Cut-scenes do not a videogame make
Screenwriter and videogame developer Jordan Mechner, who is writing the Prince of Persia movie I’m executive-producing, has a great opinion piece in the new Wired magazine. In it, he argues that videogame-makers need to stop trying to ape Hollywood blockbusters, and instead focus on creating playable stories:
In a movie, the story is what the characters do. In a game, the story is what the player does. The actions that count are the player’s. Better game storytelling doesn’t mean producing higher-quality cinematic cutscenes; it means constructing the game so that the most powerful and exciting moments of the story occur not in the cutscenes but during the gameplay itself.
You can see the whole article here.
Articles
March 24th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
A few ancient texts on the subject of movie envy:
Chris Crawford:
http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/JCGDVolume8/Hollywood_Envy.html
Richard Rouse III (includes Mechner quote)
http://www.paranoidproductions.com/gamingandgraphics/gg11_00.html
March 24th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
He has a point. My gaming friends just skip the cut-scenes anyway, especially in a game like Metal Gear Solid where they’re so long and drawn out. It’s kind of like clicking “Skip Intro” on a really well-designed flash site.
March 24th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
John-
Do you have any advice for writers who are looking to transition to the video game market? I love the idea of interactive story and I think it gives the writer a better chance to connect with the audience and even provoke deep thought.
Any ideas? Reccommendations?
Thanks so much!
March 24th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
He does have a point and I do agree to an extent but as a long time gamer I welcome the introduction of more impressive cutscenes.
I see videogames as another form of storytelling, same as film or book form, if the designers feel a cutscene would better tell that specific portion of the story then it’s good for the game, just look at what Blizzard has done cut-scene wise, they’re outstanding and anyone that skips past them is severely missing out.
Jeff, you mentioned skipping cut-scenes in Metal gear, I’m interested in how your friends enjoyed that experience, being those parts are so integral to the story.
An example of a game that tells story brilliantly with no cutscenes whatsoever, infact never cutting away from first person at all for the games entirety, would be Breakdown by Namco.
March 24th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Jordon Mechner, and Jeff (above) both have good points. I’ve been dabbling with video games since the mid eighties, and I’ve never been as bored with them as I am now. Sure, you could blame some of it on me sliding into my thirties, but most of it has to do with sitting through ten minutes of badly voiced cut scenes every time I press a button. I get much more satisfaction out of guiding a submarine in Beach Head (showing my age again) than watching a jerky rotoscoped figure try to convince me that I care. I watch movies, I play games. There’s a difference.
March 25th, 2006 at 5:46 am
John - If your interested in writing for games I suggest having a read of scripts for current games, they’re harder to find than film scripts I believe.
If you find a good site with a bunch of them let us know as I’d also be interested in reading a few more.
March 25th, 2006 at 5:47 am
Ahhh, that was meant for Calee… not John of course, heh.
March 25th, 2006 at 7:30 am
I’ve been working in the video games industry for years and I’ve been lucky to work on bigger games, some of them featuring a story and story structure. Before the games industry I worked and wrote for the theatre.
For one game (Fable) I helped creating the story structure guiding the player through the game and created in-game cinematics.
“Storytelling” for video games has become a passion of mine, one I’m even spending time with outside work.
I agree with Jordan. You absolutley have to cater for the Player. More importantly though you must not forget that the only Unknown to you while you develop a story computer games is the Player himself; unlike with movies / novels / tv / every-other-non-interactive-media where you have the control over your protagonist / characters. The one thing you have absolute control over in the traditional storytelling devices is suddenly not available anymore.
What one has to do now is to concentrate more on the game world and its inhabitants, to define the story by including the gameplay (and its mechanics); the story structure relies more on the environment, non-player characters, non-player events, etc.
You basically want to attract the player into this virtual world of yours. You’re responsible for giving the player enough motivation and reason to do the stuff he should be doing (or you want him to do) - the more subtle you do it the better it is. But you have to be careful, the more obvious you try to control the player the less interested the player will become in continuing the game. You must let the player believe that he has an impact on the world / the structure you’ve created and not the other way round.
Video games are not a substitution for movies / tv / books; they are something different and have to be seen as such. I enjoy watching movies and playing video games but I never found myself watching a movie INSTEAD of playing a video game.
Storytelling for video games / interactive media is a big topic and I go on and on about this so I’ll better stop now
March 25th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Hey John how do you feel about the video game halo and the fact they are making it into a movie?
