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[Prince of Space]

I found this to be quite an interesting read.

Q: What would you say to someone who told you that games have universally terrible stories?

A: I'd say game stories can be a little formulaic at times and a little unpolished, but then I would point up at the sky and say, "Holy shit, look at that!" And when they do, I would punch them in the gut, and while they were gasping for breath, I would lean down and go, "You are wrong. There are several games with compelling stories, stories that achieve greater strength because it's a story you can interact with. Thus, the experience is even more personal than reading a novel, where you are basically watching the characters go about their adventures without any participation from you except flicking your eyes across the page." At this point, the person would be about to get up, so I would kick them in the shins and then run.

And Hideo Kojima's as crazy as ever!

Hideo Kojima: MGS is not about telling a good story. It's about a protagonist who infiltrates and fights some bad guys. The bad guys occupy a certain area. That's why the protagonist infiltrates that area to eliminate the bad guys. That's the whole plot. Well, I do throw in many twists towards the end to surprise the player, but I limit that to a level that is not confusing. MGS is an action game, and I cannot really make the story any more complex. I am for limits. What's important is to make the player objective obvious. The same holds true with what the player must do next.

I find myself agreeing with Schaefer a lot. Video games often have the chance to tell some of the best stories around, and almost always fall short. It's a shame that games with both great gameplay and excellent stories (Beyond Good and Evil, The Longest Journey, Vagrant Story, Metal Gear Solid 3, Tim Schaefer's entire catalogue, etc.) are so few and far between, and dull war/sports sims are a dime-a-dozen.

 

[lordmrw]

Well, I do throw in many twists towards the end to surprise the player, but I limit that to a level that is not confusing.

Right. Sure you do. I'm getting flashbacks of that Penny arcade strip.

 

[slayn]

blah, I don't agree with that first quote at all. I could easily accept that because games are interactive they provide the better experiance and are more entertaining than a good story but no, the actual written story, just isn't up to par 95% of the time. But then thats not the point of the games either. Games can be weaker in story because they have other strengths to add into a well rounded experiance.

One can tell a story in many different ways be it a hollywood high budget movie or sitting around a tv drinking beer and telling your story or reading it in a book. The way the story is experianced can make an extreme difference in the quality of the experiance and how much you enjoy the story but the story is still the same.