Games bridging the gap of Movies?

[DarkNessBear]

There will be a day when games bridge the gap between movies, and can offer a similar experience in the way of story telling as movies have been able to achieve. And I am hesitantly awaiting that day, the day where you could have an emotional experience without being shot in the face by general gaming cliche's.

This fantasy is not something that I believe should take the place of most games today, but provides another genre that could actually appeal to a wider range of people that prefer to have engaging story lines without the loss in game play. This has been discussed many times before, but I don't believe it has been explored to its fullest and we are still not seeing developers go full force on the great unknown of a compelling story presentation in a game.

If this would be an adopted genre, I would say there is a few gaming cliches that would have to be eliminated in a way that they aren't hindering the motives of the characters or writers. UI, death, non consistent story lines have all plagued games in this day in age and I feel there should be a consistent middle ground between the two.

For one, I believe a total loss in interface would be essential, once the industry gets over the crutch of having to use a brightly colored UI to explain what is going on in the characters head, will we not have a deeply immersing gaming experience. To me, it's almost like the child that uses crayons to explain to mom what he has drawn on his construction paper.

Eliminating death in games. One contributing factor to people losing interest in a particular game (growing tired of the gameplay) I believe has to do with the death mechanic that has achieved a little nook in every game as a standard. Maybe there is a way around this? If you had to re watch a section of a movie, even just a few times, the viewer would generally get tired. Maybe a new way of a penalty for actions not taken be put in its place. IE, if the character dies, maybe have the user play the role as another character or provide an alternative way of playing through the rest of the game.

Story should not be a section of game where you put down the controller and day dream, but it should be a constant woven set piece throughout the game. Games tend to have a trend of following a pattern of: Game play, Story, more game play, some story, long drawn out game play, story. I have yet to see a game do this well.

Consider if a story did not wait for the player. What if you gave the player a choice to let the story go without them? What if the story wasn't a constant entity that revolves around the character but its own separate force that will travel as fast as it needs to and if the character is not there, well then you will need to catch up or find another way to get involved. Ill put Cloverfield as an example, not the best story but it allows for a decent example. A monster attacks the city. The main character wants to find his girlfriend and wants to get out alive. If you put a player into that situation what if he/she was given the choice to do what they wanted? He could wait in his apartment awaiting the end. Or he could venture off to achieve the story he wants.

These are just some of the things I feel would benefit the imaginary Movie Genre of games that I hope to see one day.

It's also been a curiosity of mine to imagine what if games were only 1-2 hours a piece but where offered in more substantial amounts. Say like a bundle of 6 short games. All offering different stories. Or if a game is needed to be 10+ hours it would play out like a TV Series. Where you have an hour of straight play time and that hour ends, shows you what is coming up in the next hour and you have a choice to set it down or continue on, and if you come back at another time you are offered to watch a "Previously on..." segment.

Also, I am not dismissing games as having "Bad stories", although it may sound like that. I feel that a lot of games have amazing stories, but I just haven't felt satisfied by the way they are told. And I feel I never will...

I am not asking to eliminate games as we know it, but to expand and evolve into a sub genre that may appeal to those that feel as if story is lacking in games. And as of now, if story is your main priority you are stuck with some clumsy point and click adventure that is riddled with cut scenes. I just hope that day exists where games are not laughed at for their story execution but are actually a reliable medium for engrossing content.

Sorry if this sounds like a high school essay. Just trying to lay it out in a simple format and want to know what others think about this sort of idea, and maybe you feel content on the way stories ARE being told, I would love to know why.

[Dark Slayer120]

Reported

[Malik112099]

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9644/1202219545123tj6.gif

[Dark Slayer120]

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9644/1202219545123tj6.gif

:rofl:

[DarkNessBear]

I am offended, yet slightly happy at the same time.

...Cag is magical.

I understand I am not the best of writers, and am pretty poor at writing my ideas down. But I just hope anyone could pull something from it and explain why I am wrong or if I am not alone in my thoughts. I mean, that is what forums are about... that and lolcats.

[Sarang01]

I think you're deluded. Some games are already pretty close if not exact to movies with solid storylines.

If you really want a game close to a movie experience play "The Bouncer".

[Kendal]

I think you're deluded. Some games are already pretty close if not exact to movies with solid storylines.

If you really want a game close to a movie experience play "The Bouncer".

Or watch one of the Metal Gear Solid games. ZING!

[modium]

Some interesting points, DNB, and kudos to you for sharing. I don't really have the time (not to mention the attention span) to really cover a lot of stuff, but I'll try to see what I can share on the subject.

On a basic level, I don't really feel that there's a gap that should be bridged; movies are movies and games are games, they're both different artforms and provide a different experience. It's a lot like the difference between a novel and a film. I mean, if you took a novel and filmed it, word for word, the result would probably be crap because the things that work when you read them on the page, in the context of a novel, don't work for the cinematic medium. That's why they need to be adapted for the screen and why many details and scenes are often left out (and why many snobs will quickly sneer about anything, "the book was better").

That's why I wouldn't really want to watch a book or play a movie, really.

But, I think there is a lot of potential in a movie genre, like you propose. Do you know Indigo Prophecy? It was David Cage's game made with the question in mind- can drama be a game genre? If you haven't, then I'd highly recommend it, it features a lot of great ideas and a very grown-up, film-like story (stuff that puts stuff like Metal gear and Final Fantasy to shame). He's now working on Heavy Rain, which looks like another step in the 'drama' direction.

