Blog FeedCan a Computer make you Cry: The Promise of Next-Gen Gaming
I was originally going to write an article about something else entirely, but I saw on Itunes that Square-Enix released several Final Fantasy soundtracks. I clicked a few of them and some, like the original game’s soundtrack, triggered nostalgic feelings; however others, FFX most of all, made me feel sad. They brought out some sadness not because the music was bad but because it was great. The music reminded me of some of the sorrow-laden moments in the series. The technological advancements like voice acting and facial animations that were introduced in the 10th episode made FFX the most inspiring to me. All this brings me to the point there has been a lot of talk about the promise of next-generation gaming but nobody who’s been talking has really hit the nail on the head.
This potential isn’t best expressed by Nintendo’s game different campaign, nor is it best understood by Microsoft’s HD-era message from GDC but rather it is best expressed by a print ad Electronic Arts ran when they were first getting started. The ad posed the question, “Can a computer make you cry?”. This was back in the early eighties and the possibility of such a thing seemed as much in the realm of Sci-Fi as Back to the Future or The Jetsons. Well, fast-forward 20 years, I’m on the couch playing Final Fantasy X, I just beat the game and am witnessing the ending and a few tears run down my cheek.
For my money, that is the real promise of new technology, and it’s one we’ve barely even scratched the surface of. There are those who’ve condemned Final Fantasy X for being too derivative of earlier Japanese RPGs and they’ve got some good points but the emotional response it got out of me, is one that few books and even fewer movies get out of me. Sure, I’m excited to see they’re doing some new stuff with the battles for FFXII but in the end the thing that I really want out of that game is another story as moving as FFX’s story and a world populated by just as many well crafted characters.
So how does this all translate into a roadmap? Where do we go from here? Well perhaps the best thing about next-generation hardware will be its ability to render even more expressive characters. Combine that with the increasing acceptance of video games as a valid acting medium for voiced talent and you’ve got a combination that’s going to lead to some really wonderful things. While occasionally a game like Ninja Gaiden comes along and blows me away with fun gameplay, makes me really want to play it, more and more the gaming experience for me is about story-telling. And while the fuss at this year’s E3 is probably going to be over the graphics the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 can render, what excites me is that they’re going to open new grounds for greater story telling capacity.
12th May | Reply
I find it very interesting to see how, as gaming technology advances, the separation between game types is being made more distinct. I don’t mean genres though, I mean those games which are just a fun romp and those which, as you said, are made to be an excellent medium for storytelling, acting, and other attributes normally associated with film and literature.
The benefits of high-powered hardware were really summed up in Half-Life 2 - the atmosphere and characters as you’re just walking down the street was really quite something (though obivously we take it more for granted as time goes on). I can only see it getting better from here on in. We’re going to be looking at characters and places that are portrayed as well as in any film, but with the user interaction to give that extra level of depth.
Equally beneficial from hardware improvements though was Doom 3, which was little more than an excuse to blow stuff up. Despite being in the same “FPS” genre, this is the kind of separation I am talking about. While one game (such as Doom) uses technology to assist the fun-factor, the other uses it to further develop the world the game is set, for the purpose of, mainly, expression. Which game type you prefer obviously falls under personal preference. Just like movies.
12th May | Reply
Someone really needs to get ahold of Source and Face Poser and run with it. In HL2 you spend very little time (compared to FFX) with other characters. However I felt ridiculously attached to all of them. Alyx, Barney, Dr. Kleiner all of them felt more than just a computer model. I can’t imagine how an RPG would feel having the character presence throughout the whole game.
Perhaps a bit of a sci-fi thought but if a computer can make you cry perhaps it can invoke other emotions. Could a computer make you love? Since character interaction can breech into areas movies and television never have is it possible that someone could develop a strong “relationship” with a computer controlled “personality”. Once AI catches up the visuals who knows what is possible.
12th May | Reply
I don’t think that technology has anything to do with the emotional impact a videogame has. I remember feeling devastated when Chrono died in ChronoTrigger, I kept saying to myself “It’s only a game, there has to be some way to get him back.” Of course there was, but there was also a way to complete the game without him. I never did because I was too emotionally attached to his character to keep him dead.
Similarly, I could never finish the game with Magus killed either, I originally let him live because I thought he would be badass, but after learning his story, I couldn’t bring myself to kill him. As a matter of fact I DID kill him once, but I reset the game because I felt awful afterwards.
Keep in mind for those of you who don’t know ChronoTrigger from…something, anyway, this was a game built on 16-bit technology with a MIDI soundtrack. I think it has more to do with the auteurs of the game than the technology which drives the game. The real problem is that these games were released during a time when videogames were still considered “toys” for “children.”
Only now that videogames have hit the mainstream are they being considered art, true expressive pieces of creativity, the crime is that the past is being forgotten BECAUSE of technology.
13th May | Reply
Head881, the pastt isn’t being forgotten because of technology advancing, the past is being forgotten because it’s the past and people, Americans perhaps worst of all, have notoriously short attention spans. Yeah you can have emotional experiences based on older technology but it’s harder. The more lifelike you can make your characters the easier it is to make them more than throw-away models.
Look at a non-roleplaying example, Chronicles of Riddick. One of the nice things in that game which gives it far more personality and a much more lived in feel is their aren’t any stock characters in it. Their is no, character you see over and over again who’s designed to do the exact same thing. Every prisoner and prison offical is uniquely modeled and has a unique voice. This helps to give them a very human quality even though they are just prisoners. You won’t see this kind of detail on older systems because their would have beene technical problems with so many models and voice acting.
People who really like video games are gonna remember ChronoTrigger; we’re gonna remember games of that ilk for years. My best friend still talks about a game, Betrayayl at Krondor, which he played on a 386 from time to time for instance. People who play games like Madden every year and don’t really enjoy video games as anything more than a minor diversions aren’t going to remember the classics of course. But that’s pretty much the same deal with everyone, I’ve met plenty of people who think that watching black and white films is highly annoying even one like Casablanca. My sister saw a clip for it at MGM studios here in Florida and insisted that it should be colorized or remade because it was in Black and white and it just can’t be THA T good to be worth watching in B&W. She’s 13 so I think she might grow out of it but it’s no different than what you’re talking about.
13th May | Reply
Hmm…good to see some one is finally using the Aelon bolg post maker thingy…
And I agree with the emotional attachment thing. With one of my favourite games, Ico, the thing that I loved about it was the emotional attachment I felt I gained with both Ico and Yorda. At the end of the game, especially with the music that accompanied the final cut-scene, I had a great feeling inside me that few games manage to evoke usually.
I hope for a similar feeling with Wanda and the Colussus, although this is on the PS2. Hopefully the next generation of consoles can continue this, although I see it mainly being only with a few companies that dare to be different. In many cases, as Head881 (I hate numbers after names!) said, it does not matter about the technology. It is always the developers that make the difference. With increased technology and scope for greater human interaction with the games in the future, more companies may dare to ‘let gamers cry’ as Vermouth stated.
And I love the books that Betrayal at Krondor is based on. Raymond.E.Feist is a great author.
13th May | Reply
I think there is not much room for improvement as far as causing an emotional reaction in us. Mainly because it’s mostly the storytelling that causes that, and unless we’re playing an FPS or a game that makes us feel the atmosphere, there is not much that can be done with next-gen technology that can’t be done now, or could have been done earlier.