[hermes]

Check this article about writing in games: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/video_games_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001882523

It's rather old in its gamers-looks-to-hollywood-to-understand-how-to-make-good-games ... But some points are interesting while other are hilarious.... I quote:

"Industry observers frequently criticize video games for their inability to pack the emotional wallop that movies seem to create so effortlessly. Ubisoft's Nolent says this task will become easier as the more powerful engines of the next-gen consoles permit characters to more fully evolve.
"In each game, we here at Ubisoft are trying to build in two or three major emotions that we would like to explore," he explains."

Yes that's the thing - phew finally with the new generations is it possible to convey emotions in gaming.... [ahhh arsehats] ... I especially like how ubisoft explores a couple of feelings in each game.....

[fov]

There was A LOT of talk about last year's GDC about how new physics engines and more detailed facial expressions on characters were the keys to adding story and emotion to games.

Huh? The most detailed facial expression in the world can't convey emotion if the "actor" is not provided with the right script. That's even true in movies.

[Lain]

Agreed. So much blame/credit is given to actors that depends on how well the script was written.

The reason actors are so over-paid is because they are the main movie-attracters for most audience members. Of course, without the right script/director most of these so-called "A-list" celebs would be in sitcoms or doing ads for Colgate.

[artwking4]

My imagination is good enough to fill in the blanks, so as long as the voice actor is talented enough to bring life to the script, the game character's avatar could really be portrayed by a plank of wood for all I care. Which is good, because lots of games are already like that.

[Jeysie]

Heh, that quote is indeed amusing... maybe the next-gen consoles are even more powerful than we know... they can stimulate the brain cells of the script writers to produce better plots!

Back to the topic at hand, though... for me, the game I find most emotional is Planescape: Torment. The graphics are very nice, but not at all "next-gen", and the voice acting is well-done but not pervasive. It's the writing that really sells the matter the most, IMHO.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[samIamsad]

re: PS:T: Well that, and interactivity. Since there's no real AI in games thus far to simulate that thing, clever dialogue trees* gave you an illusion of actually interacting with characters, instead of turning them into another lifeless information container for you to drain.

Still, this shows that there's more topics worth talking about than just characters. Scripts. Or visuals. Games are a visual medium, but they're not movies. Period.

*edit: And I don't mean these tedious beasts that force you to exhaust every available option in hopes to find the trigger that makes the game go "CLICK!", but something far more worthwhile. Everybody who has played Torment, Baldur's Gate 2 or Kotor knows.

[samIamsad]

Ah, here's a cool Gamespot feature: http://www.gamespot.com/features/612..._topslot_click

While I really don't think that any game *needs* to immerse the player into some super cool story or whatever to be able to trigger emotions, it's still a fun read for anybody interested in storytelling/writing in games. They're all there: Schafer (Grim Fandango), Avellone (Torment), Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Levine (System Shock 2) ,Tornquist (The Longest Journey). I'm especially fond of Schafer's rather.. sarcastic comments! Enjoy!