The Use of Storytelling in Videogames - Essay Example

? The Use of Storytelling in Videogames Storytelling has been in existence since time immemorial as a way of transferring information and knowledge from generation to generation. Story telling has evolved from the traditional methods of narration and writing to embrace advances in technology. The first video game developed was called “pong” on the 1970s. The game was immensely popular and it inspired the creation of others such as Asteroids, Packman, Invaders among others. The unique advantage of video games as a platform is that they are interactive. This is not possible in the traditional storytelling methods and even theatricals. Video games allow the player to make a choice on the direction that the story will take. The freedom to make a choice makes the player feel a part of the happenings in the story. The player has the ability to make decisions that impact on the story. Video games enable players to role play and this makes the player to adopt a set of characters for the choice made. Story telling through the use of video games offers more latitude to the player because a single game can have multiple endings. The player has an active role not just as a mere viewer. The games that are player driven games tell a story in a dramatic way such the player feels the impact of the decisions taken in real time as the game continues. The outcome of the video game may depend on the performance of the player and the options taken in the scenarios that present themselves in the game. Therefore, the video games tell a story in a dynamic and interactive way instead of the traditional media that tell stories in a static way. The synthesis between the story and game play is important if a video game is to have an impact on its target audience. The user interface of the game has to be compelling and the game should not have any technical bugs that affect it during play. The storyline has to be well thought out such that even if there can be multiple outcomes of the game, coherence and flow is still maintained. Videogames allow for the developer to include a back story. This significantly helps to expand upon the main story and put all the characters in context. For instance, if a given character in a war game is full of vengeance, the background story can be given to elaborate on the reasons for this. Back story also helps to add special scenes to the story that highlight traits of character that may not be shown in the game. Different game modes allow the player to choose the specific settings that suit their preference when playing the game. The result of this is that the games tells a story that is customized to a given player hence it becomes more captivating and interesting than in the traditional media. Video games engage the player to actively take part in activities that unfold in the story. The feeling of involvement makes the story more engrossing to the player; a feat that cannot be attained through the use of traditional media. The use of video games in story telling has gained widespread adoption especially among school going children and youths. This is because the characters in the video games are easy to identify with. On top of that, the challenge involved in crafting their story as they play the video game is a significant motivator. In as much as both video games and films share the same characteristics in terms of story line and visual style, video games have an added advantage by enabling interactivity. Videogames may also tell a story through cut scenes. This is whereby the game pauses and plays a saved clip to explain the next plot before play advances. The player has to put aside the controls and watch the clip before advancing to the next level. However, with advances in technology, most games of recent times have embraced the concept of empowering the player to write the story. This further cements the position that the future direction in video games is more inclined towards player driven games. The actual control of the games may not necessarily be real but what matters is the illusion or feeling by the players that they are in control of the happenings in the game. The other unique feature of the videogames as a storytelling platform is that it is possible to tell the story in new way every time that it is played. This is possible bay enabling the player to make choices and transforming the game according to the specific player preferences. Recent advances in the videogames industry have opened a new frontier with the introduction of news games. This is an innovative approach to delivering news whereby the video technology is used as a platform. For instance, the popular game “Cut throat Capitalism” sensitizes the player on the issues regarding piracy by letting them play the role of a Somali pirate. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) also used a game platform to delivers news articles. The use of video games in news technology helps to vividly portray a news item by adequately answering the question of “how” The enormous uptake of videogames can be attributed to the strong marketing by the publishing firms and platform holders. Through clever marketing ploys, people are encouraged to buy goods and services at a higher scale. Internet consumerism has been promoted through the numerous advertising campaigns on all media platforms. Research by Kimberly (2006) showed that in the United States, eighty four percent of kids play video games. The video games are played in a variety of platforms such as consoles, over the internet and through mobile devices. Companies have come up with ingenious ways to promote their products in video games. For example, organizations place their products in the scenes within the video games and the product placement is done dynamically. In the game “Street Hoops” by Activision, there are billboards with Sprite adverts on them. This helps to develop a deeper connection with the player since the brand appears every time. In other games such as Pro Surfer, the characters in the game use Nokia products and this helps to foster deep brand awareness. Companies pay millions of dollars to have their products placed strategically in the videogames. A more interactive approach is whereby a player can order for actual products while playing a game. The companies may secretly have the games configured to collect a player’s information so as to tailor the adverts. the games may be designed in a way that the adverts that are shown respond in real time to the player’s actions. Such targeted and precise advertising ensures that the players have an increased