Have I got a Story to tell you
But that’s not all. Let’s turn to the latest iteration of a well known franchise from the stables of Electronic Arts – The Sims 3. Wikipedia describes the game as a “yawn-worthy†strategic life simulation video game. And to many gamers, especially the testosterone-driven, my-K/D-ratio-is-better-than-your gang, The Sims 3 is uber-lameness with an extra topping of whipped cream. But the game, for all its lack of story, has the extremely addictive “what-if†quality to it. How many times have you come up with a “What if” in a situation, thinking of how you would react/proceed in a different set of circumstances? What if you were some other kind of person? What if it was some other person altogether in the same situation?
This very quality drives the player to create his own story, and the game ceases to be just that and becomes a canvas. You just need to click here to realize how deep, intricate and creative a player can get with the right game. The story of Alice and Kev, completely created in-game will astound you in moments such as this. To have a set of algorithms which can generate such complex human behavior is nothing short of astounding; and ground-breaking.
Another game that allows gamers to let out all their creativity, and in fact, thrives on it is Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet. The side-scrolling platformer featuring the adorable sackpeople put the tools to create levels in the hands of the gamers, and left it to them to drive the longevity of the game’s life. And the gaming community did not disappoint. Far from creating disjoint levels, people have told full fledged stories through the levels they have created with the extensive tools provided by the game.
Like I mentioned before, Gaming no longer exists on the fringes of the entertainment industry. And as it inches its way closer to the centrestage , it will have to carve out an identity which, while retaining the intrinsic “fun-factor†of the medium, must also display it prowess to offer people something which no other medium can offer. While games like Braid, The Sims 3 and LittleBigPlanet may not be as mainstream as blockbuster franchises such as Halo and Gears of War, they hold promise for a future where gaming isn’t just driven by superior narrative, but also by “interactive narrativeâ€
