Just a slight thought but as I study film in my classes, I sometimes wonder if games could or will take the same direction. What I mean is Hollywood has created conventions that we see all the time. These are our genre films- detective films, superhero movies, horror films etc.
If you have seen one, you have seen them all. You know the superhero won't die, you know the case will be solved, you know how a horror film plays out. Now this is not always true as many directors and such love to play around with conventions but for the most part it is.
This is really what we are seeing in games these days. Genres where if you have played one, you have probably played them all.
The MMO genre- EQ, EQ2, WoW, AoC, LOTRO- all of them are exactly the same with changes in theme, characters, graphic style and such but they are virtually the same. The RPG genre-this actually would get broken down into two sub genres- the western RPG and the eastern RPG. Western RPG tends to be more focused on becoming a character, choosing between good and evil as well as just doing whatever you want to while the eastern is more focused on story and the grind of leveling. The First person shooter- half-life, halo etc. Really do any of them differ all that greatly? Same conventions really, different story and sometimes you get new tools but virtually the same. There are countless more but perhaps you get where I am going.
In film starting around the late 1920's to the 1930's and beyond, directors began to experiment with film (this is arguable for some since experimenting with film really started for some at the very beggining back in the late 1800's). This is where experimental films, Avant-gard, art cinema or whatever name you wish you apply to it comes from. I will stick with Avant-gard since I am most familar with this label.
Avant-gard as many may or may not know is a french word for basically the front line. The first to die in battle. It got applied to film as directors began to break new ground on what film could show. Most of these films are very unpopular and cause many to get very angry. They are meant to break the conventions of film and what is possible to show and convey meaning. Many do this in controversial ways. I'm almost surprised that youtube actually has one but if you are actually interested in what I am talking about here is a link for Un Chien Andalou or An Andalusion dog. The music is not the original music but the message is still there.
*Warning* It will not make sense and it has somewhat disturbing imagery. Stay away if you don't think you can handle it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgEftZ4U3AE&feature=related
There are countless ways that games could really begin to do the same thing. Now I'm not saying that games should be confusing, somewhat unentertaining and disturb us but there is possibilitly for games to take at least some of the conventions of Avant-gard and apply it to games.
There is another film movement that happened somewhat recently...the dogma 95 one. Happened in 1995, Basically it called for movies to be more truthful. No fancy sounds, no music, no fancy cameras only handheld ones and more. The movement still made films that had a story to them but they very much reminded one of the Avant-gard films that continue to this day. Festen or the celebration, one of the greatest films I have ever watched is a product of this movement. read the wiki article if you are truly interested in it and watch the clip from Festen if interested as well (unfortunatly it's the best youtube has, at least you can see some of the interesting camera angles and the fact that there is no music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WlrQi0h-xc&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95
Now it's a little hard to take the concepts of film and apply it to games and yet it shouldn't be. What is a game supposed to be? For many, it's supposed to be an intereactive film. For others pure entertainment. Considering gaming has only been around for say almost 30 years I'd say (I'm not terribly sure but sounds about right) is it high time for a gaming movement? Do we want games that can't be put into a certain genre? Can games evolve such as film has and continues to do so?
Honestly at the beggining of writing this, I felt like I knew what I was talking about in terms of games but now I'm almost lost. Can a game break new ground and send a message through what it shows rather than through a story? Can games be artsy? Should they be artsy? Obviously games are created for a profit for the most part but with a significant rise in smaller companies over the years will we begin to see games that are more than just games? I honestly don't know. I'm not even sure if films and games really go together sometimes but at the same time, they feel similar. Games and movies are meant to entertain. One has you watch and the other has you interact. With interacting comes a whole new mode of telling story, of destroying conventions, of being more than just pure entertainment. T
I feel this was an interesting little blog to write. I didn't answer any of my own questions, only created more (though it did help me to study a bit for my film final :P). So really, after this long and perhaps boring blog on film and games, any thoughts?
It already exist for games, it's called indie games. Take a look at www.gametunnel.com, I know that a lot of the games there suck but some have really good and innovating ideas. They all have one problem in common: virtually no-one plays them. So the great ideas don't get to the masses and the big companies keep making clones of the same game with better graphics and an easier learning curve. I guess that's what most people want, but you should know there are a lot unique games out there that cannot be placed in one 'genre'.
Mon Jun 09 2008 2:01AM ReportInteresting... had no idea about that site... though only a very small amount seem to be truly innovative.. at least the innovation I'm thinking of. Most seem to be evolutions of puzzle games, 2d shooters and the likes. A few seem interesting...I'll have to check a few of them out but first look basis they are independent and of course free from developer stuff but I don't see much in terms of disassociating themselves from the main genres. A few seem as if they might be trying this but hard to tell just from a glance. I'll have to check it out for sure and maybe comment on it further.
Mon Jun 09 2008 2:53AM ReportTwo games you can take a look at: Determinance (innovating sword-fighting system), threadspace hyperbol (very tactical multiplayer action game). It's true most of these games don't have good graphics or tons of storyline, but that's because they are working with small teams and small budgets.
Mon Jun 09 2008 8:51AM ReportOh, no worrries. The use of horrible graphics and small storylines is really part of evolution (is for film at least). Does it work in a game though is another matter. Also people tend to pay for the story...not neccesarily the gameplay and such. If stories didn't exist in videogames, they would be much much cheaper.
Really my whole blog (which would have been clearer had I suddenly not gone and tottaltly not know what I was really trying to get at) is about how revolutionary interactive games can be since really many are just interactive film. Can they be artsy? and not like Okami artsy. Artsy that they don't neccesarily make sense, or leave you confused, or stumped. Artsy, so that they provoke meaning and thought in a player without a significant storyline. Perhaps a story the revolves around symbols rather than words. I'm still not sure it's possible but it would be interesting to see.
Mon Jun 09 2008 1:46PM ReportMMORPG.com writes:
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