For this last blog entry, I will keep things brief. Partially because I’ve made so many previous posts obnoxiously long and I’m due to do one on the short side, if for no other reason than to save on time. But also because I’m talking about a topic that is simultaneously potentially infinite in scope,…

So, I’ve been wanting to do a separate bio-op of meta-narratives since the very first blog post, and it is finally time for me to do it! I feel so giddy. Granted part of it was realizing that we only have about two more weeks of blogs left, so it’s now or never. Crazy how…

On the matter of “fun” gameplay, Walking Simulators, Visual Novels and the “No True Scottsman” of gaming Quite recently everyone in our CS class has hit the midpoint of our projects and has had to make a video presentation on our progress so far. As a member of the “Text-Based Adventure Game” group I talked…

Last week I wrote about how hollow choices that don’t impact the plot in games can cause the player to feel disconnected from the story and critically break the immersion. I called this phenomenon The Illusion of Choice and talked about how it happens and how it happens and possible ways to avoid it. Going…

So, those who have paid attention to my last two posts must be wondering: “Wait, what do you mean games aren’t about you? Didn’t you just spend two weeks extolling the ability of games to make stories feel personal and provide next level immersion?” I did do that, and I stand by those statements. At…

Last week I blogged about how games use interactive storytelling to deepen the player’s investment in the narrative and making them feel like they are part of the story. Unfortunately, I spent so long explaining my reasoning that I neglected to actually present any examples of how games do this. Why don’t we fix that?…

There is something special about how video games deliver story narratives. Sure, more traditional formats of delivering stories can elicit the same broad range of responses as games can. Everything from shocking the audience, to getting them to sympathize with a fictional character, to providing them with temporary distraction from the real, to making them…

So before I give you my life story I’d like to get some things out of the way. I like video games (hey, who doesn’t?). I am greatly interested in the unique behaviors that can be inspired through playing games as well as their potential as a storytelling format. Finally, my ultimate goal would be…