Sunday, May 1, 2011

Narrative, it's not just for comics, anymore...

Okay, if you haven't already noticed, I'm not a huge fan of this crazy idea that games now have to be "interactive movies". In fact, the limited involvement/straight play factor of games can tend to lend itself better to a more involving experience as the player has to get his - or her - imagination into the mix, some, to flesh out all kinds of things about what is, essentially, a piece of escapism.

Ironically, the web site The Escapist has a few folks on staff that, though the failure of Metroid: Other M, have been able to set out some well learned lessons in character building and narrative. But, the funny thing is, they apply pretty well to comics, as well.

At a little under twelve minutes, I know it can be a little long. But, if you're into gaming, writing, or game writing, you may want to have a watch. Go ahead, I'll wait:

Readers of my comic, Galactic Gun, over at Neverland Transit Authority have noted, over the past year, that there is relatively very little back story with any of the characters. However, that is simply not the case. A lot of what you can glean about Justin, Kali, and the rest is spelled out pretty clearly in what they do and what they say. It's a more natural, organic way, I feel, to go about getting to know who is who in any story. I mean, after all, when people meet for the first time, they don't just sit there and recite their full biography.

Well, this is the Internet Age, so maybe all bets are off...

No comments: