Definitely not. (Gaming)

by Kahzgul, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 15:45 (2575 days ago) @ Schooly D

Can I say it? This author comes across as a pretentious ass and, frankly, seems to be ignorant of the concept of "fun."

He's cherry-picking example games to illustrate his thesis that the narrative of a video game is not as compelling as the masterpieces of literature. He's sticking to smaller, indie games such as Gone Home as "groundbreaking" but ignoring the fact that a smaller games present the player with less time to weave a complicated narrative worthy of his praise. Gone home is completable in a matter of minutes (though a typical first run will take about 2 hours). Precious few books of note are readable, in their entirety, in that timetable. Furthermore, these are actually, I feel, poor examples of the value of video games as an immersive experience. The Last of Us is a much stronger entry. While the gameplay is decent to good, the narrative is excellent and both makes you feel as if you have a hand in the fate of the characters and allows you to step outside of them to judge and understand their actions from your own, somewhat omniscient perspective.

It seems, from the bloviating in this article, that the author is incapable of experiencing a sense of immersion while playing, and has never developed an emotional bond with the characters he plays. I have loved me some books, to be sure, but I have never enjoyed a book as much as I have enjoyed strangling Makarov at the end of Modern Warfare 3. I have been scared while watching a movie, but i have never stopped watching a scary movie out of fear in the same way that I said "oh HELL NO" during Silent Hill 2, thrown the controller across the room, powered off the console without saving, and taken a long, comforting shower. Reading this article made me wonder, in all sincerity, if the author suffers from some sort of undiagnosed spectrum disorder, because his inability to connect with the characters in gaming was evident in every utterance.

He says Gone Home is a teen novel at best, and - as a result - video games are incapable of compelling narrative. That's like saying Twilight is a teen novel, literally, and - as a result - books are incapable of compelling narrative. It's absurd and illogical. The comparisons made are, frankly, terrible and uneven. Video games display a level of exploration and wonder than books and films are incapable of. Morrowind, for example, can we wandered around for hours, simply observing the characters, examining their books and items, and marveling in the completeness of the environment. Books and movies are incapable of letting the player interact in this way, and yet that fact, under no circumstances, means that books and movies are less capable of compelling narrative or story-telling worth. They are different mediums, and should be examined as such and on their own merits. Not every story in one form will translate well to another. But the strength of literally putting the player in the shoes of the character, thinking the player's own thoughts and making the player's own decisions throughout the story... This is unique to video games and is rooted, fundamentally, in the narrative elements of those games, not the gameplay.

The author here has missed the boat completely. I dare say he has spent all of the time writing that entire essay where he could simply have said "I don't understand video games."