GEOFF BENNETT: the video game industry# is getting ready to celebrate its top## achievements at the annual Game Awards,# an award show dedicated to honoring the## very best in game design, storytelling,# music, and more in gaming.

The show,## now in its 11th year has grown into# a major spectacle, drawing millions## of viewers from around the world to see which# of their favorite games will win any awards.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has# more for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, Actor: And the# game of the year is Baldur's Gate 3.

(CHEERING) JEFFREY BROWN: In just over a deca.. biggest entertainment events of the year.

The# show, often described as the Oscars of gaming,## celebrates writers, performers and the# latest technology shaping the industry.

And it's not just game# developers taking the stage.

AL PACINO, Actor: We are# all trying to tell a story.

JEFFREY BROWN: Film, television and music stars# have all been drawn in, often called on to present## awards, promote upcoming big budget titles and# even showcase games they are helping create.

Major entertainment figures like Elle Fanning,# Keanu Reeves, Snoop Dogg, and Jordan Peele are## now acting in and producing games.

And the line# between gaming and film and TV grows more porous.## Think The Last of Us, which started as a video# game and then became an HBO series, or the film## adaptation of the popular survival game Minecraft,# one of the highest grossing movies of this year.

While action or shoot-em-up type themes# still get plenty of attention, other genres## are pulling in large audiences, such as slice# of life role playing games like Consume Me,## where you play as a teen struggling with# the pressures of dieting, or Expelled,## where you attempt to solve a mystery# in a 1920s British boarding school.

ACTRESS: The other girls won't play by the rules.

JEFFREY BROWN: And who's playing?

That's evolving# too.

Today, 60 percent of American adults play## video games every week,average age of players 36.# And women now make up the majority at 52 percent.

This year's Game Awards are expected to draw# millions of viewers rooting for favorites in## categories like best action game, best performance# and the night's top prize, game of the year.

And joining me now is James Mastromarino.

He## serves as gaming editor for NPR and is# a producer for the show "Here & Now."

Nice to have you.

JAMES MASTROMARINO, Gaming Editor,# NPR:.. JEFFREY BROWN: So we laid out# a lot of t.. but for those who are still not aware so# much of this world, how big a deal is the## industry?

How much change have you seen in# terms of the craft and the art behind it?

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Well, it's a massive,# massive industry.

By some counts,## it's bigger than Hollywood and# the recording industry combined.## And people spend dozens of hours each week playing# games that have come a long way since the arcade.

I mean, games, it's almost an insufficient# category, because it can encompass things## that are basically playable visual novels to# grand cinematic games like Death Stranding 2,## to classic sort of beat-em-ups# and other action sort of titles.

So really anything that you think could be# a game, there probably is a game about that.

JEFFREY BROWN: We're going to go through a# few categories and you can give some examples.

So, first, a narrative-driven# game that you love from this year.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Sure.

Well I think the.. which comes from a French studio, an# independent studio that no one really## saw this game coming.

And it's sort of like# what you would get if you crossed like an## existentialist novel with like a French# New Wave film and made it a video game.

ACTRESS: You're fighting to change things.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: With fantastical# characters and this really lovable## cast.

It really blew me away.

It# has so many twists and turns and## it's really trying to tell something# that's very heartfelt and compelling.

And then you also have something that has## like grand cinematic ambitions like# Death Stranding 2, which I mentioned.

ACTOR: Was it you, Higgs, huh?# Was it you that killed Lou?

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Its designer, Hideo Kojima,# has been making these games that really do feel## like playable movies.

It even stars Hollywood# actors like Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux## and Elle Fanning.

So that's a rather ambitious,# really far-reaching kind of science fiction game.

JEFFREY BROWN: So, like the movie# industry you have got some of them## coming from big studios or big companies.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Correct.

JEFFREY BROWN: A.. JAMES MASTROMARINO: Right.

Right.

Well, you# have your Microsofts or So.. We call these the AAA studios because# they make kind of like the top-line,## most expensive products.

Ironically,# they have been kind of faltering in## recent years.

We have seen lots of# layoffs as big tech has sort of gone## through some shakeups that's impacted the# entertainment industry associated with it.## It's the independent studios that have# been really getting a lot of traction.

Some of them come out, again, absolutely from# nowhere and take the world by storm.

And as an## example of that, at the Game Awards this year,# the kind of big premiere award ceremony for the## industry, half of the games of the year nominees# are from independent studios, so fully half.

JEFFREY BROWN: So how about what you refer to as## multiplayer games where you can# play with a friend or family?

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Oh, sure.

Yes,# I mean, getting back to the arcades.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

Yes.

JAMES MASTROMARI.. right, is playing with your friends and family.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

JAMES MASTROMARI.. which is a game about two writers that are thrown## in this sort of virtual reality# space based on their writings.

ACTRESS: So you want to go through# more of your crazy stories?

ACTRESS: My crazy stories?

JAMES MASTROMARINO: But it's exclusively playable# by two people.

You have to have a partner.

JEFFREY BROWN: You have to have a partner.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: There'.. a studio that specializes in this sort# of thing.

It blew a lot of people away.

And then you have also got your classics, like# Mario Kart, which got a new revised, updated## version, Mario Kart World, with the Nintendo# Switch 2, a new console.

And as always, Mario Kart## is just a great time for families.

I can attest# to that when I played a ton over the holidays.

ACTOR: Let's go.

Let's go.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, now, you referred# to this earlier, the performances, the way## that's been growing.

And that includes a lot# of well-known actors coming into this world.## Give us some standouts from this past year.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Yes, well, Clair Obscur:## Expedition 33 and Death Stranding 2# both pulled from Hollywood actors.

So you had Charlie Cox, Daredevil from# that series, who was in Clair Obscur,## and a really emotional performance from# Jennifer English, who is an actor that## really got famous from Baldur's Gate 3, one# of the biggest games of the last few years.

And then Death Stranding 2, so# much, so much Hollywood talent,## just -- and the very performances in the game are# modeled after the likenesses of these actors.

So,## Norman Reedus is the star of that# game from "The Walking Dead."

You have got another called Dispatch, which has# the voice talents of Aaron Paul of "Breaking Bad."

AARON PAUL, Actor: That's not how bees work,# but if we kill the queen, we rot the hive.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: And Jeffrey# Wright, one of my favorite actors .

So these two industries are really converging.## They're more and more starting# to pull from the same talent.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, I have to ask this, I feel,## that there's been a longtime reputation# for violence in video games.

I venture## to say some of the people watching this,# that's what they think of as video games.

To what extent is that still true?

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Well, I mean, violent# video games still do good numbers.

I mean,## if you go back, a lot of that reputation was## forged in the 1990s with ultra-violent# video games like Mortal Kombat and Doom.

Doom has a very celebrated sequel this year.# It's still going strong.

But as I have mentioned,## games can encompass so many different# categories of play now that it's not just## about shooting or swinging a sword.# It can be about running a bookshop,## or selling antiques, or just trying to# be a good neighbor in like a small town.

JEFFREY BROWN: And the meshing of media, whether# it's games to films, games to series, one of them,## of course, The Last of Us, and the meshing# of actors crossing over, that will continue?

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Yes.

Absolutely.

"The Last of Us," the HBO show, casts#.. another name I have mentioned, was in# The Last of Us Part 2, the video game,## and is now in season two of "The Last# of Us" on HBO.

So a lot of actors are## basically cross-training.

They can do# whatever you want, whether it's being## on camera or in a sound stage hooked up with all# that motion capture gear to be in a video game.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, James# Mastromarino, thank you very much.

JAMES MASTROMARINO: Thank you so much.