However I do believe However at present they seem to be striving to be more and more like cinema. that they are evolving, and that they have the potential to be a legitimate art form, and certainly they will become art before their emotional resonance compares to film. Consider this:
Everything about this looks awful, but at least it's advertised like a film. Games are becoming more focused on story and are less often purely gameplay based. This merging of mechanic with motive is in its infancy and many argue that this is a bastardisation of the form. Cut-scenes in games stop the action so you can watch a brief expositionary cinematic, though this seems like a jarring attempt to make games into films - something they can never be, and a clumsy way of moving the plot forward to boot. However a game like Half Life 2 presents a rich and interesting story, if slightly linear, in a way that never takes control away from the player - dialogue occurs between characters in-game, who turn to face you, and talk to you wherever you choose to stand.
Recently I have been asking myself, would it be possible to make a 'game' that has nothing to shoot, no puzzles to solve, but simply a narrative, and a world to explore. After all, exploration of space is one thing that computer games can do better than any other art form, the potential to allow a player to explore and discover a world is unmatched. And so, I'm going to use this episode of an anime series that I was shown by blog member Masquerade as a kind of case study. Could it exist as interactive media, if not a game then maybe something in between cinema and video-games? Clearly it would have to change in order for there even to be a point to it being a game, but I feel it's a good jumping off point. Could a game exist that has no conventional objectives or point to it? The idea of a pointless meander through an imaginary world rather appeals to me.
And so, it's very odd, very quirky and only 25 minutes, here it is, the first episode of FLCL:
And on another note
A shining glimmer of hope for me as a developer would be digital distribution platforms such as Xbox Live and WiiWare, which allow developers to release games, albeit smaller games pretty much instantly without having to get a publisher involved. They allow Geek A to make Game X in their bedroom and then send it Microsoft who will put it up there with a price tag attached. Braid is an example of a recent indie success, the game a simple side scrolling platformer with a twist. which sold a modest fifty thousand copies and will enable said geek to develop his next game without the hindrance of a real job. Hooray! This of course also bodes well for small games companies who will not have to pitch their idea to a gaming behemoth, and can thus, in theory, make something new, unique, and hopefully interesting.
Bionic Commando - Rearmed has also just been released on XBLA. It's a beautiful looking remake of an older title of the same name minus the last word. For eight pounds it's addictive, very challenging and filled with enough content to keep you playing longer than most big titles that are released on shop shelves. It also has some genuinely great artistic direction and boasts some, admittedly juvenile but charming 'breaking-the-fourth-wall' humour.In other news not quite worthy of it's own blog, there is an upcoming WiiRemote upgrade called Wii Motion Plus that will probably cost almost the same as the controller itself and boasts the incredible power to 'make it do what it was supposed to in the first place'. Nice but I'd rather just sell my Wii and buy a the next Nintendo console that already has all that technology built in.
