Kotaku: Narrative

Watch a Woman Strip Naked Using Only Magic!

Mike Fahey — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:20:24 EDT

I could tell there was a sex scene brewing in The Witcher 2 when Geralt of Rivia and his comely redheaded sorceress companion Triss stumbled upon this ancient Elven bathhouse, and I wasn't planning on sharing the resulting NSFW video. Then Triss tapped into the vast mystical forces of the universe to remove her clothing. More »

The Game Narrative Triangle

Fraser Allison — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT

There doesn't seem to be a lot going on in the game scene right now (at least for people not interested in motion controls, ever-more-unsettling modern war shooters and misjudged forum policies), so I'm taking advantage of the quiet time to go back some of the basic structures in games. Today I'm taking a first-principles look at the kinds of stories videogames tell. More »

The Straight Story of 'Gay Tony'

Owen Good — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST

Calling it "the straightest Grand Theft Auto ever," largely for effect, PopMatters' G. Christopher Williams says The Ballad of Gay Tony hews to some hetero-driven crime-novel representations of both sexualities, but in the end is about much deeper themes. More »

Persona 4: Reflecting The Self

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST

Recent Persona games have become cult hits thanks largely to their gameplay framework — traditional Japanese RPG leveling mechanics reframed around personal improvement, social relationships and the concept of the self. More »

The Soul of Wit: Brevity in Game Dialogue

Maggie Greene — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Gamasutra has a fun essay up from Ben Schneider, formerly of Iron Lore Entertainment and currently narrative designer at Big Huge Games, on dialogue in games — and the challenges of getting it right. Schneider isn't calling for a removal of longer dialogues, but pointing out that short dialogue can function better than its longer cousin in many situations: creating ambiance in the background or delivering information (without interrupting or hindering gameplay) when in the forefront. Short dialogue should be like poetry, and poetry is 'a powerful thing': More »

'You Are Dead. Continue?': The Future of Death in Games

Maggie Greene — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:30:00 EDT

There's a very interesting article over at Eludamos, one of the open-access academic journals that's done a nice job of getting fascinating articles in each issue; this volume is no exception, and the article I found particularly thought provoking is on the issue of death in narrative-driven games. Jason Tocci isn't arguing that the death mechanic has no place in games, but it's a cop out for many narrative-driven games — and can create frustrating gaming experiences for end users. This is, in Tocci's view, a hold over from earlier design decisions when games were more limited in what they could do: More »

'Skinning' Games: Some Thematic Problems

Maggie Greene — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EDT

Danc at Lost Garden has an interesting post up on themes in games and the effect on game design: while there are definite reasons for the same types of themes and aesthetics popping up in games over and over again, a careful balance needs to be struck between 'skinning' themes and mechanics and putting coherent game play above it all. It's better that a game 'reads' badly from a literary (narrative) standpoint, but makes sense in terms of game play: More »

Games Today: We Do Melodrama?

Maggie Greene — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT

The term 'melodrama' is a somewhat loaded term — ask a few people if X media counts as melodrama, and you're likely to get a variety of answers. Michael Abbott discusses melodrama in one accepted context (a definition that I would quibble with based on my own background dealing with 'melodramatic representation') in reference to games. Yes, we do do melodrama — everything from GTA to Metal Gear to Final Fantasy plays with at least one interpretation of melodrama: More »

East vs. West: On Gaming Preferences

Maggie Greene — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:30:42 EDT

Oh, what would good ol' Eddie Said say? From Sexy Videogameland comes a rather interesting discussion by Rick Luebbers of Midway's Surreal Software on differences in Japanese and Western game design and gaming preferences. Some (most) of the generalizations are sweeping at best, and many of his examples aren't exclusively Western problems, they're industry problems - I don't care where the game is coming from. Square hasn't exactly been wowing me with fresh, inventive, and wickedly original narratives. To sum it up - most of this comes down to personal opinion and taste in games. Leigh Alexander brings it back to reality: More »

