I watched some episodes of the Lone Ranger today on TV, and not surprisingly, I thought about how this relates to video games.
What really struck me was how play-like the episodes were. When TV was brand new, nobody knew how to take advantage of that technology. People spoke obvious feeder lines to the audience, cameras shot from one angle, people came in and out of a set room, delivered lines, then left. All of these things were directly related to how people used previous media methods. The Lone Ranger had the exact kind of staging that plays did, and the pandering feeder lines came from the radio show style plot.
Now, its hard not to laugh at how not-mature these TV programs were in terms of utilizing their media form. The problem with the Lone Ranger wasn't that the plot was bad, it was that they were using the tricks of previous media to tell their stories. The obvious feeder dialog from stageplays and the non-stop dialog from radio programs are simply methods used because writers and producers didnt know any better at the time. They didn't understand the value of multiple camera angles or closeups on facial expressions during extended dialog because they only knew how to present a story in terms of what they had already seen. You can't close-up on someone or change views in a play, so why would they think to do this for TV?
When we talk about employing story in video games, we rely heavily on things like cutscenes or linear story plot. This is because like early TV producers, we don't know what to do with this new media form because we've only been exposed to the media that's around. There is a way to present plot in video games that is optimal for the new, distinct media form. We have yet to really distinguish that from existing media forms.
I'm sure we
can all think of what form of media would be best for any specific
story, and although we can certainly tell any story in any medium, James
Bond is definitely best told in movies, the Walking Dead is best told
through TV shows, and the Lord of the Rings was best captured in written
narrative. What story is it that video
games can tell better than other media?
It's a question that's worth considering, and--like other polished media forms--won't be answered overnight. With more experience in creating video games with narrative we will be able to iterate on the process and provide something that will allow us to express ourselves in ways that we could not do before. As soon as this happens, digital games will fulfill a need that will bring them the respect of all the media forms that we know and love.