percentage of brand awareness. To further promote the story line of a given product, some internet based games actually allow players to purchase some of the products of the advertiser. Some companies have launched videogames that are purely advertisements. According Meyers (2007), the youth are the biggest market segment for most products and services. Videogames that act as adverts are designed in a way that they help to fulfill the desires of the youths who are seeking self identity. Companies that have products that target children usually have “advergames” posted on their sites to entertain the kids who access the website. The “advergames” are purely a marketing strategy to encourage them to use the product and develop strong brand loyalty. For instance, the Nestle site has a game that bops Nestle products and gives redeemable points to players. Other big companies in the United States such as Coca Cola, Nike and Reebok have also embraced the use of videogames to promote their products. In this age of consumerism, people desire more and more products and services some of which they may not afford. Video games allow players to choose some gear and equipment that they otherwise cannot afford in real life. The players can also create allies and they find colleagues who they share certain values with and hence feel a sense of belonging. In fact, online games like Farmville allow people with similar interests to become allies and work in tandem regardless of geographical boundaries. These games enable a player to craft his or her own story to a global audience and hence work on improving on self esteem. Games are marketed as a platform to express one self and create an identity. Convergence of technologies has also had a tremendous effect in the media industry. In the present world, the consumers are demanding a device that can do more instead of having several devices for each and every purpose. People want to have access to all that they desire easily and conveniently. As pointed out previously, video games and movies share a lot in common. With this in mind, movie technology and video games technology borrow from each other. It is a common phenomenon for video games to be adapted as movies and vice versa. The essence of this is to make it possible for a story to be retold in various platforms as deemed appropriate. Examples of videogames that have been adapted as movies include Halo in 2009 and Metal Gear Solid. The captivating nature of a story line and visual style that is evident in videogames is the reason why the demand for adaptations of movies and novels to videogames is enormous. Several movies have been converted to videogames and made record sales. Examples of this include Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider and Harry Potter movies. There is a deliberate trend towards the design of games that are rich in graphics and smooth controls so as to make the game playing experience more rewarding. The screens for game consoles have been significantly upgraded so as to replicate the clarity of movies. The trend of converging technologies has also been evident since a person can play a game in using a computer, a tablet or even a mobile phone while enjoying a largely similar experience regardless of the device in use. The nature of games are developed are tailored to be suitable for players to enjoy at any place or moment. There have been challenges on how to make videogames captivating in all platforms especially the mobile device. This is due to the rather limited processor power of mobile devices and the small screens as compared to computers and console screens. However, recent advances in technology have led to considerable improvements in processor power up to two mega hertz. Also, the resolutions of the mobile phone screens have been improved. Therefore, it is possible to make games that have an enriched experience on mobile devices. Since most people carry their phones with them throughout, the chances of playing the games is high and hence there is a great possibility for the message of the game to be delivered to a larger audience. Some proponents of the traditional media are of the opinion that videogames do not play any important role in storytelling. The argument is that stories have to be told in a certain way and only the traditional media can fully capture the essence of storytelling. They believe that the videogames are just to serve the purpose of entertainment and they cannot have the all round impact of being both entertaining and educative. On the other hand, it is evident that video games technology is truly revolutionalizing the story telling experience altogether. The unique proposition that videogames provide which the traditional media cannot offer is interactivity. The natural evolution of storytelling is seemingly towards video technology. The interactivity provided by videogames has rewritten the rules for storytelling. Long gone are the days that the audience of a story was just passive with no role to play in the story. With player driven videogames, the player has all the liberty to direct the flow of the story through various methods. The outcome of the story can be changed depending on the settings the player selects or better still depending on the performance of the player. The ability of videogames to make a story compelling has resulted in its wide adoption even by corporate companies. Videogames have been used by marketing agencies to implement what has now known as “advergames”. This is the development of games that are used to advertise products of companies by attempting to tell the company’s story through the videogame. Also, videogames are becoming useful in the realm of journalism in that they are used to tell news stories. The videogames offer a more compelling story in an engaging manner as compared to the traditional print or broadcast media. In conclusion, it should be noted that the younger generation has fully embraced the video games technology in their day to day endeavors. Although the videogames may have shortcomings when it comes to storytelling, rapid progress in convergence of technologies may be able to make up for this deficit. It can be argued that the future of storytelling lies in the videogames technologies. Bibliography Amazon. 2012. Video Games. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/computer-video-games-hardware-accessories/b?ie=UTF8&node=468642 Fekete, S., Keith, L., 2001. Capitalist Consumerism: The Future Of Marketing and Advertising. Albany, NY: Wiley Jenakins, M. 2011. Gaming For Dummies. New York: Sage. 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