Video Game Inspiration
In this month's Wired Magazine, (a special video game edition) there is an interesting article featuring four designers; Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Lumines), Hideo Kojima(Metal Gear Solid), Dave Jaffe (God of War) and Warren Spector (Deus Ex). Although short and glossy, the basis of the piece looks at each designer's inspiration in game design.
The four designers state their inspirations, and it got me to think about how i see a game like Final Fantasy X2 beyond the cinematic lens.
Mizuguchi says that "playing a game and performing music are structurally similar; they both entail a call-and-response style of repetition" [Wired*04, 2006*121]. Which reminded me of the feedback loop of identification process entertwined with the accumulation of knowledge which constantly reminds me of a snowball effect of gameplay. But in thinking about gameplay as musically structured.. I went back to FFX2 and puttered around and realized that indeed, one can see gameplay like a song. With multiple verses (each mission can constitute a different 'verse') and a set chorus (the save points in FFX2 are always the same - and to start a new "verse" one has to return to the "chorus" ship).
Kojima, who reiterates that we must move beyond thinking of games as cinematics offers the inspiration of architecture, saying that "game design owes more to architecture than to film...in both cases, the blueprint is everything. In both cases, the designer has to ask what services the structure will provide" [Wired*04, 2006*122]. After thinking about this, I have to agree. Always coming back to the difference between film and games, as passive (using this term loosely) and active interaction. It is simply a difference between guided tour (film) where only the rooms you are showing to the tourist need to be made up, and open amusement parks (which Kojima uses as an influence in his game design). In an amusement park, there are still boundaries and limits to what can and cannot be done, but the layout has to be fully functional in order to shape a particular experience - the design must account for player creativity (to a certain extent) while maintaining the game's purpose/goals. Its fun to look at FFX2's maps to see the structural intent of the game play - and the beauty of FFX2 is that all paths are open, so there are no directional arrows forcing my amusent park exploration in any direction (levels and abilities take care of that)
Jaffe talks about his affinity for Greek mythology and literature deeming it the "scale that's much grander than anything film can accomplish" [Wired*04, 2006*123]. Indeed, when I think about the intricate narrative and web of characters within FFX2, their inter-connectedness to the Final Fantasy franchise in how each game contains bits and pieces from the others; it is indeed a much grander story than any epic film could hold its viewers attention. When I think of Greek mythology, and how each myth is inextricably linked to each other, I am taking aback at the ability of Final Fantasy to accomplish such complex game design.
Finally, Warren Spector talks about the all important differentiating element of 'player driven' content (distinguished from film, as I have mentioned in a few posts already). He notes that his work is heavily influenced by 'literary conventions' but that game design enables "a sense of ambiguity that's hard to get across in film" [Wired*04, 2006*124]. Again, thinking back to my play experiences, specifically with FFX2, the ability to direct many elements of the game allowed me to create forms of narrative that would not be possible in the viewing of a film.
The four designers state their inspirations, and it got me to think about how i see a game like Final Fantasy X2 beyond the cinematic lens.
Mizuguchi says that "playing a game and performing music are structurally similar; they both entail a call-and-response style of repetition" [Wired*04, 2006*121]. Which reminded me of the feedback loop of identification process entertwined with the accumulation of knowledge which constantly reminds me of a snowball effect of gameplay. But in thinking about gameplay as musically structured.. I went back to FFX2 and puttered around and realized that indeed, one can see gameplay like a song. With multiple verses (each mission can constitute a different 'verse') and a set chorus (the save points in FFX2 are always the same - and to start a new "verse" one has to return to the "chorus" ship).
Kojima, who reiterates that we must move beyond thinking of games as cinematics offers the inspiration of architecture, saying that "game design owes more to architecture than to film...in both cases, the blueprint is everything. In both cases, the designer has to ask what services the structure will provide" [Wired*04, 2006*122]. After thinking about this, I have to agree. Always coming back to the difference between film and games, as passive (using this term loosely) and active interaction. It is simply a difference between guided tour (film) where only the rooms you are showing to the tourist need to be made up, and open amusement parks (which Kojima uses as an influence in his game design). In an amusement park, there are still boundaries and limits to what can and cannot be done, but the layout has to be fully functional in order to shape a particular experience - the design must account for player creativity (to a certain extent) while maintaining the game's purpose/goals. Its fun to look at FFX2's maps to see the structural intent of the game play - and the beauty of FFX2 is that all paths are open, so there are no directional arrows forcing my amusent park exploration in any direction (levels and abilities take care of that)
Jaffe talks about his affinity for Greek mythology and literature deeming it the "scale that's much grander than anything film can accomplish" [Wired*04, 2006*123]. Indeed, when I think about the intricate narrative and web of characters within FFX2, their inter-connectedness to the Final Fantasy franchise in how each game contains bits and pieces from the others; it is indeed a much grander story than any epic film could hold its viewers attention. When I think of Greek mythology, and how each myth is inextricably linked to each other, I am taking aback at the ability of Final Fantasy to accomplish such complex game design.
Finally, Warren Spector talks about the all important differentiating element of 'player driven' content (distinguished from film, as I have mentioned in a few posts already). He notes that his work is heavily influenced by 'literary conventions' but that game design enables "a sense of ambiguity that's hard to get across in film" [Wired*04, 2006*124]. Again, thinking back to my play experiences, specifically with FFX2, the ability to direct many elements of the game allowed me to create forms of narrative that would not be possible in the viewing of a film.
posted by Kelly at 11:04 a.m.
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