Keep on Rockin' in the Virtual World

It's no secret that I refer to myself as the "worst English major ever" when discussing my educational background.  My reasoning behind this is because the stories that move me most, that really catch my attention and have me wanting to get to the next chapter, are usually not in books.  Before I hand in my official English major club membership card, let me explain.  In several of my classes, we have been asked to talk about books we have read or movies we have watched that have had the biggest impact on us.  I usually talk about Speak, In Cold Blood, and Pillars of the Earth, but these are my favorite stories that I have merely consumed, not stories that I myself have participated in.  No, I take the greatest satisfaction in assisting the protagonist in achieving his or her goals, as I get as much a sense of fulfillment as I do enjoyment when interacting with these stories.  From helping Terra accept her half-human, half-esper existence, to slaying the dark prince Ganondorf alongside the hero Link in order to save Hyrule, these were the stories that meant most to me, as they immersed me into another world in such a way that no other media could possibly imitate, allowing me to control the action as I saw fit.  Of course, I never had the audacity to admit this in an academic setting, at least until now.

Now I have James Paul Gee on my side, as I can again point to the fact that an esteemed figure from the cognitive studies field is arguing for the validity of video games.  In this case, Gee says that stories in video games "are not better or worse than stories in books and movies.  They are different.  They offer different pleasures and frustrations."  Gee states that the chief difference in games are that the story line in a video game are "embodied in the player's own choices and actions in a way they cannot be in books and movies."  So while game designers create an intricate and detailed story line, what actions the protagonist takes and how information is discovered within the game is entirely up to decisions that the player makes.  There is no better example of this than in Heavy Rain, so let's take a look at an excerpt from the game:

Several times in this video, the player (as private investigator Scott Shelby) chooses what information he or she wishes to hear more about.  Any time a phrase or word appears floating next to an X, O, or a square or triangle, those are options that the player can select from in order to have Scott say something about that specific topic.  With this game in particular, the player doesn't need to go through all of the different options available to him or her-- when Scott first speaks with the shop owner Hassan, he does have an option to simply leave rather than speaking further.  There are many different ways in which this particular segment of the story can play out too:  When I played through this chapter, I had to fight the armed robber as my negotiating skills were lacking, but I still managed to stop the foul-mouthed punk from causing any harm.  When my roommate played through however, he took exception to the clerk's uncooperative nature, and neglected to take any action at all. His story ended up taking quite a different turn as the robber shot and killed Hassan.  There is no "correct" ending to the scenario, nor is there a correct version of how the plot unfolds.  Instead, it continues driving forward dependent entirely on the player's choices, at least within the boundaries that the game's designers have created.

This brings me to another point:  While two sets of readers can view a book in completely different ways (for example a Feminist literary critic and a Marxist literary critic both reading Hamlet), video games takes this to another degree, as two different players may experience two entirely different story lines depending on their own theology, values, and beliefs.  For example, in the game Infamous, players will often be prompted as to whether they want to help others, or fend for themselves.  The game's protagonist will be labeled as either Good or Evil, will be treated accordingly by characters within the game's world, and will unlock powers and special abilities unique to which side of the spectrum he falls on.  This allows for an experience that is customized to fit with a player's "play style" which is influenced by all of the attributes in mentioned above, whether a player realizes it or not.  Books and movies simply do not have that degree of customization where they can cater to the individual consumer.  I believe this would lead to wonderful classroom discussion, as students can talk about the choices they made while playing through the game, and analyze the experience that they received.   **Edit:  This isn't to say that schools of criticism cannot be applied to video games!  I read a great piece on feminism in the Final Fantasy series, although I should warn that some of the images in the blog are NSFW.

Moving along, Gee goes on to say that good video games contain embodied stories or "stories that involve and motivate the player in a different way than do the stories in books and movies."  From his own experience, Gee says that the games have him "so involved at the level of action-worrying about where I am, what's to be found there, what I am doing, what good or bad things might happen to me, what needs doing right now- that the larger story line often seems to float somewhat vaguely above me."  I would agree with this, to a degree.  When I think of the dreaded water temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I can only think of the mind-numbing puzzles that consumed me while in there.  I was not going from room to room thinking of how the third sage was somewhere in here and must be saved (an aspect of the larger story line), but instead was racking my brain on how to solve puzzles or defeat threatening enemies.  I was undergoing what Gee calls the "delicious feeling of being in the midst of things, looking at the world from the ground up and not from a God's eye perspective" in that I was trying to unlock the mysteries of the temple via Link.  I was not told of Link's adventure through text, or shown how he defeated the monster Morpha, but instead I experienced it with him by controlling his actions- his success depended entirely on my decisions and abilities, which had me more invested in the outcome than merely reading ever could.

I could see where this would have some "frustrations" though, as players who are too caught up in the here and now could miss subtle imagery, meaningful dialogue, and powerful cinematography if they are not afforded the opportunity to reflect and observe.  I just rewatched the season finale of Breaking Bad last night (best show on television in my honest opinion), and just the scene between Hector Salamanca and Gustavo Fring alone could be analyzed to death studying the three aspects mentioned above.  Video games will have to take a more artistic turn if they wish to be viewed in the same light, and I think this can be done by making more games that are catered towards adults.  

I am never going to argue that books will die out, as the stories they tell can be moving and powerful.  But I will stick to my guns and say that good video games do have a place next to them, as the way they tell stories offers a unique experience that is not merely a gimmick.  Immersing a player into an elaborate story line, offering the player a chance to unlock the secrets in a way that suits him or her, and allowing the player to directly control the protagonist's actions all adds up to an intimate storytelling experience that has much potential.  I think this would be appreciated most by teenagers, as their connection to the digital world allows them to better view the stories in video games as holding merit.  I believe that by showing the strengths and weaknesses of stories in print, film, and video game in the English curriculum for grades 9-13, it will make these students more literate in today's society as a whole, which should be the main goal of English programs in our culture today.  It's time to get off our high horses and view the storytelling experience of video games through a new lens.