Lionhead on the New Language of Games

Mark Wilson — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:00:24 EDT

There is a distinct contradiction in Lionhead at the moment. Because there is not one gaming company in the world right now studying Hollywood with greater scrutiny. Yet their goal is to find the unique language of videogames. More »

Ken Rolston Talks Story, Kinda Scares (Excites?) Us

Mark Wilson — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:30:59 EDT

"I'm spraying you guys hard in the mouth, knocking you down," said Ken Rolston, his brow glistening. And other than that awkward innuendo, no, including that innuendo, Rolsten's creamy white beard and stoic to animated dynamics remind me of my junior year high school English teacher. More »

Molyneux Wants People Beating Fable 2...With One Button

Mark Wilson — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:20:51 EDT

Peter Molyneux has simplified combat to just one button in Fable 2, hopefully enticing casual gamers to play while still rewarding hardcore gamers with upgrades based upon the use of advanced maneuvers in the system. But either way, Molyneux wants players beating the game.

I hate that we spend millions of dollars designing our games and only 1 percent of people finish them...If they don't finish the game, it's like leaving the movie halfway through, so it's a rubbish movie to some extent, and that responsibility is on our shoulders.

There is nothing worse than developers masturbating to their own narrative genius over a game that's not worth the commitment of finishing. It's heartening that some designers have maintained perspective. We just hope the whole one button thing works out. More »

Symbolism and Story in Silent Hill 2

Mark Wilson — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:30:34 EDT

Leigh Alexander, scribe behind Aberrant Gamer, has an excellent analysis detailing how symbolism drives story in Silent Hill 2. It's an article with a "deep reading" of the game—analysis too often reserved for 18th century romantic literature and Far Side cartoons. More »

Emerson Defends Ebert Debate

Brian Crecente — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:00:10 EDT

Seattle-based movie critic and editor of RogerEbert.com Jim Emerson dropped me a line over the weekend in response to my rantish blurb about the video games as art "debate" he took part in with Roget Ebert last week in Boulder. More »

Video Games and Art: Still Just Friends, Not Lovers

lsmith — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:40:38 EST

After writing the most dramatic lede in the game journalism history, scribe John Leland get his NY Times piece on video games and art moving in the right direction. The piece's thrust and best observation is found in the following: "Are they like movies, projecting the vision of an auteur like Mr. Spielberg or Peter Jackson, who recently collaborated in Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie? Or are they more like the song 'Frankie and Johnny,' which is performed in different ways by many people, and in which the art lies in the sum of performances?" More »

Choose Your Own Adventure, in Gaming

lsmith — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 11:40:35 EST

Curmudgeon Gamer is looking at "Story Vs. Choice in Konami Games," and it's pretty interesting. Author JVM picks different points in Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Silent Hill where gamer-made choices change the path to the game's ending. MGS is the simplest, with the Ocelot event determine if you're walking out with Meryl or Otacon. Curmudgeon is going to dissect Castlevania and Silent Hill next, keep checking back. More »

Ebert: Games Inferior to Movies

lsmith — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 17:20:41 EST

In this week's Answer Man column, Sun-Times scribe Roger Ebert takes on a ~~kiss ass~~ respectful reader on video games being inferior to movies and literature. Ebert's reasoning: "There is a structural reason for that: Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control." More »

Metroid Prime's Hidden Text

lsmith — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:40:57 EDT

Metroid Prime's Hidden Text" alt="Click here to read Metroid Prime's Hidden Text" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2005/10/ds_Metroid_Prime_Hunters-thumb.jpg"/>

Via Academic Gamers comes a piece written by Rice student Amanda Phillips on Metroid Prime. "Behind the Visor" looks at the use of in-game texts that detail the lore behind Metroid Prime as the principle storytelling agents in Prime. These texts are numbered and scanned into a log book while the player adventures in Prime. They are optional, however, so much of Prime's backstory and narrative isn't forced on players, it's a narrative you have to seek out, scan, record and then read. More »