Funny you should mention the lack of a HUD or UI, since that's been a big to-do over the last generation. Of course, Resident Evil and other games have been doing it for a while. Really, I don't think it really adds or detracts from a game, personally. In fact, I think in a game like Bioshock, which is the new poster-child for artistic gaming, the HUD actually added to the game. It was completely funtional, but also seemed to really fit the vibe of the world. Basically, it made sense. Not to mention, it wasn't some counter-intuitive 'your character pulls out his motorola Blackberry to save the game' thing. I mean, if done well, a HUD can actually immerse you more into the world and a large part of that is the accessibility it brings.

I was thinking about death recently in games, and it can be a tricky subject. It's not very realistic, but c'mon, we grew up with these games. You die, pop in another quarter or reload your save. We're used to it, which is probably why we can't objectively see how much it really takes us out of the game, if it does at all. An interesting idea would be some kind of benevolent god-like person watching your back. Of course, some kind of repercussions would be needed in any case. Eh, I'm no game designer.

The idea of a Cloverfield-like game is intriguing, but of course wouldn't work as well as one would hope. A huge world like that, full of such potential would likely take many years and a gigantic budget to do correctly. Plus, what if I choose to wait in my apartment awaiting the end? Why not just turn off the system and hang out in my own apartment? ;)

I've actually been thinking similar thoughts here during GDC week and I've come to the same kind of conclusion as you, that a specific genre would be great. Though, I guess that's what indie games are for. Checking out stuff like The Marriage and Passage gives me the same feeling as trying to interpret something by Tarkovsky or Herzog. It's fascinating and thought-provoking, but at the same time, it's not all that I want. I'd also like the option to do some mindless killing or match multi-colored blocks for hours on end. People say that games should be more like movies, so I think that variety is the key.

[dmaul1114]

I think games can get to the point of telling a story on par with movies, but they will always be different due to their interactive nature.

Whether that's for better or worse will vary by person. I'm a movie fan first and gamer second, so I'll probably always prefer movies. I like to sit back and let the director, actors etc. take me on the ride to their design.

With gaming, you're involved in the story, so it's a different kind of art since the audience is so involved in deciding what happens, what they see etc. It's not lesser art per se, but just different.

[Jesus_S_Preston]

I am not fucking reading all that.

Is it on SparkNotes?

[DarkNessBear]

Some interesting points, DNB, and kudos to you for sharing. I don't really have the time (not to mention the attention span) to really cover a lot of stuff, but I'll try to see what I can share on the subject.

On a basic level, I don't really feel that there's a gap that should be bridged; movies are movies and games are games, they're both different artforms and provide a different experience. It's a lot like the difference between a novel and a film. I mean, if you took a novel and filmed it, word for word, the result would probably be crap because the things that work when you read them on the page, in the context of a novel, don't work for the cinematic medium. That's why they need to be adapted for the screen and why many details and scenes are often left out (and why many snobs will quickly sneer about anything, "the book was better").

That's why I wouldn't really want to watch a book or play a movie, really.

But, I think there is a lot of potential in a movie genre, like you propose. Do you know Indigo Prophecy? It was David Cage's game made with the question in mind- can drama be a game genre? If you haven't, then I'd highly recommend it, it features a lot of great ideas and a very grown-up, film-like story (stuff that puts stuff like Metal gear and Final Fantasy to shame). He's now working on Heavy Rain, which looks like another step in the 'drama' direction.

Funny you should mention the lack of a HUD or UI, since that's been a big to-do over the last generation. Of course, Resident Evil and other games have been doing it for a while. Really, I don't think it really adds or detracts from a game, personally. In fact, I think in a game like Bioshock, which is the new poster-child for artistic gaming, the HUD actually added to the game. It was completely funtional, but also seemed to really fit the vibe of the world. Basically, it made sense. Not to mention, it wasn't some counter-intuitive 'your character pulls out his motorola Blackberry to save the game' thing. I mean, if done well, a HUD can actually immerse you more into the world and a large part of that is the accessibility it brings.

I was thinking about death recently in games, and it can be a tricky subject. It's not very realistic, but c'mon, we grew up with these games. You die, pop in another quarter or reload your save. We're used to it, which is probably why we can't objectively see how much it really takes us out of the game, if it does at all. An interesting idea would be some kind of benevolent god-like person watching your back. Of course, some kind of repercussions would be needed in any case. Eh, I'm no game designer.

The idea of a Cloverfield-like game is intriguing, but of course wouldn't work as well as one would hope. A huge world like that, full of such potential would likely take many years and a gigantic budget to do correctly. Plus, what if I choose to wait in my apartment awaiting the end? Why not just turn off the system and hang out in my own apartment? ;)

I've actually been thinking similar thoughts here during GDC week and I've come to the same kind of conclusion as you, that a specific genre would be great. Though, I guess that's what indie games are for. Checking out stuff like The Marriage and Passage gives me the same feeling as trying to interpret something by Tarkovsky or Herzog. It's fascinating and thought-provoking, but at the same time, it's not all that I want. I'd also like the option to do some mindless killing or match multi-colored blocks for hours on end. People say that games should be more like movies, so I think that variety is the key.

Thanks for your comments. And I agree that "bridging" the gap between movies and games is not the best thing. That movies should stay as movies and games should stay as games. But, I guess I mis worded what I meant.

And it is refreshing to see more games going for the UI free types of experiences and look forward to the evolution of that. But I do agree with your point that it does not always detract from the experience. I can't recall being taken out of Rapture because of some of the hud elements. But, I think developers should use it intelligently like Bioshock did and not use it as a crutch because they cant figure out another way.

And about the Cloverfield example, I think if you really wanted to wait out your life in the apartment. Then, you could! But I agree it could be to ambitious to pull off.

There was a very interesting speaker at the developers rant that I firmly agree with, I believe his name is Klint Hawkings (the first speaker) and I think he says it best:

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-watch-highlights-of-the-game-developers-rant/