Video Games and Storytelling, The Real Next-Generation of Gaming

Diehard GameFAN: During part of Microsoft’s Xbox reveal and during the E3 conference the speakers promised that new hardware would provide the opportunity to tell richer, deeper stories. The problem is video game publishers and developers haven’t been able to show that they know how to write compelling stories with all of the tools they currently have. Video games are both and art and a skilled craft, and over the decade video games have evolved in many ways, in art, style, and the ways they interact with the player. The plots of video games haven’t evolved with the rest of the medium, however.

[Flavor]

You can tell an emotionally compelling story with an
etch-a-sketch. Video games cannot tell stories as engaging or deep as those in say, BOOKS, because video games are not books. They are toys.

[KUV1977]

Play The Last of Us and then see if you can maintain your statement. I agree that most games, even those with good stories, have poor stories compared to books or the better movies, but if the trend goes into the direction that The Last of Us shows then statements like these will hopefully disappear.

[Chapter11]

I was about to write a deep and well thought out response but then you called video games toys so instead I'm going to call you a idiot and tell you to go back to playing Call of Duty

[SpinalRemains138]

You speak of things which are wrong.

I read a lot and the truth is that the best videogames rival a good book any day of the week.