Storytelling in Video Games

As an author, I'm already familiar with the art of storytelling. In fact, I think that is the one thing that all authors should strive towards, being a master storyteller. Stories are what add the meat to our lives, they keep us entertained, and keep us wanting more, that is if they're good stories.  Some stories though are riddled with plot holes and fallacies, and just like in our own lives , we all can point out the thread that is unravelling the quickest. Well-told or not, storytelling  is an integral part of the human experience. It is what allows us to invest our own emotions, form attachments, and actually care about the world around us.

What's the best way to tell a story? What medium seems to carry on this tradition in the most immersive way? For most, it means being an observer. We listen to others as they talk, listen to the radio, or watch television. We read books.

The Sims, by Maxis for the PC.
A video game that allows
the player to "create" their
own "stories" and "characters".

Not to say that these traditional forms of media aren't  effective means of storytelling, because they do have their own niches in their own ways into how stories are told, but none of them require much active participation.

However, the expanding art of video games seems to introduce a great potential for the kind of expression that stories inspire. There is a sense of complete immersion, audio/visually, mentally and physically that can be achieved in the act of playing video games. Some view this as a very positive thing, some negative.

In this semester's Game Design class, I plan to explore storytelling as it relates to gaming, and provide examples how games can translate storytelling in many ways that other media may or may not do, while comparing their similarities and the juxtaposition of storytelling within games as opposed to other types of games (i.e fighting, strategy, shooter etc).

These blog posts seek to understand the importance that lies in not what stories are told, but how they are told, and how that affects our reception to them. It will to explore the expectations we have begun to have for games. It will try demonstrate the differences that stories play in all our lives, do we seek stories as a total immersion, as in living vicariously through the scenarios in which we could not hope to experience ourselves? Or do we use stories to deflect the truth? To try and detach ourselves from the moments in our lives that become too much or to serious?

Uncharted, a game series on PS3, that
I think provides an excellent example
of storytelling.

Does the lure lie in  like RPGs (role-playing games) such as the massively successful The Sims where you can create you own story? Or in ones like one of my favorites, The Uncharted Series, where you play as a character through a story that's already created for you?

What grounds do stories in video games cover that other forms of media do not? What is limiting, or not limiting about storytelling potential? Is one medium better than the other? What do people prefer?

Do some stories not work in games? Are there sequences that just don't work with the manipulations and conventions of they way video games present information?

These are questions that I want to find answers to this semester. Often, I have thought about the appeal of storytelling in the video game media as opposed to novels, since I myself am a writer. I've considered  actually trying to create stories that would constitute a solid basis for a video game, and have often wondered what the transparency is like between both mediums.