PAX 07 Panel: Day 1
Storytelling In Games
Tags: Penny Arcade Expo 2007 Categories: Features, Tech Features
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 25th, 2007
The central debate of many gaming arguments is the role of the story. Did it matter whether or not Mario was saving the Princess, or why she was kidnapped in the first place? Three designers sat down at PAX to discuss their thoughts. Dave Grossman of Telltale Games was the most ardent devotee of Storytelling: having been in charge of the most popular adventure games of all time, Sam and Max and Day of the Tentacle. His fellow LucasArts alum, Ron Gilbert shares his love for storytelling but with a bit less zeal. Having worked on Sly Cooper, Nate Fox disagrees, “The story is the last thing that we work on.”
The panel seemed to only think there were action games, and adventure games. The debate is already pretty well-worn, and the audience seemed to be more interested in the way story fits into all games. Grossman argued that one of the most difficult parts of story in games is, “The audience is your worst enemy as a designer.” He argued that much of the pacing and tension is not created by the designer, but by the player and how they choose to approach the game.
Another issue in gaming is that death is such a central part of the storytelling. “When a character dies in an RPG you throw a glass at the wall; that just doesn’t happen with the movies” Fox observed. He nailed it in the head, but an audience asked about how games can adapt to the protagonist dying and coming back to life. Gilbert argued that this is just part of the language of games. It is just something that will be accepted as the norm due to the nature of the medium. He did say that when he was working on Secret of Monkey Island he made a decision that the character shouldn’t die. There should be obstacles, but nothing to stop you completely from finishing the game.
It seems to be that designers and gamers alike are looking for the magic balance between compelling stories and compelling game play. Even Grossman agrees that adventure games are limited by nature, “A mediocre adventure game is nearly unplayable.” Everyone on the panel stated that games were still evolving in storytelling as well as technology.
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Penny Arcade Expo 2007
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 25th, 2007 and is filed under Features, Tech Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
