The sci-fi genre has become increasingly popular across all aspects of culture, with the genre first emerging within books and novels over 100 years ago. Improvements in technology over the past few decades have led to impressive advancements in the film, television and video game arenas, with films and video games being some of the most popular hobbies nowadays. The sci-fi genre has managed to stay popular within these mediums, with franchises such as Star Wars producing some of the most popular films and video games in recent years.
The start of an exciting genre
There are a number of reasons why the sci-fi genre has become so popular with film and video game fans. The sci-fi genre first emerged when huge increases in technology started to appear, making people very excited and curious about what the future would hold. This led to many people writing books and films about what they thought might happen in the future – human beings have a natural curiosity for the unknown, with sci-fi and science itself taking over as a popular genre in writing and different forms of entertainment. This can be seen with the emergence of space-based sci-fi films within the 60s and 70s, for example, Star Wars & Star Trek.
Space travel became a tangible thing in the 20th century, providing opportunities that many thought would never be possible, leading to many scriptwriters using space themes within their work. With space being such an unknown, it allowed the sci-fi genre to really take off, meaning that film writers such as George Lucas could really use their imaginations to create interesting worlds and concepts.
Using the science-fiction genre also means that film and video game writers aren’t tied to the laws of the known universe, meaning they can create worlds and plots set in different lands or planets, not governed by the laws of planet Earth. Sci-fi offers an escape from a mundane existence, giving people something interesting and unique to think about – this escapism is something that many people find exciting. The Star Wars films are very well written, providing something completely new for audiences to experience when the films first came out. This is one of the main reasons why Star Wars became so popular at the time, with the film series creating a renewed interest in sci-fi in general.
Sci-fi in the 21st Century
Over the past few years, the concept of video games and gamers has changed massively. Whereas in the past, video games were seen as a niche hobby for nerds, they are now played by a vast amount of people from a multitude of different backgrounds. Again, a lot of this is due to emerging technology – video games consoles are a lot cheaper and more accessible than they once were, with mobile games and a range of new slot releases 2022 has to offer, which are only increasing the popularity even more! As a result, opening the world of gaming up to new audiences.
These devices allow casual gamers to play on the go, as and when they like, meaning a big commitment to gaming is no longer required. With Star Wars being such a popular franchise, it is of no surprise that Star Wars video games have also become popular. Several new Star Wars films have been released over the past decade, giving a renewed interest in the franchise, especially amongst younger viewers who weren’t around for the first trilogy of films.
The Lego Star Wars games also allowed fans of Lego to get into Star Wars and provided Star Wars fans with yet another way to immerse themselves in their favourite fictional world. Increased video game technology also means that huge game worlds can now be created, which would be ideal for the Star Wars franchise – Ubisoft announced last year that they were creating an open-world Star Wars game, which would not have been possible with the technology available when the first Star Wars trilogy was released. These are some of the reasons why sci-fi has become so popular with film and video game fans – as technology increases (particularly in terms of space travel and exploration), it is expected that sci-fi will continue to grow in popularity.