Interactive storytelling.
How can we make the stories we tell more engaging? It seems more and more with the emergence and preference of the video game culture, that there is an ongoing evolution in how stories and narrative are digested. In touching back on the Andy Gavin interview in my last blog and some articles that I've read recently, it seems a huge factor in determining a narrative's success relies on really on the game's genre.
Genre, in its most basic definition is just a category that we used to classify certain types of artistic expression that have similar attributes. Take stories for example, it is a scary (horror) story? Is it romance or mystery? When we define genre on its very surface, we can easily see how each of the stories can fit in their specific categories, all of the time. However, in video games, genre is more than that story category, it also has to consider how the game is interacted with by its players. "Narrative considerations in video game creation are relevant for a restricted class of games," blogger Pietro Polsinelli says in his article "Storytelling and Video Games" and the more that I study video games, I realize that there are situations in which a strong narrative might not be the best focus of a particular game. In the article Polsinelli mentions games that are apps on mobile devices often fit into those situations. It could even be said that video games include a non-narrative genre.
However I think that what helps to make a distinction in the genres of video games are their reflective narrative scopes. When I think of narrative scope, which can be somewhat ambiguous, I think of the amount of storytelling and the kind of storytelling that can be described in the genre. Polsinelli introduces an excellent point when he says, "Once one focuses on searching narrative structures in video games, these are found in a wide range of them, sometimes sedimented in character design." He mentions the popular mobile app game Angry Birds and how though the linear narrative in the game is minimal, he fills out the scope by saying that a main storytelling feature in Angry Birds is in the presentation and development of the characters.
I think game design is special in that way because it can pick and choose from the elements within storytelling and concentrate specifically on the elements that they want (such as character development). In typical storytelling, both plot and characters need to be somewhat equally represented, but in games, you can somehow get away with having development characters and minimal plot, but also extensive plot and minimal characterization (such as many platform games). In platofrm games, the characterization doesn't have to be so well developed because the player (especially in a single player game) becomes a character. They are forced to see their own changing and growth. The interactivity allows them to become part of the story, but at the same time it doesn't have to.
This duality I think is what adds to the appeal of the video games is that they are vast and changing and constantly evolving.
Thanks to Rachel for your valuable views about the video games culture,one can get real benefit of this blog.
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Rachel, your mentioning of certain narrative elements in video games was insightful. A solid narrative is so crucial. Until your post, however, I did not consider the depth of benefit that game design has in the world of narrative. It is true that games can choose one element of of narrative, such as character development, and still be very engaging. Would you go so far as to say that a game with a few narrative aspects that are well elaborated is better than a full narrative game with less detail?
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