Many feel video games will never be as emotionally engaging as movies.
But, Peter Molyneux, the creative force behind the Fable series and the seminal god game Populous, thinks much differently. In a conversation with Frank Rose of Wired, Molyneux discussed the potential and future of video games. Molyneux also talked about Fable III and what to expect from the new game. He did not specify when it was coming out, but he did mention it was going to be out very soon.
Molyneux talked about what he believe the future of video games holds. He said, “I recommend anyone who wants to start to see the first glimpses of the future of video games to go out and buy it, but, personally, I could not bring myself to play more than 90 minutes, because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up.”
Christopher Grant, editor-in-chief of Joystiq talks about Rose’s and Molyneux’s conversation:
Molyneux talks about projects he has been a part of:
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I would agree that it is easy for adolescents to take video games and the content they share as more reality than fiction. Studies over the past decade have shown that there is an increase in adolescent violence amongst their peers as a result of violent/graphic imagery used in many of the top video games today. Many games that are on the market today encourage killing, drug use, the exploitation of women in society, and other social ill wills that eat the the fabric of our youth.
Even in my own video game playing I have noticed a change in my behavior when playing a violent game verses a brain teaser or sports genera game. Although the effects seem to subside soon after stopping the playing of the game for our youth this repeated imagery is instilled at a very young age. Thus, with the advancement of video game graphics and the subject matter that is presented more and more of our youth may suffer from unknown negative effects that may become more apparent as time goes on.
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As a former Fable 1-2 player I agree that some games can be very empotionally involving. This is mainly true because the game designers/story editors make you connect with the characters on a way deeper level than old games use to do. The first game of this kind was Final Fantasy VII, which engaged the player not only on a game-play perspective but on a deep emotional connection with the characters.
I wonder if future games will continue to do so because for example Final Fantasy XIII has deviated from this reducing the amount of time you could just connect with the characters in the game and increasing the action and fighting. I will be buying Fable 3 not only because I loved the first 2 installments but also because i really enjoy games that emotionally involve me and make me care about the characters in them.
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In designing the user experience, developers need to remember that video games are meant to serve as a leisure activity . It is true that games like World of Warcraft and Fable call for long hours of play in order to fully appreciate the games’ worlds but the “second life” effect adopted in these virtual platforms has caused some to neglect real life responsibilities in favor of those encountered while playing.
This month, it was reported that a Korean couple was charged in the starvation and death of their infant daughter. The couple had been spending long sessions in internet cafes playing a game that, oddly enough, involved the raising of a virtual child. Games like Fable offer a very original and artistic virtual adventure that is very entertaining. This virtual realm however, does not merit as much of an investment of someone’s time and attention as some developers are working so hard to capture.
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Video games are changing drastically. Everybody loves the old Mario games, but nobody wants a new one. People want something more involved. They want a connection to the characters even if they don’t know it.
I play games like Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 3. While they are pretty out-there games, they consists of a storyline and characters that you can relate to. They also contain a very interactive element to them. That is what people want. They want to be able to change the outcome of characters that they find interesting.
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Although these articles talk about Fable III, one game comes to my mind when I think of computer games people get emotionally involved with: World of Warcraft. I am not a pc gamer, but knowing several people who got into the “WOW craze” a few years ago, that game opened my eyes to how far computer games have come along in terms of emotional involvement. WOW might not be as popular now as it once was, but it did cause an impact in the PC gaming world & its celebrity endorsements did catch the attention of people in the mainstream & made PC gaming “cool” to some people.
The evolution of PC games has been very phenomenal. Websites like http://www.gamefly.com/ gives gamers a way to access old games that they used to play but was all but forgotten. PC gaming has transformed into a culture all its own, & gives people a way to reach out & even live their fantasies in another dimension.
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In my experience with gaming I really don’t like when the story seems to be more important than the game. Perhaps when the stories get better I might enjoy sitting and watching the CGI, however the stories are super weak. The music is weak and the CGI is weak.
American cinema already has really undeveloped story line, how do we expect people to watch and enjoy something that is torn between movie and game? I feel as if any audience attends movies to the ACTORS play a character, or a DIRECTOR make a movie. Now the gaming world will be attempting this cinematic style but with no actors or directors. The question is whether people will be willing to watch/play a game with no directors or actors or hype or trailers. I don’t think so, everything will be lost in how undeveloped CGI and how all you cant watch in a video game is how stiff the characters arms are. We will be seeing that for the next few decades.