Tag Archive for 'Conference/Expo'

The Odd Couple: Gameplay and Story Working Together

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on September 7, 2007
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At this year’s Austin Game Developers Conference, Matt Costello of Polar Productions addressed the need for story and gameplay to work in concert, Gamasutra reports. Costello used his experience writing for Doom 3 and the upcoming games Rage and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 to show how the plot can shape the game.

“Add the parameters from the beginning of the session — something at stake, something dangerous,” said Costello. “It changes the tenor. It can be a dangerous and exciting puzzle. Think of an interaction that fits that world, and then think of storytelling parameters from story and books and movies.”

Pressure from the plot is an influential aspect of almost any game, whether you’re pushed into rushing forward to save the princess or stop the villain. Even in simple shooting games, shooting alien invaders becomes that much more pressing when mankind’s survival is at stake.

The plot in these situations adds something to the gameplay, making it a necessary and pointed goal rather than an arbitrary task to be methodically completed. Far too often are they developed separately and one becomes an excuse for the other.

Interestingly, Costello said that player interaction in games is only an illusion: “If you think you’ve impacted things, you’ve impacted things. The illusion of interactivity is what you want to deliver.”

A Hero’s Death: PAX’s Panel on Storytelling in Games

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on August 28, 2007
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This past weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo, which has outgrown its webcomic roots to become one of the top video game conventions in the nation, hosted a a Q&A panel addressing the new possibilities for storytelling in games afforded by advances in technology.

Titled “Once Upon a Time… Storytelling in Games Today,” the panel consisted of Dave Grossman, creator of The Secret of Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert, also of LucasArts, and Sly Cooper developer Nate Fox. Moderated by Chatterbox Radio’s Alon Waisman, the three developers addressed a number of interesting points, including user created content, linear and dynamic narratives and AI involvement, all of which are quoted in Gamasutra’s coverage of the panel.

One of the most interesting and most often undiscussed subjects visited by the panel involves death in games, which is ironic because only an absolutely infallible gamer could avoid it. All of us have led our protagonist into the gaping maw of death only to have him spat out in shame, perhaps minus one of his collected “lives,” and sent back to face the barely-surmountable odds once more.

“I think the death of the protagonist is just one of those things where the belief has to be suspended. I think in games people just don’t think about that. You don’t want to kill people to introduce frustration, I think death will just be one of those languages of our medium that people just don’t think about,” commented Gilbert.

Death is so common in games that it becomes mundane. That demoralizing exclamation of “Game Over” loses any significance it holds in real life, loses any significance at all beyond annoyance–all it takes is a quick tap of the reset button to start anew. However, the protagonist’s death is not without its repercussions.

“Interruption of the narrative is much more important to me than anything else,” said Grossman. “I don’t like what happens when you have to restore from a saved game. I try to avoid it.”

Continue reading ‘A Hero’s Death: PAX’s Panel on Storytelling in Games’

In the Struggle for Creative Games, Are Publisher’s the Enemy?

Published
on August 23, 2007
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Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer exclaimed the need for creative developers in video games at the Games Convention Developers Conference, which starts today in Germany.

Schafer said that the enemy of creativity is not the publisher, but rather “mediocrity, laziness, and fear were the broad-ranging things to watch out for,” the article paraphrases. “Publishers have all the money,” said Schafer. “It’s your job to fight for your idea and convince them. Never say something like ‘Aw, they don’t have any taste…’”

This is contrary to the way I usually think about the games industry, dominated as it is by large publishers like EA which, in my experience, churn out sequels and generic licensed property like no other. However, as Schafer’s experience and the timely release of BioShock on Tuesday demonstrate, it is obviously possible for creative games to be made; all it takes is a little determination on the part of the creator.

“The most important thing about Psychonauts is not the sales numbers,” Schafer said. Rather, the artistic value of the game overrode it’s relatively abysmal record. Psychonauts, despite being a flawless example of creative storytelling in games, sold 400,000 copies, according to the article.

While the responsibility for creative plot and design in games may rest with the developers, we the people can help too by not letting games like Psychonauts gather dust on store shelves. Show publishers that we appreciate creativity as well.

In summing up, the designer had some strong conclusions: ‘It’s an illusion that people don’t want creativity’, ‘Creative people need to be more fighters’, ‘The enemy is not that big and scary’, ‘We are the unholy terrible giants in the game industry’, and even more bombastically: ‘We have machine guns full of ideas, rocket launchers full with passion.’

His ending salvo was fierce and terrible, and definitely entertaining: ‘Go forth! Burn them alive! We are the hope and the future of the games industry.’

One can only hope that Schafer’s impassioned speech will push the creative talent of the gaming world to show publishers how to take advantage of emerging technology in the interest of engaging storytelling.