Free Writing: Language of Games

A while back, I read about someone talking about the "language of games". She was referring to the unique way that games can portray events to its players. Technology and game development have evolved a lot from the time it was first conceived, and now more people are playing games than ever. This means the opportunity to create and show people something amazing with the medium is within reach.

The issue she brought up was, while technology and game development had evolved, the "language" of games hadn't. She said that games were still speaking to players in means of movies or simple entertainment, with basic goals or cinematic construction. While I believe there's nothing at all wrong with any given kind of game, I believe what she was trying to say has a lot of importance to the medium.

Games are unlike any other media before it, and it has the potential to do things that haven't quite been grasped yet. Games can create virtual worlds for players to not just interact with, but be a part of. You can see hints of this everywhere, from Skyrim to Bioshock 2, although in different flavors and different genres. Immersion is a huge factor in the impact a game has on a player. Getting wrapped up inside a story is great, but getting wrapped up inside a world is amazing.

We're getting more and more games that introduce and invest players in a world, to the point the events and characters, and especially the gameplay, carry emotional and mental impact.

Games allow people to interact and become a part of worlds, not just view them in a linear and static fashion. This is a language that games have created, and one that can't ever be perfected, so long as people always try to create and improve.

There are some games coming up/recently released that I feel, at least, can be potentially big for the medium as a whole. Dishonored, for example, seems to put interaction with the game world as much inside the player's hands as possible, to ensure freedom. I haven't played it yet myself, but IGN reviewer Cam Shea went so far as to say, "It picks up where games like Deus Ex and BioShock left off, and puts choice back in the hands of the player.", which can only be a good thing.

Last of Us, a yet to be released shooter by Naughty Dog, seems to strive for telling a linear story through immersion and atmosphere. In the trailers and promotional items this far, it seems to build up its world and story through scenery and gameplay. Needless to say, a lot of games have tried to take this route before, but so far, Last of Us pulls it off in the most spectacular fashion.

Please check out the promotional gameplay footage, and see for yourself.

Even if these games and others like it do not succeed in all of their goals, they will certainly populate the medium with more of the kind of games it deserves, (although the games we have already are by no means a joke) and maybe it can take a few big steps forward in developing its language.