The Need for Narrative in the Game Industry
In Ian Bogost’s “Video Games Are Better Without Stories”, the argument is made against the obsessive use of narrative present in games. Bogost believes that other mediums, such as film, television, and literature all have a stronger and more effective use for narrative.
“To use games to tell stories is a fine goal, but it’s also an unambitious one.” There are so many things I find wrong this statement. I immediately thought of the game, That Dragon, Cancer. In it, the story of young Joel, a child stricken with cancer is told in a PC game created by his parents. While the game itself is beautifully animated and awe-inspiring just look at, it would be meaningless without the story of Joel and his cancer struggles. Playing the role of story-teller isn’t only meaningful, but it truly is ambitious. For Joel’s parents to attempt to capture the heartbreak and journey of their now-deceased son, was incredibly ambitious. They probably thought, would this tell the story correctly? Would this memorialize him properly? This must have been incredibly hard for them to go through… to live through the life and death of their son all over again. How can that be unambitious?
Bogost further argues that “the game industry has long dreamed of overtaking Hollywood to become the “medium of the 21st century.”” I find no fault with this. I think all mediums strive to be the next big thing. Everything is a business and artists in the game community have just as much of a right to strive for this as any other medium producer. We are all artists, wanting to be known. Having a strong narrative could be just the solution and driving force to bring the game industry up to par with Hollywood standards.
While some games have a certain value in mindless gameplay, making mush of us and taking hours upon hours from our lives, eventually we will all strive for more from our gameplay. The narrative is a great way to satisfy this want. Bogost argues that narratives aren’t necessary for gameplay because “it’s so much easier to watch television, or to read.” What a boring argument! The argument could definitely be made that reading is perhaps the hardest of those options! Games, especially video games, often include reading and watching visuals, all while transporting us to a virtual place. Much like the mental images of setting you find yourself thinking of when reading a novel, video games are able to virtually materialize these, in turn saving us the brain power of imagining it ourselves. We are immersed into a new world and are able to witness the beauty and detail artists spent hours and hours on.
Another source titled “Narrative, Games, and Theory” by Jan Simons, explores a seemingly valid point.“For game players, characters are vehicles onto which they project their own goals, skills, experiences and understanding of the game. Characters in games, one might say, are functional and not emotionally and psychologically characterized entities as their counterparts in narratives.” Drawing back to the example of That Dragon, Cancer, this argument can completely fall apart. Especially when using real life people or ideas personified, who is to say characters in games are not “emotionally and psychologically characterized entities”? Although they are not (usually) real and usually already have a pre-determined destiny, they have fears. They have wants and desires, created by the narrative inside of the game.
Narratives and characters can work together, strengthening gameplay and enhancing the overall experience of the player. Narratives don’t just fit into games, they are necessary for them to continue to evolve and become larger, more respected mediums. Eventually, gaining the equal prestige of Hollywood films.
Bogost, I. (2017, April 25). Video Games Are Better Without Stories. Retrieved September 20, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/video-games-stories/524148/
Simons, J. (n.d.). Narrative, Games, and Theory. Retrieved September 20, 2017, from http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/simons
