OP: Simply put, no, a story does not automatically make for a better game, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing either. Though I agree story in games is certainly an overrated concept, your demeanor on how you "hate story-driven gaming" comes of as incredibly arrogant and elitist, not to mention selfish.

I have never understood these people claiming games cannot be art, that they cannot express deep emotions, or that they do not deserve to be their held as their own form of entertainment. Both the idiots thinking ‘art isn’t fun’ and the elitist with delusions that they know what games are capable of fall into this mold. It’s as if acknowledging video games as art would be somehow disrespectful to the established forms...

In truth, games are capable of virtually everything, and eventually I have trouble seeing what form of entertainment that will not be interactive. But, that is in a future with true Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality. Today is quite different.

Yes, it is true; early games did not require any story beyond the text on the box. They were simple entertainment; a test of skill for who could make the most points and beat the game.

Today’s games are still entertainment, but there is one difference; A modern game usually lets the player do something he would never be able to do in real life – and makes it believable. This is the part of games that require a story for it to make any sense, and one I never see going away. More so than books and movies, this escape from reality - to create your own world - is the strength of video games.

Someone mentioned the game story should be kept to a minimum; that it should always remain relevant to the gameplay. This is correct. Story and gameplay should always correlate whenever possible. Designers should not be afraid to let the story explore more superficial things such as character development that are harder to express through gameplay, but these things should never be the point of the game. Not because video games are incapable of expressing them – they most certainly are capable – but because there are other forms of media whose purpose it is to express them specifically. Interactivity is the point of video games – it should never be wasted.

ChronotriggerJM - When you say cinematography do you mean games that have the feel of a movie through an involving storyline or actual cinematography? Just a little confused.

My own thoughts on this, not all games need a good storyline, they are not really plot driven. Most FPS fall into this catergory. However all games that have a storyline should at least have a competent story, there are so many instances of very bad writing. Anyone who played the original Resident Evil should know what I'm talking about from the cut scenes, although the terrible acting didn't help.

But many RPG's are driven by their story, that is the players motivation, and as such it should be a good story that can stand on it's own, not just as a video game. Of course all of the other elements that make up a game should be good too but I will play a game through because I want to reach the conclusion and finish the story.

Some people obviously aren't bothered by that and I feel they are probably ones who are happier playing things such as MMORPGs that often have no real plot. I really cannot understand why people would go through an RPG just ignoring the speech and story though, it seems pointless. Like only watching the action parts of a film, or Bad Boys 2 or 2 Fast 2 Furious which have no story just action.

Okay, glad to see that some people agree with me (And that others do disagree, as well).

The point I'm trying to make here is rather simple: not having a story isn't a bad thing if it's intentional. Many people do not story driven, cinematic experiences in their games. Criticizing a game for choosing not to be cinematic in style is very much like criticizing a RTS for being too fast paced or a turn based strategy game for being too slow, or criticizing a cupcake for being smaller than a cake and having sprinkles on top. These aren't faults so much as deliberate design choices that some people prefer. Here, in a nutshell, is what I'm talking about:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/09/05

I agree that you dont need a story in all the games
This is typically true for puzzle games or online RTS/FPS.

Totally agree with you my friend.  Traditional Japanese RPGs are some of the most boring games I've ever played.  The stories are awful and the gameplay consists of navigating through menus, walking around and hitting the 'A' button to tell your people to attack (which they then do without your input).

I think video game stories are almost universally laughable, especially when compared to something like a novel, but if they are simple and not relied upon for the appeal of the game I have no problem with them.  Unskippable cutscenes and intros, yes, I have a big problem with that.

For me, all the story does is interrupt the gameplay, the reason I bought the damned thing in the first place.

Being that I personally believe that the writing in games has a long way to go before it becomes passable, I can’t really say that the storyline in games rarely are good enough to actually benefit the game; most of the time the stories are so juvenile that the game would (probably) be better without a story. So, no I don’t believe that a story is automatically a good thing.

Now, I don’t want to be rude but the vast majority of stories in games today are far worse than the crap that Hollywood cranks out on a daily basis. The sub-par writing that is (rightfully) made fun of in countless movie reviews would be praised by game reviewers; sadly enough, one of the main reasons game-movies are so bad is because the original material they started with was (typically) not very good.

Depends on the game and the person playing it. I agree with Montana on most points. I adore a good story, but as you can see it isn't nessacary. If people can be content with the story in Kingdom Hearts. Good for them.

Every person wants something different. Differences will cater to different audiences.

(ex. I loved the politics in FF12, but laughed at the simplicity of Kingdom Hearts.)

No, story is not necessarily a good thing. While I love a good story in a game like BioShock or Blue Dragon, I couldn't care less about the story in a Mario game. It's all about the gameplay.

I expect different things from different games. From an FPS or RPG, I expect there to be a story or it will be difficult to engage me over the course of the game. In a platformer, I expect the controls and gameplay to be top-notch and story is an afterthought. In fact, I usually don't even pay attention if there is a story in the game. The same applies to RTS games; I usually don't care. I want solid controls, interesting units, and challenging battles. I don't pay attention to if I'm invading them, they're invading me, whatever. Story doesn't matter in many cases.

I agree that the best example is a Mario game, where story is completely unnecessary. The only type of story needed in a game like this is a basic background for the action (i.e. someone stole our princess). Other examples of storyless games are of course puzzle games, party games, or anything that doesn't need to be taken 100% seriously.

Perhaps the issue is not really story, but cut-scenes. People are generally impatient and do not like losing control of the character if they do not care about the story involved. This isn't usually a problem for me, but maybe more games should rely on more subtle ways of telling the story that leave the character in control. There are games with fairly deep storylines which you can play through without ever having to pay attention to them. This kind of game would satisfy more people.

Ultimately, it comes down to what people want out of the game. Some people want a cinematic experience where they simply watch the game and see the storyline unfold. These people expect their game to be like a movie or book, with little interaction, and will enjoy JRPG's and visual novels. Other people want it to be all about gameplay, skill, choice, and player control. These people who want an active video-gaming experience will skip cutscenes and never read a word of dialogue. Most people fall somewhere in the middle.