I don't think a lack of cut scenes are necessary to make games good. I don't even particularly want them to vanish entirely from my screen; but I firmly believe that video games have the ability to tell narratives in a way that most developers simply aren't harnessing, choosing instead to borrow heavily from other genres rather than making use of the medium's specific strengths.Green Gibbon! wrote:Okay, well then I am arguing that I don't think it's the sole factor that makes a game good. I don't even think it's necessary to make a game good.I'm just describing what I think makes games good. Didn't you just say all games should have good controls?
Warning - Vast stupidity
I think that's the key thing, it's about what developers want to go for. Some want a game with a cinematic feel to it (Halo 2, GTA, MGS), some want it to be fully interactive and immersive as possible (Half-Life). One method isn't particularly better than the other, but whether or not you like what the developer was trying to go for, or if they tried too hard to achieve it is a decision that's up to the player.Spazz wrote:I agree. The MGS games' cutscenenes have a little monotony, but they're not that bad. It's supposed to be like a "playable movie."Netaku wrote:How the fuck do you manage to argue about cutscenes for three pages?
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. When they don't, it's obvious why.
-
Segaholic2
- Forum God
- Posts: 3516
- Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 11:28 am
Since when were we arguing that cutscenes are necessary? You were the only one that was arguing that immersion was the best and therefore only way to present a game's narrative. I don't recall anyone else saying that you can't tell a story without a cutscene; you were the only one preaching exclusivity.
As for your latest post, I do agree that new and innovative narrative methods in videogames are largely untapped and there is great potential for the future, and that a lot of games do borrow heavily from other genres. However, this isn't necessarily an inherently bad thing. Movies were and still are plagued by comparisons to literature, which is both unfair and ridiculous; the sad truth is, however, that it happens all the time.
Twat.
As for your latest post, I do agree that new and innovative narrative methods in videogames are largely untapped and there is great potential for the future, and that a lot of games do borrow heavily from other genres. However, this isn't necessarily an inherently bad thing. Movies were and still are plagued by comparisons to literature, which is both unfair and ridiculous; the sad truth is, however, that it happens all the time.
Twat.
-
Green Gibbon!
- BUTT CHEESE
- Posts: 4648
- Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 11:39 am
- Location: A far eastern land across the sea
- Contact:
A story's a story no matter how it's told. If a conflict is scripted to take place but I'm in control of that conflict (ie, we won't win this battle until I make it happen) or if I must travel to a certain location but I won't get there until I overcome the obstacles between points A and B, that's still taking advantage of the medium to tell a story in a way it can't be told otherwise.
Of course I'm not saying that there aren't many options or even that there aren't certain options more neglected than others, but again, there is no "right" answer. Whatever works for the situation at hand, which, of course, will be very different depending on the genre and what the developer is trying to achieve.
Of course I'm not saying that there aren't many options or even that there aren't certain options more neglected than others, but again, there is no "right" answer. Whatever works for the situation at hand, which, of course, will be very different depending on the genre and what the developer is trying to achieve.
To put this in analogy, it seems that if we were aguing about books instead of videogames - Popcorn would be arguing that first-person based narratives are the ONLY way to go because it's the only way to let the reader become intimate with the story.
Then he'd go on and on and bitch about how third-person stories are a waste of potential that don't let the reader experience the emotions of the main character to the fullest extent! And second-person just sucks on the basis of sucking.
Boo-hoo. You may not like cutscenes, but don't act like taking control away from a character to tell a story is an affront to videogames in it's purest form.
I HATE MMORPGs. I feel like I'm not doing anything. With no clearly defined goals, I'm just randomly wandering around waisting my money. With no "end" to a narrative, I can never feel truly satisfied by the game.
Games without narratives or defined are fine for me when they're played in small does - Tetris, for example. But for any game in which an ammount of time is put into - I want a clearly defined goal, and I want to have the goal realized once I reach it.
As for Half-Life 2, I still don't see what you get out of it. It's just like any other game with cutscenes, the only difference is that you can ram the main character into a wall when the story progresses.
The thing you have to realize is that you're ALWAYS going to be assuming the identity of someone else when you play any game based around an entity interacting with an envrioment. The fact of the matter is, that what you're asking for is a game where you get to be yourself throughout the whole thing - in actions, body, mind, everything. You just don't realize how boring that would be. I play games to STOP being Zeta for a little while.
Fuck me. I want to be a knight, or a soldier, or a space cowboy! I don't want to be me at all during a game. So it's perfectly fine for me when the game takes over and moves my character along. It's not like I AM the character - we're two different entities and nothing will ever change that. It's more like the character and I are partners.
I don't want to send a tiny version of Zeta into a fortress full of robots. I want to become Sonic for a little while - powers, personality, and actions - including any prescripted ones.
That may be hard for you to grasp, but I actually think that a game where the player is left only to experience things from his perspective alone doesn't make sense. Many times, without giving any definitions to the world, goals, or story - everything will seem random, worthless, and ill-defined.
Kind of like how I feel about MMORPGS.
Then he'd go on and on and bitch about how third-person stories are a waste of potential that don't let the reader experience the emotions of the main character to the fullest extent! And second-person just sucks on the basis of sucking.
Boo-hoo. You may not like cutscenes, but don't act like taking control away from a character to tell a story is an affront to videogames in it's purest form.
I HATE MMORPGs. I feel like I'm not doing anything. With no clearly defined goals, I'm just randomly wandering around waisting my money. With no "end" to a narrative, I can never feel truly satisfied by the game.
Games without narratives or defined are fine for me when they're played in small does - Tetris, for example. But for any game in which an ammount of time is put into - I want a clearly defined goal, and I want to have the goal realized once I reach it.
As for Half-Life 2, I still don't see what you get out of it. It's just like any other game with cutscenes, the only difference is that you can ram the main character into a wall when the story progresses.
The thing you have to realize is that you're ALWAYS going to be assuming the identity of someone else when you play any game based around an entity interacting with an envrioment. The fact of the matter is, that what you're asking for is a game where you get to be yourself throughout the whole thing - in actions, body, mind, everything. You just don't realize how boring that would be. I play games to STOP being Zeta for a little while.
Fuck me. I want to be a knight, or a soldier, or a space cowboy! I don't want to be me at all during a game. So it's perfectly fine for me when the game takes over and moves my character along. It's not like I AM the character - we're two different entities and nothing will ever change that. It's more like the character and I are partners.
I don't want to send a tiny version of Zeta into a fortress full of robots. I want to become Sonic for a little while - powers, personality, and actions - including any prescripted ones.
That may be hard for you to grasp, but I actually think that a game where the player is left only to experience things from his perspective alone doesn't make sense. Many times, without giving any definitions to the world, goals, or story - everything will seem random, worthless, and ill-defined.
Kind of like how I feel about MMORPGS.