| DTG said:
Maybe a more "playable" game but not a better one. No artist compromises his work for the sake of mainstream approval or it is no longer true art. Storyline should be the foundation of any video game and the gameplay should be built and molded around the plot not vice versa. It's a question of intellect vs. mindless entertainment and which we value more. The intellect is contained within the messages of the storyline and should not be amended merely for fun gameplay. Kojima's design philosophy is building the gameplay around the storyline and prioritizing the later -making no compromises to the messages he wishes to convey in the name of throaway entertainment -which is how it should be. |
Bullshit. Video games do not require a storyline to be amazing. Wii Sports will be the game that defines this generation, and it has nothing resembling a story in it. Your arrogance on this subject is so obnoxious I really can't keep quiet anymore. Tetris, Super Mario Bros, Contra, and a host of other games that launched the industry have no story what-so-ever and are not "mindless entertainment." Tetris has you constantly thinking, analyzing, and problem solving in order to get the desired effects. Thinking as many moves ahead as you can in order to not lose at quicker and quicker paces.
To go the classical route pulls it more in my favor as well. Would you call Chess mindless entertainment? What about Go? I would highly doubt it. A good game of poker requires more of you mind than 90% of the philosophy books I have ever read and it can't have a story.
This absurd elitist notion that games most have a huge epic story to be worth-while seriously sickens me. To look down on a master work of art just because it doesn't have all the qualities you think the artist should have included is nothing short of hypocritical given what you have said. An artists vision should not be compromised by anything at all. Sometimes that does not require, or even involve a story though. Maybe he is just trying to get you to think quickly and solve a puzzle. Perhaps he is trying to get you to think through the persons shoes and imagine what you would do in the exact same scenario. Maybe he is just trying to create a world that is amazing to be a part of like some of the greatest authors ever have done (hai2u Tolkein, Rowling, and Adams).
Get off your high horse and try to actually argue your point rather than look down your nose at the inferior games out there that can't possible measure up to what you think a game should be. You want to argue that MGS4 is the pinnacle of cinematic storylines, well thats fine. Whatever. I have never managed to finish the first one, so I doubt I will ever play the fourth enough to be able to disagree. To claim that every artist should adhere to your concept of what a game is while simultaneously saying no artist should compromise his vision is contradictory at best though. This debate will never remain civil from what I've seen, but you can at least not throw fuel on the fire.
