Games As A Story Telling Medium

We're all aware of the debate amongst many a gamer as to whether games are art or if they're just meant to deliver good times, and it seems like no game has come really close to achieving legendary status as far as a plot driven game play experience goes. The barrier I see here is just that, game play; think about it, when you watch a movie there's nothing getting in the way of the story developing or essentially any distraction as to confuse you about the story. Although when you play any game regardless of how story oriented it may be, you have to actually play the game. And it seems to me that it might be a little hard to justify why you're a criminal on the run, but the thousands of murders you commit go un-investigated. More times than not the game play works to counteract any actual immersion it may have successfully built previously.

LEGAL

100% legal.

So in reality I think in a way a whole new genre needs to be integrated into gaming if we ever hope to see a true story telling experience, relying on the ancient formula of -- there must be enemies to defeat, let the player kill them, they move on, plot advances, repeat. Doesn't really do it for me on the scale of believablility, we have the technology to breed something new, something on a whole other level that could sate those who want an experience that focus' on the characters and environments more. But being a game there would most certainly have to be game play, consequently we have seen games break off from the rest of the pack before like The Sims, as well as many indie games and those not oriented for the mainstream mentality.

Of course there are games out there that do a stellar job of delivering an amazing plot like BioShock, Mass Effect, Dead Rising, Uncharted, Condemned and Devil May Cry. And to be fair some of those games aren't straight forward with their game play elements while others use more linear approaches, they can be great games in their own remark. Although parts of the plot that the game makes extremely apparent and emphasized upon make it a bit easier for the player to get lost in the story or just disregard it altogether. But if you notice there are a ton of games that release books and other merchandise in order to flesh out their respective universe. Releasing these are a good thing for people who love the universe; And most definitely a need for an epic universe such as the Star Wars universe. But for the majority of games the plot remains transparent, merely tacked on because every game these days has one.

But if gaming could break into this yet undiscovered genre I think we could gain major influence in politics as well as peace of mind for those gamers who yearn for something more without coming under fire. Politically we could use such a genre to defend gaming from people who want to say it's evil or something else horribly generic; But more importantly get gaming to be accepted and be treated intellectually as it should be. And over anything else create a realm where we can all safely say games are art and hold some philosophical weight in the world.

But that's just my opinion. This is a broad topic so I'd most certainly love to hear from everyone else on their standpoint. Can games ever achieve true story telling or being "art" or are they just gonna be games, meant for lolz and not much else?

(2)

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Richard Moss

November 06, 2010

I really don't want to get into a long argument or discussion about this, but I'll point out a few things.

First, I take issue with this statement: "when you watch a movie there's nothing getting in the way of the story developing or essentially any distraction as to confuse you about the story." There are actually lots of things getting in the way -- you just don't notice them if the film is well made. Pacing, dialogue, music, lighting, framing, and set design can all "get in the way" of the story or confuse the viewers.

Now, onto the main issue. Games are different to films and books in that they have players who are actively participating in the plot. They "perform" the role of the main character, if you will. The two major problems games face as a storytelling medium are: (1) They rely primarily on external conflict, which leaves little room for character development. (2) The player can engage with or ignore the story as he/she sees fit, to the point where they essentially create the story through their own play.

You can add internal conflict to games by making the player stop and think. This seems to be what developers are aiming for with moral choices, but up to this point most implementations have been too black and white -- good versus evil -- for most people to find meaningful.

Player-created stories hold huge potential. Games can imbue places and environments with a sense of meaning and life that goes far beyond any other medium (except perhaps real life). If we have a set of meaningful tools -- the gameplay mechanics -- that allow us to engage deeply and expressively with these fantastic spaces, we will create good stories.

Games pit us as explorers and travellers in strange, wonderful worlds. We make our own stories, and they are every bit as deep and meaningful as we want them to be. If some people can't see that, it's their loss.

(Edit: I always get carried away when I'm writing about stories and games. This comment was never meant to be so long.)

Chris Hoadley

What do you think of dating sims? So far most dating sims have been designed for niche audiences in Japan. If someone put as much thought into a dating sim as he or she did Mass Effect or Devil May Cry, do you think it would catch on?