Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

James Clements:  "For years, games have acted as escapism. Life is Strange, however, could be described as the exact opposite. What happens when a game gets you to look at your own life instead? Well, in Life is Strange’s case, an incredibly powerful story that can bring comfort and relatability."

James Clements:  "For years, games have acted as escapism. Life is Strange, however, could be described as the exact opposite. What happens when a game gets you to look at your own life instead? Well, in Life is Strange’s case, an incredibly powerful story that can bring comfort and relatability."

James Clements:  "For years, games have acted as escapism. Life is Strange, however, could be described as the exact opposite. What happens when a game gets you to look at your own life instead? Well, in Life is Strange’s case, an incredibly powerful story that can bring comfort and relatability."

This isn't a new concept, of course, but with the big push Sony gave for Until Dawn, it's an example of a growing trend of how developers embrace video games as mediums for telling stories.

Porque los Video Juegos se han convertido en el Medio Narrativo Perfecto

The recent video game, Until Dawn, offers players the ability to choose the course of the game's narrative by giving the gamer the power to decide each character's actions.  In one scene, two teenagers are tied to a chair, with sharp spinning blades descending on their heads, and the choice of whether one-or both-of the teenagers dies is left entirely to the viewer.  

This idea is fascination because it explores the notion that gamers should serve as the "director" deciding the fate of the characters on screen, which ties back in with the concept that modern audiences want stories to be subject to their will.

Robin Burks:  "Throughout the history of video games, some developers have used games as a way to tell a story. Now even AAA titles such as 'Until Dawn' embrace games as storytelling devices."

As story telling in gaming gets more sophisticated it will have a flow on effect to storytelling in all types of narratives.

Read on for in-depth discussion of what the industry gets wrong about game narrative, storytelling’s growing significance and a look at the prevailing trends to come.

Interesting article on the structure of narrative in games.

La utilidad de la Narrativa en los videojeugos y partes de multimedia interactiva 

Writing for video games brings its own challenges.

This article offers insight on the challenges-and strengths-of video games as a narrative medium.  On the one hand, critics have argued that, compared to the plots seen in films or books, video game stories tend to follow a very simple pattern of "kill the dragon, save the princess."

While this may be true, video games stregth as a storytelling medium is that it can more fully integrate aspects of the environment into the story.  A book can only describe a fight between to characters.  A video game allows players to live that fight first hand.

Diseño de juegos episódicos parte III

Videojuegos episódicos prueban ser igual de adictivos que los episodios de la tele

Interesting transformation of gaming, from MORP (Massive Online Role Playing) to episodic video games--the biggest factors being the visuals and the size of the playing field. However, it does still depend on engaging storytelling, the invitation to suspend disbelief, and come into the world of the characters on screen.

As episodic TV grew out of episodic radio which grew out of serialized stories in newspapers (look up Charles Dickens, for instance), it's not surprising that harnessing the video tools used in adventure gaming can be used for this mode of gaming.

On to the holodeck!

“Players,” Guilbert concludes, “are looking for something new. They’re tired of playing the same kind of games all the time. What we want to bring them is something different, something slower, more poetic, more nostalgic – something which isn’t so present on the market.”

This is a new technology that is just getting started. Huge start-up costs. But... it is an opportunity for a creative young person to be in position to carve a niche for themselves.

Gaming is improving in storytelling!

Very interesting Article. 

"But there is still resistance from filmmakers. Cage cited directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas who publicly stated it's impossible to tell a story that is controlled by a player. "It's interesting to see that maybe they're not fully aware of what this industry is really doing," he said. "Because actually we are making it, we are creating interactive storytelling."

Click to read it and see if you agree -

Será??? Credo!!!

Don't play. But the slight slo mo engine seems uniformly monotonous...