2. IN THE BEGINNING….
• The first electronic game was on the Cathode Ray Tube
Amusement device in !947. The game was a missile simulator
inspired by the recently developed RADAR devices used in
WWII.
• Computer programming for chess came out soon after, followed
by Nim, and eventually Pong, Tic-Tac-Toe and other games
began to show up as computers got more focused on gaming.
• What did all of these games have in common? No story line.
3. THE FIRST STORYLINE
• The first real video game storyline came in 1985 with
the Super Mario franchise (the best selling game
series in history).
• After the success of Mario, other games began
incorporating a storyline such as Final Fantasy,
Wing Commander, and the second best selling PC
game, Myst.
4. STORYLINE IS IMPORTANT
• The argument for a storyline in videogames can be
seen just in the numbers. Some of the best selling
games in history had storylines, while relatively
simple, the definitely existed.
• The best selling PC game ever, Sims 2, took story
telling to a whole new level in which they allowed the
player to create their own life stories, however they
wanted.
• Even Halo ended up being reprogrammed to better
suit the gamer’s story telling needs.
• Here is a link for this argument,
http://www.lingualgamers.com/thesis/story_video_ga
mes.html
5. STORYLINE IS NOT
IMPORTANT
• The other side of the argument is that it is more about the
gameplay than it is about the actual story.
• Sports games have little to no elements of story telling,
yet the industry is constantly pumping more money and
better technology into the games. And they still sell.
• Even games such as COD, or Halo have a resemblance
of a story, but when it comes down to it, the goal is to
shoot things and not die.
• Here is a link for this argument, (potentially unreliable
source) http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Why-
Storylines-In-Video-Games-Just-Don-t-Work-12467.html
6. WHEN STORY BECOMES TOO
MUCH
• Recently, story lines have become more and more
complex to the point where some argue that it is way
too much.
• Games such as Beyond: Two Souls, have a tendency
to rely too much on the story, so it feels like the
player is just involved in an interactive movie.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qolJTsmmWA
here is a walk through of the game. This exceeds 8
hours, so don’t watch the whole thing, but be
skimming through, you can see my point.
7. WHAT MATTERS MOST?
• That really depends on the player. For me, I love a good
story, but if the story is lame and seems forced, I am
unhappy with the game. In that case, I would almost
prefer no story.
• Question 1: What is more important to you? Storyline, or
gameplay?
• Question 2: Is a solid storyline needed to make a best
selling game? If yes, explain big selling games with weak
to no story line. If no, explain games like Myst and Mario.
• Question 3: Are video games a new form of story telling
like books and movies used to be? Or are they just
another form of entertainment?