| |
|
A book, film, comic are linear narratives.
Not true in so many ways. What do you mean by this? Could you give us examples of what you deem non-linear art?
The only choice is to continue being a passive participant or stop.
Stop partaking/reading/viewing, yes? Well, the thing with art is that in general you actively engage with it. I can't passively read a book - it doesn't just seep in; I have to make the effort to move my eyes to read it. The "reader" always has to make an effort, so in that way, they're always active.
If you're complaining that you can't get sucked into the world of the artwork... then I'd guess your imagination might be lacking somewhat. And if you're complaining that you want that to happen for reals, you might want to take a deep breath and start living in the real world.
I think part of the problem is that in general, apart from in the hobby-world of Interactive Fiction (which has a ton of fantastic games kicking around for free), plots are not lavished the attention they deserve. Videogames have yet to lift themselves out from B-movie status; those that do are critical successes and commercial failures, almost without fail. Videogaming has probably the most non-critical audience of any media; I mean, we're talking about a medium where dross such as Enter the Matrix, the long string of early EA James Bond titles and the Harry Potter games are huge successes. They are B-movie in plots and in their ambitions: big names/licenses, flashy (ish) graphics (though EtM and HP had pretty poor visuals, they survived on the back of the license) and huge marketing budgets.
If you think the pop and movie industries are cynical, you should probably try attending a marketing meeting at EA. I know I keep using them as an example, but they're a behemoth that absorbs brands and franchises and spits them out, once a year, to a gullible public. To some people, EA is all they know of gaming, and that's quite sad. I am currently dreading seeing what EA will do with its recently acquired Godfather license. I shit you not. Godfather 2005, here we come...
About the most open ended thing I ever played was Fallout, which has a wonderfully coherent world and doesn't necessarily punish you for your actions; it just makes things difficult. Trying to get people to trust you when you're renowned as a child-killer is tricky. Trying to see it through to the end as non-violently as possible is trickier.
(Incidentally, I've recently been trying to play through Enter the Matrix and it is much like hammering nails through one's dick, so to speak, only substantially less pleasurable). |
|
|
