Gamasutra - Article Roundup

I found a few interesting articles on Gamasutra a few of you might like to read. I decided to post them in one new roundup instead of separately. So enjoy everyone.

A Better Narrative using OCC Emotional Model

Narrative is a complicated word. Some people believe that narrative could increase gaming experience while others say it is only a tainted game play. I won’t start a fuss about it, but I personally believe that the narrative holds a prospect in the game. This year GDC, Ken Levine, presented a new way of treating the narrative in a game referred as Narrative Lego. I see a big chance on it though it is still in early concept. A chance where narrative not only acting as decoration, but also a core of the game itself. His speech motivates me to do my own little research about narrative. Herewith, I will present what I’ve found so far.

38 Studios Execs Knew MMO Funding Would Fall Short

Emails sent by former 38 Studios vice chairman Thomas Zaccagnino suggest some studio executives knew that the money they accepted from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation wasn't enough to finish development on Project Copernicus, the company's aborted MMORPG.

Through the Looking Glass: Games and Curiosity

One of the strengths of “low-art” popular fiction like the comic book, the summer blockbuster, and the video game is how openly they explore themes on a surface level. Mike Joffe discusses this in a recent series on comic book characters:

"I find super hero stories interesting because, at their core, they are about exploring real emotions and personalities through completely fantastical, often nonsensical, experiences and events… These concepts are all explored through metaphors that, when looked at in isolation, are some of the most ridiculous ideas imaginable (a boy tries to establish himself as a man by hiding his face behind a wrestling costume and fighting science goblins), and yet somehow that very ridiculousness allows the character and psychological studies to become heightened"

I think the same can be said about video games. I’m not bold enough to suggest that games aren’t capable of subtlety, but their subtleties don’t resemble the kinds valued in other media. Vocabulary and wordplay, perspective, and melody and tempo are pretty much directly transferable from their native artforms, but “gamey” nuance comes in exploration.