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"Wish I could say the right words...."

....love, guilt, shame, anger...etc.


...emotions. They are something most people believe we are born with. Powerful powerful things. Taking us where we go in life whether that be to our next job or us next relationship. Now you ask me why I am writing this in 'Future of Gaming'. Read on:

We sit. We play. Because thats what we do. Most of really play games for the emotion of enjoyment and joy. Pleasure is the soul good and all that lardi-dar.

Why can't games toy with more of our emotions? I want to feel (not physically) the emotional pain of the good guy trying to save his sister, but when he gets to her she is dead.

FMV's do try it. Especially the last few Final Fantasy's, however Sqauresoft really didn't get the right mix of FMV's and gameplay - and my honest opinion was 'gomakeacuppa' when the FMV came on.

Daily. Yeap, daily, games are blamed for murders and horrific violence - which I suppose is the lay of the land since many games are based on violent conflict. Simple, fun, violent conflict. No love. No emotion. What I want to hear is a game being blamed for more love.

I have never played a game that made me cry. God, imagine that, crying while playing a game, because the content was just to strong or touching. On a flip-side, I have read numerous books that make me cry -they are something special. If a game could - that would be something special.

When was the last time you saw the game end with the good guy dying? The character you played losing, their family all dying. Yes, that may sound extremely harsh, but it would touch our emotional memory (when we remember past events that spur similar emotions) and create an amazing 'wow factor' to the game.

({Trust. WE need more games based around trust})

Obviously, I am not suggested companies should jump on the first saddening story, but they should feature more uncontinuous narrative storylines within games that have an emotionally summoning power. Not just 'hate' and 'kill', but love and real pain.

They have played with our pants with Resident Evil. Burnt our thumbs with Track & Field. Enticed us with guns in Turok.

Why can't they make us cry. Its possible. I want it.

Thanks
Joby

Sibs wrote:
> Gronti_V deserves a GAD for that reply!!!

I read it all, and it had some very
> good points in there. I can especially relate to the Baldurs Gate stuff, as this
> series is one of my favourite ever, certainly they are some of the best RPGs I
> have ever played.

And well done to er-no for his GAD win!

Why is it Gronti always writes a super reply to my topics. Just as well it wasn't two days ago :D
Thanks Sibs.

Gronti_V deserves a GAD for that reply!!!

I read it all, and it had some very good points in there. I can especially relate to the Baldurs Gate stuff, as this series is one of my favourite ever, certainly they are some of the best RPGs I have ever played.

And well done to er-no for his GAD win!

RìÇkø§$ wrote:
> Nah, they're great MoJoJoJo

--------

Fair enough, but I don't seem to get many replies to any of them

Well I've got two different ideas on this one. First of all, interactivity. Sounds out of place but now to explain, you said you have cried at many books and personally I know I've laughed at a few (obviously differing tastes) and then there are films, some of which are even classified as "weepies". So what does that have to do with interactivity, well there isn't any. It's true that you have to use your imagination in books and read between the lines in both films and books but when it comes down to it you are hearing a heartwarming/heartbreaking/hilarious tale told from someone else's point of view by someone else. In games you are playing a part in something, ususually with a view to winning. In a film or book you can't win because you aren't involved but in a game you are the main character. Of course you would think this would increase emotional awareness but really it doesn't. So my next question is why?

Well obviously there is setting, not really an issue of interactivity but you may realise that in games you are usually playing to earn things with a goal in mind, while in stories you are seeing the thing unfold without any influence from you. Perhaps it is the fact that you are too busy trying to stop the evil bad guys to stop and have a good cry about the death of your family. In Max Payne, which is almost a film-book combo anyway, the first thing that happens is that your wife and baby are murdered and really while you may get revenge on a cold plate by the end of the game the theme never gets any jolier and yet we are totally unaffected. Of course this may simply be because you are concentrating on the great fun of leaping around in slow motion blowing bad guys away with your mighty breath... err guns. You as a player are concentrating on playing a game and having fun, not the story about the cop who's family is murdered and then suddenly his whole world falls apart again because of the same thing that killed his family. In a film about this you would feel sad for the star even if you don't weep openly and would also go through all of the highs and lows of Max's emotions during the film.

Interactivity does provide some distance, which sounds strange but actors in a film are unlikely to feel most of the emotions of the character they are representing and writers are too busy trying to create emotions in something they are making up. In the Exorcist the director tried to get realistic fear by doing insane things like firing a shotgun in the air at the right moment, if the actors really felt the fear the characters and even the audience (of the time anyway) did then he wouldn't have had to do this. Perhaps one of the reasons is the way things are all done in parts. Actors do different scenes at different times and so never really create the whole story, and with all the special effects they don't get to see the film as it should be until after they finish making it. Games do something similar, you often have pauses between missions for status or score, or you have to leave a game until tomorrow because it's getting late and you have many hours left to play so in the end the emotion may not be sustained for long enough to actually allow you to feel it. Perhaps the biggest way interactivity affects the emotion of games is that if everything goes wrong you can always load a previous game but when something bad happens in a book or film you can press rewind or turn the page back but no matter what you do that thing will happen.

