Where have most FPS games drawn their themes and inspiration from? Oh, that's right, from real wars and conflicts throughout history; predominantly from the one's America has been involved in. Maybe WW3 should be fought and decided with a video game! Ah, but then how would groups like the NRA make any money from that?
The American government is the biggest arms dealer in the world. The security industry in America has been one of the most profitable and growing industries for a very long time, and relies upon people's fear and hate to grow further. They are not concerned about people, values or culture unless it benefits them.
If you're going to go out of your way to find a scapegoat or create a diversion from the core issue, and utilize a terrible incident which reveals just how poor of quality society is really in (in which a lot of people probably play video games to escape from), then don't be surprised if someone violently throws a video game controller directly in your face at your next press conference.
Often, when someone is faced with an event in their life, they have not thought about their choices or actions before they have done it. Someone could make a bad decision or take a risk and something good could come from it - or vice versa, someone could be trying to do the right thing and it all goes to crap. In a game, you sit there and decide if you want to make a good or bad decision, and in most cases you know what those good or bad actions are before you have done them. There would be far fewer cases in real life where someone says to themselves, "I am going to have an affair" as opposed to, "Oh, no, I just cheated on my partner." The actions in video games always have intent/motive, they are never just done and there is never any ambiguity.
Ok, first off, the article points out the destinct separation between gameplay and storytelling. There are a lot of comments regarding MGS and the FF series that are contradicting the article. Both of the series rely on the cut scenes to tell the story between gameplay - meaning they are seperate from each other. One is telling the story and the other is not. Just like GTA, you watch the cut scene, then you play the game and then you watch another cut scene. Both compliment and influence each other sure, but they aren't exactly the same medium, are they? Put another way, how can the actual gameplay tell a story effectively (and also affectively) without relying on film or anything else?
So, it really comes down to the developer's intentions. Did iD Software really want you to empathise with Duke Nukem? Yet, on the other hand, their game Doom had no distinct plot (only a flimsy premise) nor characters, but your personality/emotions were explored with level design cleverly setting the pace and mood. And, isn't that what good books/films are meant to do? The story is not direct, it isn't told to the audience, it is explored by the audience. I guess that's the distinction: the player participates in the story. If all of the elements of the game (not just a few cut scenes and some quick exposition to justify a story) are geared towards telling the same story, then it is an effective medium. Again, it comes down to the intention, and not all games need to have a comprehensive story. Having said that, there's still a way to go in getting it right. And, It just may not be as traditionally moulded and pigeonholed as some academics want it to be.
Exhibit A: Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) The main issue I have with the article is that it presumes that all of the content from other mediums are %100 succesful at telling a story. There are many films and books out there that fail their purpose. And what Pratchett simply points out is, that it's about business. The majority of the higher end of the industry is focused on the return, not what their putting out. Who goes out to see the new big blockbuster action film in th hope that it has an original, well thought out, intricate story? The same applies; the main purpose for the film being there is to make money. So, like the Mirror's Edge game, they throw in the bare essentials at the end and release it.
Has anyone ever thought, that if you stop comparing the two major operating systems with each other and judge them individually, they are both substandard for all consumers?
Umm, is windows7 a game? Oh, that's right, Microsoft is playing it's customers yet again! Seriously though, this article should be on a more relevant website.
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