The Brainy Gamer’s narrative “manifesto”

Michael Abbott at the Brainy Gamer connected few thoughtful dots recently when he excerpted several essays about narrative in games. I’m not going to bother quoting anything as he’s already done that in his post. Abbott’s noticing what I’m noticing, and what anyone really paying attention to the medium should be noting right now. Things are evolving in all the right ways, and it’s just an exciting time to be following videogames. (And, subscribe the guy’s podcast while you’re at it.)

Also worth a read is a response to the “manifesto” from Chris at the Artful Gamer. He thinks designers may be barking up not only the wrong tree, but hanging out in the wrong forest when it comes to how they think their creations should interact with the player, or vice versa. Consequences carry little weight unless the world in which they’re made is vibrant and believable, he says:

We’ve forgotten that our ability to engage with something is a gift inherent to human perception, and instead we’ve attempted to replace that form of engagement with a derivative technological form of interaction (player-game). When I engage with a game, and really live in that world, everything around me falls aside. The choose-your-own-adventure-esque choices that I make in game mean nothing if I do not already buy into the world as a living, breathing, place, where my choices matter not just to me but the game world itself.

Full articles: Narrative manifesto; Narratives and Interactivity Still Misunderstood