March 25th, 2006 at 8:55 am
I agree wholeheartedly with Mechner’s piece. Games are going to have to use the interactivity to tell the story, or they’re going to end up the sad stepchild of other media when it comes to legitimate storytelling. I’m a student of film and screenwriting who has grown up with a great deal of exposure to video games, and I have professional interest in both media. What can they learn from one another, and where must that flow stop? I think for the most part games have a much longer way to go than movies do, obviously, but movies haven’t really grasped what makes certain games attractive in their adaptations thus far.
But back to the topic at hand. A few games have done well while mostly or completely avoiding cutscenes, though. Half-Life 2 comes to mind in particular; it uses the immersion factor of interactivity to create some really visceral experiences. It’s low on character development and complex storytelling, of course, but as a skeleton story which is full of little extra details and which has a great emotional impact, it’s exceptional. Play on the strengths of the medium, I say.
I’m more interested to hear about his or your philosophy on borrowing from games in film, rather than the other way around. After all, that’s the task Mr. Mechner is faced with, and it’s not one I envy. The attempts from others thus far haven’t been very encouraging.
March 26th, 2006 at 12:30 am
Half Life 2 actually had one of the most disapointing stories for me, yes the gameplay was great and I did enjoy the experience, I couldn’t for the life of me however tell you anything about any of the characters or what happened story wise save for some impressive set pieces.
Cut-scenes are often used as rewards for completing certain sections of the game, i.e. Final Fantasy, Warcraft 3, etc. etc.
It’s nice to run through a level then relax for a moment and enjoy a cutscene, games like film need that eb and flow…
March 26th, 2006 at 8:07 am
John,
Any thoughts as to whether or not video games are art? There has been a lot of debate about it on Roger Ebert’s site.
Most people contend video games aren’t art, or if they are art, video games can never be as great as “Citizen Kane” or Michelangelo’s “David.”
My contention: I’d like to see film’s, sculpture’s, painting’s etc finest examples 20-30 years after their creation.
March 26th, 2006 at 8:53 am
I was a Producer at the video game company, Acclaim Entertainment, and let me just say that they’re out of business for a reason. To have a successful video game you need two things. An amazing concept that has creative and thoughtful programmers AND the right marketing campaign.
Rockstar Games have got it right with their Grand Theft Auto franchise. They know what the consumer wants and they know how to market the hell out of it. Their cutscenes are an extension to the gameplay and they are neither boring or unnecessary.
Another great game I just bought is called Superman: Countdown to Apokolips. I’m a superhero freak and most of these games are done quite poorly. I never really saw any commercials for this game and it was a year old but I bought it anyway. UNBELIEVABLE! It’s an amazing game that truly makes you feel like Superman. You can do any and everything that Superman does. The cutscenes feel like you’re watching the animated cartoon. Too bad they never marketed it. Oh well…
March 27th, 2006 at 4:50 am
Although it’s understandably, and worryingly inevitable, is it not depressing that the videogame industry strives so hard to make their games ape life as closely, and in as many facets as possible? It seems they will only be content when they actually replicate actual human experience, and we have a nation - an entire generation - who live vicariously through their video games, instead of actually physically experiencing, and interacting?
(PS - I may sound like an old curmudgeon, but I’m actually 26, and work in the film industry).
March 27th, 2006 at 10:30 am
As someone who has helped write video games, I can understand the problem: committee thinking. Everyone has loads of ideas about what’s “cool” or not and inflict it on others in the name of supposed interactivity. There’s also the problem that loads of video game writers don’t play video games - they watch films.
March 27th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
I do want to add that I’m inclined to be worried by a conflict that games are forced to deal with — a conflict between storytelling and interactivity. A narrative, by its nature, has a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion. To really do that, you have to limit player choices, which means limiting interactivity, which means hurting gameplay.
It’s worth considering that games have more artistic value (sorry, Ebert) as nonlinear experiences. Perhaps the artwork, the music, and the interactive mechanics themselves can work together to generate an emotional response in the absence of a proper narrative. I think it’s hard to deny that storytelling in its most excellent forms (I would argue, linear by necessity) is difficult if not impossible in the gaming medium because of that conflict.
This is the problem with adapting it, as well. When you make a movie out of Doom or Prince of Persia, you’re trying to make essential a story that was before (necessarily) only supplemental. And when you adapt from film to video games, you’re forced to acknowledge the limitations that interactivity places on linear storytelling. You have to find a way to use artwork, gameplay, and music, among other things, to engage the player and create emotion in a game.
That’s why I brought up Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 has no really clear linear story or character development to speak of, but the emotion is found in the experience — in the setting and in the events which the player experiences first hand through interactivity. Also consider Shadow of the Colossus, or the Zelda games.
