As an interactive medium, games have a lot of opportunities to tell stories in different ways that differ from the standard movie-like cutscenes you would expect. A lot of Valve’s games, Half-Life and Portal most of all, do a great job of immersing you in the story while still allowing for player control. That is a great way to seamlessly blend the narrative with gameplay, but my favorite storytelling method is actually something that is even more reliant on player interaction than any other. It answers the question: How do you tell a story without directly telling a story? READ MORE
Thanks to the popularity of such motion-based systems like the Wii and the 360’s Kinect, “minigame” has almost become a dirty term in the industry. You think of Wii Play, Carnival Games or one of the hundred other minigame collections that have come out over the years and plagued us with their tedious mechanics and uninspired gameplay. Not all minigame collections are bad, but most have been pushed out to make a quick buck off the gimmicks of these new control devices. In light of these releases, I want to show that minigames still have a place in the industry, and can potentially be our hope and saviors from potentially monotonous gameplay. READ MORE
Disclaimer: No nuns were harmed during the writing of this column.
Perhaps this isn’t necessarily something that needs defending, but now’s as good of a time as any to discuss moral choices in games. They seem to be popping up everywhere these days, especially in games that don’t really need them. They allow for developers to give players multiple endings, but those endings (like the choices that precede them) are usually on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. What if you don’t want to be as good as Superman or the incarnation of evil? READ MORE
Video game franchises come and go all of the time. To think, just three years ago the Guitar Hero brand was one of the biggest in the industry. In five years, even Call of Duty may not be as prominent as it used to be. We all expect the Marios and the Final Fantasys of the world to be around as long as video games are, but what about those franchises that don’t make it? It’s always nice to see them return, but is it always for the best? READ MORE
Freebird Games’ To the Moon is a game that has had me thinking for quite a while. It explores themes in way I’ve never seen done in a game before, and does it in a highly original way. I would love to further discuss the game’s themes and story bits in greater detail, but I want to avoid discussing spoilers when so many people have yet to play To the Moon. Instead, I’m going to focus on the more general themes that drive this game and how other games could benefit from using similar concepts. READ MORE
