Get real - gaming in the real world

Losing the plot

Video games have often been accused of having no story in comparison to books and films. This is often used to explain why playing games is ‘worse for you’ than reading or going to the movies. Fans tend to counter this by citing more recent greats like Half Life 2 or F.E.A.R. Some even argue that this accusation is a bit like saying a football match has no story. But none of these arguments really get to the heart of what is different about games and other interactive entertainment, and what makes them compelling.

When people talk about story, they mean a succession of events which fit together in a meaningful way. But in a game there are umpteen possible ways you can link things together, or at least there are supposed to be. In fact, many of the titles which are cited as having better stories – such as Half-Life 2 – in fact don’t offer that many routes through their worlds, and only a few of them will actually get you to the next level. Their genius resides in making the player feel their actions aren’t entirely dictated in advance.

Even with less ‘linear’ games, not many different courses of action are possible. You may be able to play an RTS level with many different combinations of units, but some strategies are usually better than others. Most importantly, it’s usually hard to progress through a game without following fairly closely what the developer had in mind.

This is where new technologies such as more physics-aware environments come in. The more you can do to the world – and have it react realistically – the more options will be available for different courses of action. Instead of taking on enemies through the obvious main doorway, perhaps you could outflank them by blowing a hole in the wall at their rear. Similarly, improving AI will mean the world has its own ecosystem, where one small player action can have vast repercussions, leading to very different experiences every time. Will Wright’s forthcoming Spore is clearly a step in this direction.

But both improved physics and enhanced AI are merely an expansion of possibilities. There will still be unrealistic limits, and most likely in the way computer-operated characters behave when faced with novel strategies. Cyberspace may become an increasingly pleasant place to play, but there is no indication this will prevent gamers forming real relationships with real people – indeed, the MMORPG would imply that a social life is exactly what gives the most popular games their addictive quality. Perhaps the greatest fear from games is precisely this – that they will lead to new forms of social organisation, which are beyond the understanding and control of national governments. That’s clearly what worries the Chinese, much more than one case of murder caused by the theft of a virtual sword.