The second idea I have is that games do create emotions (but I did like that interactivity one, it got there in the end). Perhaps the problem is that the emotions created by games are deliberately different from those created by films and books. Games tend to contain action, something for the player to do (infact a game without this is not a game at all) and action is generally associated with two emotions: fear and excitement. These emotions are also created by action/horror films, you feel the fear of the crew who don't know where that alien is and you feel the excitement and fear of combat. It's true that action can create other emotions such as sadness in films, for example the scene in saving private ryan where hundreds of soldiers are gunned down can create all three emotions. Perhaps this gets back to the issue of you being unable to do anything in a film whereas in a game (Medal Of Honor Allied Assault for example since it has the same scene almost exactly remade) you are trying to survive the run up to the bunkers and don't have time to feel sad for your fallen comrades because you are too excited about running up the beach yourself and fearful of the bullets whizzing at you from up ahead. It's certainly true that games are exciting and fun and this is an emotional response so they are obviously succeeding if this is their target.

Then there are the other emotions of course and you know I think games have managed them in the past. My first example shall be Freespace 2, a space combat sim. You wouldn't think a space combat sim could create emotions other than the action ones I mentioned earlier but this game proves they can. Infact this game is a veritable gold mine cart track of emotional ups and downs. Unfortunately I can't really describe just how Freespace 2 does it without giving away the plot so I will have to be a little sketchy. While we're at it though, I strongly suggest you buy the game if you haven't done so already and experience it for yourself, it may be three years old but it's one of the best games you will ever play. Anyway back to the point, in Freespace 2 you come across impossible odds and feel the gloom of your situation and then you may even emerge victorious and feel the amazing happiness that this brings and there will also be the grief for your fallen comrades. Then there is the ending or should I say endings, which are marvellous (though very similar the difference will mean a lot to you). I wont spoil it though but you could probably feel some of every emotion there is. Freespace 2 may not make you cry openly but chances are you will feel something, unless you are a Vulcan. It's difficult to prove a point when you can't describe the evidence properly but if you play Freespace 2 you'll see what I mean.

Another case study is that of pretty much any Lucas Arts Adventure game. Sam and Max and Day of the Tentacle were released on a dual classics pack just recently and even today they are two of the funniest games ever. You will express your happiness repeatedly in the form of laughter all the way to the end, and beyond. Just thinking the words "like fruitcake" or "Ted is red" could make you laugh long after you play these classics and there are plenty of other quotes in there too. Then there is the Monkey Island Series, all four games are capable of bringing tears to your eyes from the laughter. There's also Grim Fandango, perhaps the most serious of the games and yet not serious in any way. The poems alone could keep you laughing for hours. If you haven't played a Lucas Arts adventure game then you don't know what comedy is. Well maybe but I certainly recommend it (you're going to be bankrupt by the end of this post, if we ever get there).

Finally then are the RPGs, Baldur's Gate and the like are all actually making you "be" the character not just control them. You actually develop yourself in another world, perhaps not necessarily the way you would act in the real world if you are making an evil/good character depending on your criminal tendencies. When it comes down to it though you will not only have empathy with the character and feel what they feel (which is decided by what you feel, how confusing eh?) but you will almost be the character in the same way that Clark Kent is Superman. Of course they have had varying success but I personally believe that Baldur's Gate, Baldur's gate 2 and it's expansion pack did a great job of giving more emotions than just the fear and excitement of combat infact you could almost call the games emotion driven since your choices usually come down to doing good or evil or something in between. It's true that you could play through the Baldur's Gate series without feeling the slightest bit of emotion but it's more likely that you will feel a little guilt or hesitate before doing an act of purest evil. RPGs in general are getting better at doing this, Planescape: Torment was another great one for emotion, perhaps even better than Baldur's Gate despite the fact that you don't get as much freedom to make up a character. In fact one of Planescape: Torment's best features is the fact you have a history of which you are not aware at the beginning of the game and while you develop your character through your own actions you gradually recall things you have done in the past. This can stir all sorts of emotions, perhaps because you did not have control over these actions you have performed and you cannot go back and change them so just like reading a book or watching a film they are more likely to affect you, particularly when you are immersed in the world of your character.

So finally we have come full circle and a cliche is needed, and there it was (those who have played Soul Reaver 2 will know what I mean). So to conclude my lengthy reply a final opinion. We certainly do have emotions in games and they are all the right ones. While it's true that more can only be a good thing, progress is already being made to this end and until they arrive we should be "happy" with what we get.

Nah, they're great MoJoJoJo

Congrats on the GAD win, you beat my Jerry Springer spoof

Maybe I should just give up on writing spoofs

Lol :-D

RìÇkø§$ wrote:
> Big well done, Joby. Well deserved GAD, how many is that now? 13?

Anyway,
> you'd better claim a GameCube game *Shakes fist in air* :-D

Thanks RickOSS.

Geeh. I guess there is still life left in the no yet. I didn't expect to win at all, was a great end to a sour week. Thanks SR.

*begins to cry*

Games should do that :D

Big well done, Joby. Well deserved GAD, how many is that now? 13?

Anyway, you'd better claim a GameCube game *Shakes fist in air* :-D

well done on the GAD, good topic