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When photography was invented, people judged it by how well it could compare to a painting, before discovering what made the medium unique. Video games are in
by platz 5y ago
When photography was invented, people judged it by how well it could compare to a painting, before discovering what made the medium unique.
Video games are in a similar position, in which they are evaluated on 'story', which is how one evaluates movies.
once we realize video games are not movies in terms of what effect they are supposed to produce, we will to be able to evaluate them on their own terms
For example, maybe what kind of beauty we should seek to maximize in a video game isnt the story, but the act of agency in the player as shaped by the game's rules or constraints. With that idea, it is the player's performance that is most beautiful, not the story.
- smoldesu 5y agoAs John Carmack once said (I'm loosely paraphrasing here) "Stories in video games are like stories in porno: they're expected to be there, but never any good."
- jjoonathan 5y agoWell, that's definitely true of John Carmack's games...
- DiggyJohnson 5y agoI'm writing a book about Why We Play RuneScape, and this is especially true for the MMORPG genre. Great insight.
- ycombinete 5y agoThat sounds like an interesting book. I’ve never really played an MMO and never understood the appeal. I’d log in and not quite know what to do. I’ve just had the same experience with New World. Do you have some of your writing online somewhere?
- DiggyJohnson 5y agoNot yet, but I think this is the rare (book) project that seems to get people asking me exactly your question. I'll be starting to share materials as the project comes along. Really appreciate your interest! Your experience is illuminating, and not unexpected.
- deterministic 5y agoJohn might be a good programmer but that doesn’t mean he has a clue about anything else.
- smoldesu 5y agoEh, in my humble opinion I think this has held true for the majority of games I've played. Even still, the larger metaphor is that most players prefer action to storytelling.