This guy knows what hes talking about. He compared F Zero GX to PS3 Wipeout.
FZ won.

If these are the only ways you absorb the story from the game -and, for that matter, if you require all three to have any effect on you- then you really do deserve pity. You're missing out on so much; so much, all because you either lack the capacity for or have not developed skill in using your own imagination. It's basically the same general idea as reading comprehension, only applied to other media: games, movies, music, or whatever. It's a skill. Learn it, and you will experience gaming (or other media, as appropriate) on levels you've never dreamed of.

Games should tell stories. But they need to tell stories like games. Movie-based games and game-based movies never turn out well, because they're trying to tell a story designed for one medium in another.

Ok the number one problem is nobody knows what is it that makes a game what it is.
There is barely any theory on game narrative or interactive studies of gaming and audiences. Most research involves violent game studies which is the most limiting scope you could ever have. It's not like TV theory hasn't evolved either, just takes time.

So yes he's right but no, its way too early to box it in. I love films and i love narratives in video games but they are a pale imitation of cinema unfortunately and certainly conflict with the player's expectations and intentions.

( side note - why do you turn in to the chicken in TP, are we being punished for our past life chicken killing behaviour. Is Miyamoto punishing or rewarding our unique attempt at rewriting the story)

More Research needed

This is exactly why I hate this argument.  Everytime I have seen the debate you have one side saying "well y'know there are different ways of telling stories, and I happen to prefer a JRPG style with a linear story that you play through like a book"

While the other side acts so fuking high and mighty like they read and play games on a whole nother level and JRPG stories are simply pathetic.  Pisses me off to know end.  Some people don't want to use their imaginations and would rather be told the GD story.  Learn to live with it.

I can't believe it... I was thinking about it on the bus today. last week, I got kinda crazy and thought about determinism and games and how you CAN'T change the outcome of the game because, even if you are given alternatives, the game knows how it will end anyway. then today I was listening to LITTLE SISTER from QotsA which made me think about choices once again and broguht me to Bioshock and the "pseudo"-issue about killing the girls and all, and how it should be an issue but in the end it's just an "option" - and naturally I thought about the linearity of the games and the way the stories are told, if the story or the storytelling was bad.

what's funny, I was thinking about something like Far Cry 2 (which I didn't know about until NOW). fundamentally what I was thinking was how you could you make a game in which the player takes choices that affects the overall plot of the game and the END of a story, while giving him a feeling of "completing" the game. the counter-example would be Civilization games, in which you are not forced to follow any particular path (even though it's still not "free will") but when you end the game your actions become a timeline and a score.

hopefully everything I said above doesn't make me look like I'm on drugs, because I'm not :P

and btw, I like both styles, but this third option is something I think about once in a while :P

I'm sorry, but last i played HL2, the story was just as linear as any other game in existance that uses cutscenes. The difference is that except for watching a beautifully animated and directed cinematic cutscene, you are treated with a badly animated character talking to you. In the end the result is just the same, it's just how it is delivered. Everything is linear, every situation has the same outcome (unless there are more than one pre-determined ones, but still - predetermined) and the so called interactivity is nothing more than the ability to watch the walls or the floor while some "scripted" story sequence happens.

Call me old school, but i love my "through the roof" MGS production values. HL2 can keep it's so called "interactive storytelling" that ultimatelly leads nowhere to itself.

We're still some clicks away from true interactive storytelling (a.k.a VR).

I really liked the caption under MGS4's picture in that article, I won't spoil it for anyone here, but it raises some interesting points.

Personally, I think that games that fail at story telling don't necessarily do so because they try and copy the way movies tell stories, I think it's because Game developers aren't movie directors. People don't give Camera work, Lighting, Character Positioning etc enough credit.

The only really solid aspect of video game presentation that matches movies is music, and that's probably because many music composers come from or work in movies/tv shows.

I don't believe a game has to in first person or with a mute hero in order to succeed story telling wise. What it needs though is a compelling tale to tell, strong and 3 dimensional, believable characters and a message behind it all.

It's not my favourite video game story, but I thought God Of war did a good job telling the story. It had a compelling story and excellent voice work (integral in making a believable character), but more importantly, Kratos was human, he was a flawed character, he was not 1 dimensional "I must go saved the princess" or I am "a villain with no redeeming qualities". Another great example is Niko from GTA4, he is human (not by genetics but by character).

That's the problem with Video game characters, they are one dimensional and predictable. I'll use the biggest game these holidays: Gears of War 2.

Gears: They basically admitted it themselves in one of those developer video's with the video streaming in the background in the dark room thing. They basically said one of the new character was X stereotype because they already had the hardened hero, the out there black guy etc. I know that they are adding more humanity to Dom, but the thing is, I'm guessing Cole, Baird and the new characters will still be stereotypes.

If you're able to give a character a brief summary of their entire personality, there's a problem there, because Human's aren't like that.

I still think cutscenes are a good thing to tell stories with, they give the player a break from the acton AND they show the player what's important. Having dialogue and scenes playout in front of you in-game won't help story telling if you are free to move about and act like an idiot OR you're facing the wrong way and miss all the physical gestures (CoD4 had this problem).

So basically, I don't think Games fail at telling stories because they act like movies, I think they do so because they haven't grasped how movies tell stories effectively and the fact that most don't care about story enough and just want to make the game fun OR they care too much about the story and don't focus on gameplay (Kane and Lynch).

@Oyvoyvoyv: I think there's something really wrong with your statement. Nintendo are the worst story tellers. Mario's story is save Princess Peach. Zelda's is usually, Ganondorf is threatening the world, let's gather specific items in order to beat him. The only great story nintendo has told is Metroid Prime, and even then it was Retro Studios.

they doens't.

i cried with FF7 8 10 12 even x-2, metal gear solid 1 2 3 4.

btw: they use long cutscences, but hell... if they had gameplay it would ruin the mood the director/designer is setting.

I agree with most of the article, except where he praises Half-life 2's story. As far as I'm concerned, the game had no story. And I found the idea of a mute physicist didn't work very well.

I'm also disappointed that he didn't mention any games with branching dialogue paths, like Fallout 1 & 2, Deus Ex, or any Bioware game since Baldur's Gate 2. These are the games which have really nailed interactive storytelling, or at least come the closest.

*shrugs*

I never had any problem with how the story is told in video games and I guess I have to be a bit sorry for people who just can't enjoy story in videogames, 'cause sometimes it's a really fascinating experience (imho).

But that doesn't mean I'd hate non-story-games, I do cherish them aswell.

BTW I thought it's funny the author was so "insanely attached" to Gordon Freeman, for that is one of the characters I felt the least atttachment to, although I've ventured with him through 2 games and 1 expansion pack.