Conflicts In Game Design
- Thread starter Sultan
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I can say that what an hour that was not wasted. I do so enjoy his lectures.
My question is this, though, does a game like Shadow of Colossus (I haven't ever played Ico, so I don't follow have preset information to fill into this game like some do) which doesn't offer much of a story and is purely gameplay, yet still plays on our ideas of love, personal responsibility and betrayal fit within the concept of games he was proposing to us? Games that will last and be meaningful, because as much as I enjoyed that game and felt for the character, I can't say it is something that could have impacted me in the way he describes.
My question is this, though, does a game like Shadow of Colossus (I haven't ever played Ico, so I don't follow have preset information to fill into this game like some do) which doesn't offer much of a story and is purely gameplay, yet still plays on our ideas of love, personal responsibility and betrayal fit within the concept of games he was proposing to us? Games that will last and be meaningful, because as much as I enjoyed that game and felt for the character, I can't say it is something that could have impacted me in the way he describes.
Technically, Shadow of The Colossus occasionally implemented a cinematic method of storytelling and did have a story, though it was mostly setup and minimalistic. Shadow of The Colossus and ICO were a step in the right direction, in the sense that you were invested while playing the game, and the expression and meaning flow naturally through gameplay as apposed to solely tied to another medium of story telling in the game. That being said, he mentioned that Film is a medium that reaches out to a great number of people and benefits them in a meaningful way. But what does that mean? It means that there is a great selection of films that speak to us because they're well done and live up to the potential of expression and if one film didn't make a significant impact on you, another could. Or any form of art that can utilize the potential of its medium. In games, we only have a handful that come close in that regard let alone them being small budget and prone to limitations.
And I'm not saying that because Shadow of the Colossus has some cutscenes, it didn't have that great of impact on you, I'm saying that this is one game that talked about those themes. But we don't have that great of library of games that meaningfully express other themes that could speak to you individually, while film on the other hand has an enormous library of meaningful pictures. So if we take the direction to design games in that way we could build a foundation to a new movement of expression that could evolve to something great and significant to people.
And I'm not saying that because Shadow of the Colossus has some cutscenes, it didn't have that great of impact on you, I'm saying that this is one game that talked about those themes. But we don't have that great of library of games that meaningfully express other themes that could speak to you individually, while film on the other hand has an enormous library of meaningful pictures. So if we take the direction to design games in that way we could build a foundation to a new movement of expression that could evolve to something great and significant to people.