Ramblings Of An Aspiring Manga-Ka

It's the year 2008. Let's face it: the current video games sold in stores are not your usual Super Mario, Pacman, and Tetris. They do not just ask the player to navigate a group of orange blocks on top of another for the stage to be cleared, nor do they ask the player to continuously slay dozens of flying demons in every stage to be able to save the princess. No. Video games today are revolutionary and innovative, and they cater to the player's need of recreation and momentary reality escape.

Moments ago I have read an interesting article from the net, saying that Video Games Do Not Need Writers. Along with that, I have read several comments regarding the article: some of them supported the statement and some of them didn't. Since I wasn't a member of said website, I wasn't able to post a comment, and so I'll post my say in my tabulas account.

First of all, VIDEO GAMES NEED GOOD WRITERS. I'm not saying this because I am an aspiring writer myself, but because it is the truth. Lots of video games today have fantastic gameplay, but they lack substance, a.k.a. a good storyline.

Sure, some video games do not need writers at all, for writers will complicate said games. Examples of such games are your usual PC Chess. Surely, you cannot imagine your black bishop taunting a white knight or something. That'd be just weird. Another example is Super Mario. Mario has been saving the princess for quite some time now [years actually], and yet the game sells millions of copies every year. When talking about these kind of games, I'd have to agree: THEY DO NOT NEED WRITERS.

But games in the roleplaying, adventure, and strategy/tactical genre need writers, as much as it needs designers and programmers. The storyline serves as the lifeblood of these games: without a good one, you might as well flush the project down the toilet.

The storyline gives life and color to the game. The plot gives it a unique twist different from other games. The characters would act as companions to the player, and they will aid him/her as he/she encounters different problems in a world completely alien to him/her. Honestly, I cannot elaborate how important a good storyline is, for I will surely be flooding my own page.

There are different kinds of players, or as we put it, "gamers". But these kinds can be narrowed down into two types: the rpg/adventure-loving ones, and the action-loving ones.

The action-loving ones prefer games such as Rival Schools, Tiberian Sun, Mortal Kombat, Streetfighters, etc. Most of the time, they're the ones who play games just because they are, well, games. I'm not generalizing but from my experience and from the people I know, that's what I've noticed. Heck, my sister is one fine example. She refuses to play rpg games because she says it's a waste of time. She'd rather watch me play them than play it herself, but she enjoys Tekken and Pocket Fighters a lot, games which do not really require much thinking [except for what buttons to press to pull of a super-duper technique]. These games do not require writers, but some of them require definite character backgrounds. That would make everything more interesting.

The rpg/adventure-loving ones prefer games such as Suikoden, the Tales Series, the Final Fantasy Series, Spyro the Dragon, etc. Most of the time, they're the ones who play games because they want to momentarily escape reality and be someone completely different from who they are. They're the ones who want to go on adventures, to encounter monsters and defeat them, and to meet extraordinarily unique people along the way. I am one of these people, that's why I value storyline a lot. Usually, I'd buy a video game after reading the synopsis at the back of its package, and usually, I'd buy a game whose story aroused my interest. When it comes to Suikoden, I'd buy it even if I don't read the back part. It's my favorite and I'm a bit biased, but that's not the issue here.

Anyway...

Good writers don't have to be professionals. In fact, I'd recommend video game companies to hire willing and dedicated writers who have a great deal of imagination and who are as good as any other professional there is. I'd recommend them to hire writers whose minds are still not corrupted by the corporal aspect of being a video game writer, writers whose minds are still free of "stuffiness".

What's really annoying is the fact that some video game companies rush production, and so they produce ridiculous games with no substance or thrill whatsoever, and they sell them to the market. I pity the people who buy/have bought said games. Wasted money indeed.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that most video games today need good writers, writers who will provide players a fresh new atmosphere and a whole new world. Writers who are able to create fresh characters and new concepts. Writers who will manage to reach out to the player, to make him/her feel connected to the story of the game, and to make him/her feel like he/she's a part of it.

If you ask me, that's what a good storyline does, and by God we really need them.