Games Will Become 'The Literature of The 21st Century,' says USC Game Design ProfessorGames, when compared to film, are still quite young. The games industry, after 30 years, is finally coming into its own and continually evolving as the medium becomes more and more widespread. As games have grown, so has the medium's potential for storytelling - one look at Heavy Rain or L.A. Noire would tell you that.
While some games are completely devoid of narrative (and there's nothing wrong with that), others have intricately woven plots that fully immerse the player in a whole other world and its characters. Only games have this power. Chris Swain, Associate Research Professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of USC Games Institute, believes the games industry is only getting started and that video games will soon dominate when it comes to storytelling.
"I may get laughed out of the room today, but I’ll go on the record to say that games will become the literature of the 21st century."
Contributing to author Jeannie Novak's Game Development Essentials: An Introduction (3rd edition), Swain said he actually sees games becoming the "literature" of this century. Here's an excerpt from the book:
"When thinking about story, I like to draw an analogy between games today and films from the early 20th century. Back in the 1910s, films were silent and black-and-white—and the stories were told almost exclusively using techniques borrowed from theater. Those films really didn’t make much of an emotional connection with people. If you could have told someone back then that film would become the literature of the 20th century, they would have laughed you out of the room. However, film evolved and became transformed through technical (sound, color) and creative breakthroughs (close-ups, flashbacks, camera movement) to become the most influential storytelling medium that we’ve ever known."
"I think of games today like films from 1910—crude from a storytelling perspective, not able to make real emotional connections with people—and I see them becoming trans- formed through technical and creative breakthroughs into an incredibly powerful storytelling medium."
"It’s an exciting time to be a game designer because there are many technical and creative avenues for breakthroughs, innovation, and original thought. I may get laughed out of the room today, but I’ll go on the record to say that games will become the literature of the 21st century."
Novak's textbook on game development has been adopted by more than 50 game development programs in the U.S. including Indiana University, Ohio University, Texas State Technical College, Portland Community College, and the International Academy of Design & Technology.
IndustryGamers has been given exclusive access to an entire chapter of the book - Chapter 5 on Story and Character Development, which goes into amazing detail on how storytellers craft compelling narratives and interesting characters. We're offering you the entire chapter to peruse right here.
