be to get the full cinema experience from their games, you’re now being afforded that luxury, if you can indeed afford it. For the price of $179 plus tax, you and up to 12 friends will be allowed to sit in front of the silver screen and get a true taste of high definition gaming on a screen likely to be bigger than the room you play in normally. For now, the only console being offered it the Xbox 360, which limits you to 4 players at a time, but the price of admission allows you two hours of playing time in the theatre.

It is almost a backwards movement from that of the movie industry. Where the movie industry has spent so much time moving the cinematic experience from the big screen and into your home, gaming continues to expand outwards into bigger and bigger venues, and the concept being offered here demonstrates that on about as big a scale as you can possibly get. Of course, most theatres have changed their business model to include mediums that go beyond movies. Companies utilize the open spaces for corporate presentations and award ceremonies, so the concept of extending this meeting space to another group obsessed with the grandeur of their hobby, it makes sense.

Given that this is a success (which it very well could be) it brings up the question of how this affects the industry and who this is truly marketed to. The price certainly does not seem to be in the range for most of the younger audience, an idea echoed by the fact that it is only the 360 being offered and no older generation systems with a more family-friendly catalog. For those thinking that the Wii could work, based on the IR apparatus used, it seems that it would be a little more complex (and therefore costly) to arrange the sensors on each screen, and perhaps the visual quality may not be striking enough to draw a strong hardcore crowd.

It does give gamers a new venue, and companies a new platform in which to publicly display or market their games. Like rentals, the enjoyment of these titles in this large space may encourage more people who experience it to take the game home with them, partnered with the new HDTV and surround sound system to mimic that cinema quality. The continued drive for high definition in the gaming sector will surely get another boost from those looking to capture that same quality, and perhaps give some people a taste of the kinds of resolutions and graphics they are missing out on. While this won’t be drawing in the same kind of crowds as a normal rental space would, it will be interesting to see the effects this experience will have on those who play it, whether it drives higher sales for the technology involved like the home theatre did with movies, or it will simply give those already engrossed in the gaming world a new place to spend some cash and waste time with friends, it will be something to try out for sure.