Perhaps gaming is more like a painting than a movie. You experience it in a nonlinear fashion. Any story is only implied, not told. But the experience of the moment it portrays and your relationship with that moment, as defined by your own experiences and how you approach the game or painting, is what makes it emotional, engaging, profitable, and all those other things we want creative works to be.
Just some thoughts.
March 31st, 2006 at 6:20 am
The “big screen” has taken a huge hit in the past few years. As DVDs, video games, and affordable home theaters become more prevalent, people will continue to just stay home. Who needs pesky cell phone conversations during intense moments? Who needs the obligatory Skittles-scatter as Billy Booger-Picker accidentally dumps them across the floor behind you? Who needs buckets of popcorn and tubs of soda that end up costing you the price of a Yugo plus your first-born child?
I do. I LOVE the theater experience. I miss it whenever I’m plopped in front of a television. There’s something magic about it. And unless another person in the theater is making a serious attempt at disrupting my enjoyment of it, I usually can tune them out and be absorbed into whatever is being projected.
Video games are incredible. I’m old enough to remember raising a stink when my brother and I didn’t get PONG one Christmas (my folks went out that following year and got us a Mattel Intellivision instead). Memories… And now, it’s staggering to see what kids have at their disposals! First-person shooters and adventure games! Simulators! Puzzle and fight games! You name it. I’m in awe of these times… and saddened by them as well. Most kids don’t venture outside or use their imaginations much anymore. I spent the better part of my youth in the woods… or in the creek behind my parents’ home… playing… climbing trees… building dams and forts. Imagining…
I’ve often wondered how one would go about writing a screenplay treatment for a video game. I bet it’s one complex process, given the ability for a user/player to choose different paths.
March 31st, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Coincidentally, I was the head writer for Pong.
INT. TV - NIGHT
Two white PADDLES bat a square BALL back and forth across the screen. The score, 0-0 , hovers above the entire scene, watching like the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg over the Valley of the Ashes.
The ball ricochets off Paddle 1.
Beep.
The ball races toward Paddle 2.
Boop.
…and so on.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:17 am
Log-line for “PONG” - Paddle #1 must race against encroaching obsolescence to defeat the pixel-deflecting efforts of his arch nemesis (Paddle #2) before the dawning of the X-Box consumes them all!
April 25th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
I was told by an agent friend that video game scripts are written in Microsoft Excel. Anyone used that before who has written games? If so, is there a sample out there we/I could see? Are there samples anywhere on the Web of any video game scripts?
Thanks
Kevin
May 24th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Hi,
Isn’t it time for a new update about Prince of Persia?
It’s taking you guys really long to assemble a team for Prince of Persia the movie.
While it didn’t even took a year for another big hit like Lord of the rings. So what’s stopping you?
No offence, I don’t even have experience in the moviebusiness, but I just really want to see PoP on the big screens.
July 19th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Hey guys ..how much longer until we get some news about de Pop movie …?
Come on give us something ..the actors names,how’s the script developing …anything at all pleeease
September 14th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Any updates still?
September 19th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
Honestly I couldn’t agree more with Mechner, and that’s what I think sets the Prince of Persia games apart from so many others. Doing the hard parts for yourself is what drives you to want to beat the game, rather than just watching it be done for you. That’s the thrill of being stuck on a hard part, it gets you so frustrated that you’ve been trying to kill the enemy for past two hours and when you finally manage it, you want to see what else is in store after that part. It’s too bad that so many games have been ruined by the theatrical cut-scenes that could have been avoided.
March 10th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Hey John I thought I’d drop by and ask you something. Recently, some pictures have popped up on the web that “appear” to be Prince of Persia concept art. Now I want to beleave that these are real, but I wanted to see it confirmed by someone on the inside first. Anyway, heres the link:
http://www.worstpreviews.com/forums/showthread.php?p=656
(Might have to scroll down some.)
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:19 am
“In a movie, the story is what the characters do. In a game, the story is what the player does.”
I couldn’t agree more. Still…
Everyone should be aware that it’s almost impossible to create plot twists and turns and such without cutscenes. Sure, if what you’re playing is an RPG, you could just incorporate it in a dialogue, or if it’s an FPS, yaou could make a radio briefing, filling the missing pieces. But in an arcade game, cutscenes are, in my oppinion, essential to the story. Of course, this should not prevent developers and storywriters from incorporating plot elemants into gameplay
I mean, there are games who just do it perfectly, few of them being “Clive Barker’s Undying” and “Fahrenheit”
Please excuse me if someone has already mentioned this, but I don’t feel like reading every comment.