Korean Job Discussion Forums

[IncognitoHFX]

Just wondering what your general opinion is on this.

I just finished playing through Portal, and was astounded by the elegance of the story and how much of an emotional connection I felt to the game. Though it is an extremely simple game, being limited in complexity by it's engine, it's textures, and it's overall design, it's simple story was very intriguing and very satisfying, and unlike other video games, it touched a nerve in Science Fiction that can rarely even be scratched upon by other games. It was all about a character (the computer) trying to establish some kind of connection or relationship with the user, yet only being able to do so in the very limited confines of the system which the computer was given control of.

The humour and dialogue was very Douglas Adams-esque, and it managed to be creepy, funny and altogether weird at the same time.

Another game came out recently called Mass Effect, which I can't play because I don't have an Xbox 360 (it's coming out for PC soon) that is almost entirely story based. The story is a personal experience as the actions you take and your decisions affect the story's progression as well as the outcome of the game.

Most popular analysts of computer games are quick to pass them off as garbage, regardless of how complex and endearing they might be. Basically, anyone who is not a gamer is unaware of the rich story content that exists in new games and will inevitably exist moreso in the future as games are more widely adopted and as technology progresses.

When movies first arrived in the early twentieth century they weren't considered a serious artform at all. Just parlour tricks. It wasn't for a long time (maybe thirty years) that movies began to be seen as a legitimate artform.

Video games have been in most people's home now for around the same time, and like movies, they were extremely limited in the past but are at a stage now where people are beginning to interact with them on more emotional levels.

Do you think video games will be as good a storytelling vessel as movies are? Or will they be different altogether, yet able to surpass movies in many ways (being interactive and such)? Or do you think video games will never surpass the level of an immature passtime?

[Juregen]

Games are interaction.

Telling a story is mostly a one way street.

[eamo]

I dare say computer games will become more sophisticated in the way you describe, but, so far, I have never felt emotionally driven by a computer game. Maybe I'm playing the wrong games.

[mrsquirrel]

Mass Effect stole 35 hours of my life and it will owe me some more when I go through it a second time.

Making choices that effected the whole outcome of the game was a great idea.

Games will however never take over from movies. Games are interactive movies are not.

I can go to the movies and do nothing for 2 hours but sit there.

I can't exactly spend 35 hours at the movies just to see the end of it.

[JustJohn]

I feel games are superior to movies as an entertainment form precisely because they are interactive. You can put a lot more time and effort in and become much more involved in a game than a movie. Not many games develop the story enough to do this to you, which is a shame, but some do.

Bioshock, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and Planescape: Torment all have involving stories that add to the gaming experience.

As far as an art form though, I don't think they're likely to compete with movies any time soon. What's considered art is traditionally non-interactive, and I don't think that's likely to change. (Not to say that a game can't have art IN it, some games are certainly beautiful, but games as a whole will always be something a little different.)

[IncognitoHFX]

[hanguker]

Isn't that Mass Effect game some kind of porn? You shouldn't be supporting game developers that include lewd sex acts in their games.

[IncognitoHFX]

[Zutronius]

[moosehead]