Here's a topic that I've thought about for quite a while. I'm not a hardcore video game player by any stretch of the imagination. I'm lucky to play though two new games a year. When I do play, I choose games heavy on story over sports simulators or the latest cover-based shooter.
My all-time favourite series over the last decade has to be Mass Effect. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of Mass Effect 3, though Arkham City is keeping me well satisfied at the moment.
My question to all of you is do you think video games are worthy of consideration as a form of narrative? Do you feel that a good video game can have as gripping and engaging a story as a good movie or novel? In the future, could there be grounds for video games to be regarded the same way, subject to the same expectations, examinations and criticism that we apply to older, more acknowledged modes of storytelling?
Personally, I'd love to see this happen. Each medium offers different opportunities for narrative and needs stories to be told in different ways. I think the latest story-heavy video games like Skyrim and Mass Effect are pushing the boundaries and encouraging writers and audiences alike to explore new ideas in storytelling. This can only be a good thing.
Jan 27, 2012
Video Games
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.