"This medium is truly amazing because of how it can resonate emotionally with the audience. We are just discovering this potential and I am convinced that we will see more and more exciting titles based on totally new paradigms in the coming years."
Absolutely. I know people hate on David Cage but he's completely right. There is so much potential in gaming for it to go beyond simply shooting stuff or jumping over other stuff. I knew that from the moment I finished ICO, that there is so much more out there that most video-game developers will never explore.
And people want that. They're clamoring for that. People still loved games like Heavy Rain and Deadly Premonition despite their flaws. People loved playing Shadow of the Colossus and The Walking Dead. People are lusting after different experiences, experiences with depth, intelligence, and emotion.
The trouble is, though, that simplistic games are much easier to make and design, especially for teams that don't have an actual writer. Which is fine, for the most part, we need all kinds of games, and I love to play games that focus on game-play, too. I grew up with reading novels as my primary hobby, though, so I often crave more than just swinging a sword over and over; I crave games that can engage my imagination.
I think we're going to see more teams focused on communicating a narrative next gen. Naughty Dog's success in that area has proven there is a large market for that, and having an actual story is a good way to set your game apart. I'm very hopeful that the storytelling aspect of the video-game medium will improve and will become a more important part of gaming in general.
