With the increased market share of Euro Style table top games (TTG), which typically emphasize collaborative and strategy based game play, a mainstreaming of TTG has occurred. The success of launching independent or related games through crowd founding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo indeed appear to support that a tangible popularity in TTG can be mapped financially and through social media. This can also be seen in the rise in popularity of streaming shows such as 'Table Top' hosted by Wil Wheton, which rather than more niche gaming such as RPGs has placed an emphasis on "family" appropriate and collaborative game play. Even low level concept games such as 'Cards Against Humanity' have become known as "gateway games" that encourage non-gamers into becoming avid TTGs. However, is the rise due to this increased popularity of collaborative gaming or simply due to the social media format of sharing in common activities? Have co-operative games really changed the face of TTG or is this just a fad?
eSports and competitive video gaming competitions have become a serious industry in recent times and are poised to change the overall video gaming industry in big ways. Attracting the attention (and funding) of corporations primarily involved with traditional sports, eSports is set up to not only affect the way future games are developed, but is also set to make some serious revenue. What's your take on how the involvement of large sporting corporations and the rise of elite gamers will effect the overall video gaming industry?
It would also change the current social stigma around gaming, popularizing it more and creating a more serious community. – LaRose7 years ago
Egad. Timely. Especially since Elon Musk's AI just crushed human DOTA players (https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/12/ai-beats-top-dota-2-players/). Great idea. – Paul A. Crutcher7 years ago
In some sense I think it's stifling to game design. It seems that every multiplayer game that comes out is automatically assumed to be trying to be the latest eSport. This is not necessarily healthy for game design if there is a shift from developing fun multiplayer games to developing grueling and complex games with the potential of being an eSport. For example, PUBG is in early access and was still a buggy mess when people were already discussing its potential as an eSport and how the game would need to change to fit into the eSport world. Esports are only now at a stage where it is conceivable that a developer might design a game with the goal of being an eSport as the sole consideration, and that could have interesting results. – MarcoMorgan7 years ago
With recent repacking and re-releases of old titles, what are the most egregious examples of bringing out the same versions of games for that yankee dollar?
Final Fantasy X. I own that game four times over. First PS2 disc got scratched, so I bought another (nothing to do with corporate greed, but it explains the four); I bought the remaster on PS3 then a couple of years later got it again for ps4. – AGMacdonald7 years ago
Break down how important well-written plot and dialogue are to video games. While obviously pure action games like Smite and Overwatch don't need much of a plot, and nothing resembling dialogue, what about games with a campaign mode? Does steering away from Hollywood cliches, poorly-constructed storylines and so on significantly improve the quality of a game? Or does gameplay/cinematography/etc. always trump the quality of the writing?
I would love to read an article about this. It's like when CG just became popular and every movie wanted to use it as much as possible, sacrificing the writing and characters for it. – NBlumenthal8 years ago
Narrative can be a powerful tool and if that's missing from contemporary video games, its definitely worth exploring. In film, the standard narrative is the traditional trope, so maybe talking about how narrative works in different mediums would also be helpful.
– mazzamura8 years ago
Absolutely important, especially considering that some of the consumers of video games are children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities, such as autism, who may have difficulty with social interactions. Many of these children spend a significant amount of time playing the video games. While this may not be intended use, video games can help to these children to improve conversational skills and ability to communicate. – Vaishnavi8 years ago
This article would make for a wonderful read! While game-play, AI, graphics and other technical features are often dissected in detail, few reviews take a genuine in-depth look at the plot of video games. Many are just happy to set up flimsy 'Shoot 'em up' plotlines. – Vishnu Unnithan8 years ago
I feel that the trends are changing, and people are realizing more and more that games as a medium have a new perspective to offer when it comes to how to tell a story. As for how "important" it is for a game to have good plot + story...well, it's certainly becoming more important that it used to be. Overwatch certainly fulfills a certain need - and therefor story isn't as relevant - but on the other hand, The Last of Us didn't have people singing its praises because of it's *gameplay*. I'd be interested to see a piece written on this topic. – Tina Thai8 years ago
Absolutely. We already have to fight against the notion that video games have no plot and should only be played by kids. I treat video games like books. If there's no well written story, I lose interest very quickly. – AGMacdonald8 years ago
Games, like any medium, tell a story. The difference being, the story told in games is far more interactive, and this should definitely be considered. Even in games like Mortal Kombat, there is a bit of a story-- simply look at the way characters interact with each other. And as far as campaign mode is concerned, if the campaign for Mortal Kombat X was poorly written, I certainly would never have been interested beyond the opening level. Good dialogue and good storylines are essential to games that are more than just pure action. – Caspian7 years ago
This is a really interesting topic. The idea of necessity should be the focus here: video games are as broad a medium as film and books, that is, a huge spectrum is produced. We have dialogue-heavy, atmospheric games that are less reliant on graphics or flashy elements, such as Life is Strange, Until Dawn and Heavy Rain. All games should emphasize immersion (the measure of its success is how absorbed the consumer is), but these particular games are praised for their story more than anything else. It would be nice to juxtapose these with games with obviously paper-thin plots, like PVP games such as Mortal Kombat, etc. – Matchbox7 years ago
As esports and professional video gaming become a much bigger part of the wider world, there seem to be many people that show resistance. A tournament of an online game (can't remember which game) was televised on ESPN recently and I was shocked by some of the comments. "These people weren't bullied enough in school," took the cake from the pool of negative comments. Do you think gaming should make it's way into the mainstream world via television broadcasts? Should it stick to game-centered shows and websites rather than leak into the professional sporting world?
