rocketpig said: The Resident Evil series is supposed to be cheeky like that and therefore works with its terrible acting and dialogue. It's a parody of thousands of terrible horror films we've seen over the years (check out some Ed Wood films sometime if you haven't already). There are only a handful of A-list voice actors out there but many actors have shown themselves quite capable of voice acting and doing it well. It shouldn't be hard to pull down some B-level movie talent to video games, at least for the main characters. It would be loads better than what we currently have now (just look at Heavenly Sword, the biggest name in that game was Andy Serkis, though to be fair, the guy is an amazing voice actor and absolutely nailed the Bohan character). I think the problem with video games is that they refuse to grow up. The same developers who found anime fun and exciting as children grew up physically but remained loyal to the often bad and terribly cliched stories they loved as children. Given the geek nature of the business, very little is done to expand upon the simple "shoot 'em up/spout terrible one-liners" story arcs that games have been subject to since their inception. Gameplay has matured a great deal, as has music, but plot lines and dialogue are still almost as bad as they were 15 years ago. Which is why gaming won't be taken seriously as an art form (excepting a few notable games from people like Will Wright or Team ICO) until it forces itself to grow up a little and truly challenge the medium as a vehicle for great storytelling. Edit: I saw you added another paragraph. I agree with you. But what seems odd to me is that so much of gaming has evolved while this one aspect is still fuckin' terrible by anyone's standards. I hope we will see real writers start taking on video game plotlines and dialogue but I just don't see it happening anytime soon. I think that's one of the last things game directors will want to give up because it's probably one of the aspects they enjoy most (complete and total control over dialogue and story basically makes the game yours).

 I definitely agree with you, and I think some companies, Nintendo for instance, feed on the idea of gaming never growing up.  I like to think of games as art, so I am resistant to companies like this and embrace game designers who try to do something artistic on more than a gameplay level.  You were absolutely right in an earlier post when you talked about gaming budgets getting bigger but stories, voice acting, characterization, etc. are still neglected.

I honestly think games are moving further away from artistic respectability too with the emphasis on casual gaming.  Its like Jerry Bruckheimer has taken over the gaming industry.  When development budgets eventually come under control by the end of the generation, maybe things will have improved a little.

rocketpig said: I don`t think the plot in Final Fantasy VII is bad. Why people like to make fun of it so much? I thought it was preety good. So, lemme get this straight... A Cyberpunk world with elite soldiers, an evil corporate giant, betrayal amongst the ranks, cloning, and an impending apocalypse plot line is good? Sorry, seen that one too many times. For example, half the anime made in the past 25 years. This only illustrates my point. How many times are gamers going to play the same plotline (and in most cases, one that wasn't very good to begin with) before calling bullshit on developers for not attempting anything more intelligent or different? It seems to me that the last half dozen Final Fantasy games have been pretty much the same idea with different characters bolted into the game. That's not even including the 14,000 spin-offs Square has made in the past 10 years that also follow similar story development.

Well, I liked it.

I'm of the opinion that there is a place for everything here. Nintendo doesn't focus on story but instead almost completely eliminates the story in favor of gameplay. Given the nature of video games as media, this is a perfectly acceptable way of doing things and not much different from your average pick-up-and-play puzzle game. Games retaining a focus is fine, just like movies. What really bothers me are the games that try to tell a story and end up rehashing the same cliched bullshit over and over again. It's actually one of the things that worries me about Gears 2. Personally, I appreciated the fact that Epic made absolutely no attempt to put a story in the game. If they did, it probably would have ended up insulting anyone with a brain or good taste, just like most other action games.

I'm not against the "Blockbuster" game... They have a place, just like the movies. But as I get older, I'm starting to get really irritated that 95% of games are the same bullshit over and over again and if they do try something different with the story, they fall flat on their face commercially.



I don't blame Nintendo for this... They're the ones who always remained true to the simple "let's get right to the gameplay" strategy of gaming. I blame all the "storytellers" in games who try to make something intelligent and then proceed to muck it up with bad dialogue, terrible acting, and plots that make Star Wars look intriguing and deep.

@rocketpig,

"Sorry, seen that one too many times. For example, half the anime made in the past 25 years."

because u are able to find originality in movie ?

libellule said: @rocketpig, "Sorry, seen that one too many times. For example, half the anime made in the past 25 years." because u are able to find originality in movie ?

Run Lola Run, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, City of Lost Children, Magnolia, Moulin Rouge, Pi... Those are just a few movies from the past decade that did things completely original with film. I typed those up in less than a minute. Give me a few more and I could list another dozen without difficulty.

Rocketpig: Complaining about Stars Wars and FF7 I thought I had high standards.(Can partly agree with Star Wars).

I don't blame Nintendo for this... They're the ones who always remained true to the simple "let's get right to the gameplay" strategy of gaming. I blame all the "storytellers" in games who try to make something intelligent and then proceed to muck it up with bad dialogue, terrible acting, and plots that make Star Wars look intriguing and deep.

 I mean I still play Nintendo games too, so I don't dislike them as a company or anything, I just feel that is one element of their games which has always been lacking and will still be lacking in the future.

I wanted to shoot myself during the cutscenes for Twilight Princess.  Not only were the character designs simply atrocious, I felt like the story was operating at a second-grade level.  At least in Super Mario Galaxy it didn't even really try and have much of a story minus some BS about stars, but the abysmal story/character design of Twilight Princess detracted from an otherwise positive experience for me.

Yojimbo said: Rocketpig: Complaining about Stars Wars and FF7 I thought I had high standards.(Can partly agree with Star Wars).

Hey, I like Star Wars. Love it, actually. I just acknowledge what it is and don't try to talk it up as if watching the movie is a profound experience.

Thank you rocketpig, for making all the points that need to be made about the state of story and writing in video games.

I'm tired of gamers equating amount of content and themes stuffed into a game's story with quality of story. "In-depth," or "grandiose," or "epic" story does not mean well executed or worthwhile. An elite writer could write a short story about a farmer tending his crops on a July afternoon that contains more emotion, subtext, relevance and characterization than a rank novice (most game writers) can writing about the meaning of life, religion, genomes, etc.

And yeah, I don't know what kind of penny ante movies or TV people are using as their standards for storytelling in those mediums, but the quality and intelligence of filmmaking in the 70's alone is galaxies away from what games have been capable of yet.