If you ask Frictional Games’ developers, horror games haven’t evolved much since the genre’s late 1990s/early 2000s heyday where Silent Hill and Fatal Frame showed off just how scary a video game experience could be. Sure, titles like Dead Space and Frictional’s own Amnesia capture new glory for the horror category, but other former heavyweight franchises like Resident Evil seem to have lost their way.
This Saturday, at PAX East, I had the pleasure of attending the “Plot vs Play” panel, moderated by Joystiq’s Ben Gilbert and Kotaku‘s own Jason Schreier. The panel brought together three developers who have all worked on landmark, story-driven games to discuss their differing philosophies on the presence and purpose of story in gaming.
We play games to win. To complete challenges, to finish stories, to overcome obstacles. Games are goals and we need to meet them… right?
Prototype game Space Station Invaders doesn’t look like anything special. It’s blocky, a bit clumsy, and derivative. Far from groundbreaking to look at or to play.
One of the many eternal battles the gaming community consistently fights among itself is the seemingly irreconcilable “gameplay” vs. “story” debate.
Look, OK. Let’s press “pause” on the debate. You know the debate I’m talking about, right? That endless disagreement in the video game world about gameplay versus story.
Ever wondered how the original Bioshock was pitched? How about what The Witcher’s game design document looks like? Wonder no more because they’re available for you to browse over at the Game Pitches repository.
Welcome to Objection! This is where we take the time to go on-depth on current gaming issues, and let you guys continue the discussion in the comments section. This week we’re discussing the impact of new user interfaces on gameplay and narrative – how has Kinect, Multi-Touch and Motion Control affected narrative in games, and how does it influence game design?