I don't necessarily believe video games should be recognised as a sport, but it's definitely worth looking into why kicking a ball back and forth is somehow more social than playing an MMORPG with friends online. – AGMacdonald7 years ago
AGMacDonald. Great point. I laughed at this. This a wide debate that has been going on for years. I even attended a conference where para-professionals delivered their papers on video games as a sport, how gender controlled the video game world can be, and how gamers perceive the concept of gender. It is an goimg, and interesting quetion, why is ghe gamer world still gender centered even though the LGBTQ is very much present in the gamer world. Back to video games beung considered a sport, honestly, a sport requires the movement of the body. It doesnt require a heavy focus on being socially active during the action of doing a sport, but it does mean that you get out of your seat and do something recreational. Interesting topic though. – breeyabrown7 years ago
When I read the topic I initially thought about the move of games/gaming into action movies. Perhaps a comparison of how films such as Hitman 47 and the new Assassins Creed movie are received as entrants into the wider public sphere with that of more traditional "sports" approach would be interesting. One could even work to tie in the mixed format aspects of current online media such as Twitch (which admittedly I know little about) or Web series such as Video Game High School. – derBruderspielt7 years ago
The progressive female representation of Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn has been praised by reviewers and gamers alike. However, the gender politics of Horizon Zero Dawn begs to be further examined. Is there a dichotomy created between the feminine and masculine through characters such as Aloy, Elizabet, and GAIA in contrast to Ted Faro, Sylens, and HADES? Additionally, how is this dichotomy complicated by these same characters or others that Aloy encounters?
Interesting dichotomy thoughts. If you look at this dichotomy, you can see that the point of the masculine characters is to undermine or undo the work of the female characters which, if you think about it, has been happening since before the birth of Zero Dawn. I'm also curious to look at the secondary adn tertiary characters that come up throughout the game who provide quests and fight with her at the end of the game. I would say that at the end of the game that the cycle is broken, but Sylens ruins that as well. I'm curious to see more. If anything, it gives me a reason to play Zero Dawn again! – VideoGameProf7 years ago
Ever since games have gone 3D, there has been an increasing amount of open-world video games. Nowadays, it seems to be a trend of making a game open-world just for the sake of it. Does having a sandbox feel generally improve a gaming experience, or can more restrictive level design benefit a game in certain areas?
I would compare open world games and non-open world games to understand the pros and cons to both game types. – BMartin437 years ago
It stands to reason that changing something as fundamental as dimensions would have a massive impact on the kind of games being made, and the popularity of open-world games (MMOs particularly) makes them a popular major project. Gaming is a big and competitive industry and AAA games have to follow the money. That said, there are ways to tighten up level design in a sandbox (linearity would be the main one). Whatever angle the article takes, I'd suggest acknowledging off the bat that both open-world and closed-world have their pros and cons, and there are dedicated audiences for both. – Cat7 years ago
I don't think there's an easy or objective answer to the question you've asked. The gaming experience is subjective and will depend on various factors, including what a player is looking for in their game and their personality. Having a more linear game style, I feel, is a good way to direct players through a story in a more direct way. Open world gaming has given players, or at least, coincided with the trend of, giving players more power to make and guide their own stories. One feels more like a book to read, while the other feels like you've been given a notebook, a pen, and backstory to craft your novel. Obviously, this analogy is a bit of an oversimplification. Possible benefits of linear might be: for developers with limited or low financial resources, having a linear design means they are able to dedicate their time to the finer details of a game (e.g. if they spend all their time working on an open world, the overall design quality might be reduced, the story might be lacking, etc.) but this is obviously less relevant for developers who have the resources and time to effectively design all components of a game including an open world. – Kacey Martin7 years ago
Analyze video games such as Mass Effect, The Witcher, GTA, or any modern video gaming series that enables players to chose the outcome of the match, with long-lasting consequences in vein to real life, then suggest ways this technology could improve in future titles.
Don't forget to mention that some games can also carry consequences into their sequels (like Dragon Age). I think it would be interesting if we could use this system to create a game like Dungeons and Dragons, which offers the closest to actual freedom than any game (board of video) has previously offered. – AGMacdonald8 years ago
We have already published three articles on this topic: https://the-artifice.com/bioshock-and-the-illusion-of-choice-in-gaming/ -- and -- https://the-artifice.com/life-is-strange-the-illusion-of-choice-part-ii/ -- and -- https://the-artifice.com/video-games-morality-choice/ – Misagh8 years ago
This would be interesting to research. A basic understanding of how games are coded and structured would probably help, I know that how player choice runs is different from game to game, and different companies often develop a kind of trademark use of the feature. Bioware and 2k would both make good case studies. – Cat8 years ago
