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On Bringing Emotions To Videogames
Thanks to MSNBC for its article discussing the process of bringing emotions to videogames. The article argues: "A game that can evoke complex emotions - longing, despair, empathy - is the holy grail for some in the industry", and highlights projects such as Facade, an "interactive drama" that "uses natural speech recognition and a [high] level of artificial intelligence." Although it's unclear "what... these new games look like", the piece ends on a snappy note, courtesy Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, who proclaims: "Finding ways to broaden range of emotions you can experience and express in games is the future of games as far as I'm concerned... If it turns out I'm wrong, I'm going to open a bookstore."
It's hard to get feelings into games, and it has allways been. But there are still lots of peoples who has succeeded upon it, and companies like Square-Enix (Former Squaresoft) has mastered the concept of creating emotions to fit the games. Many Final Fantasy games had this element to make them unique (so goes for the rest of the SNES rpg's they did).
But it isn't just RPG's, it's every type of game (okay, Pong doesn't get me into a special "pong" mood!), as long as the story is awesome and the gameplay is fine. Games like Max Payne 1 and 2 got me really hooked up (probably because Max Payne 2's ability to shape the skilllevel after the player).
Just my 3 cents (the dollar is low in these days).
Interactive dramas where it's possible to form deep, friendships with virtual characters?
This is already available to some extent in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I will not give away any plot, since everyone should play this game. I will say that your relationship with other characters develops through plot, quests, and open-ended conversations. Combine this with the fact that all dialogue (which there is a huge amount of) is set to voice. This game comes as close to virtual friendships from AI characters as I've seen.
Of course you could just focus on fighting, but what you get out depends on how much effort you put in.
ICO is, of course, an excellent example and is probably one of the best modern exhibits of emotion in games MSNBC could have used (too bad they robbed it of that by spoiling the rather poignant ending). I like that someone mentioned KOTOR, as that probably consisted of the most cinematic emotional attachment I've ever experienced in a game (and most certainly Episode I & II).
Still, I love how these articles act as if this is something new. Likewise, the creater of Facade and Warren Spector, both of whom should have known better. In fact, as good as Deus Ex and System Shock were, all of Spector's work pales in comparison to what I experienced in Grim Fandango (and I'll save you the MSNBC treatment and not give away the ending). Facade sounds remarkably like Space Bar to me, only not in space or talking to three headed aliens, but the one-act emotional play is definitely borrowed, even if unknowingly. Of course, as always Planescape: Torment gets no love, even though it do created emotional attachments but within the context of a deceptively standard fare RPG.
More recently, interactive fiction (a fancy phrase for text adventure) has evolved to produce some amazingly emotional games as of late. After finishing the 30 minute Photopia, I sat in a daze for several minutes and then started to (I feel vulnerable here) cry. Easily the most intense emotional experience I've had playing a game, and certainly on the same level, in my opinion, as great literature.
Secondly, I think ICO represents Japan's open acceptance of emotions in games. While I rarely connect with the Japanese emotional experience as I did with ICO, this is most likely due to cultural nuances than my own fault, and there are exceptions. I hesitate to say it as it's a strong statement to use, but playing the fifth level of REZ was about as emotionally religious of an experience I think a video game could ever create. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, even Metal Gear Solid; all these are representative that while I may not necessarily "get it," the Japanese obviously do not shy away from emotion in games like Americans do. Likewise, Europeans don't seem to have a problem with emotion. The potent Beyond Good & Evil, while I have yet to finish it, is shaping up that way as well, and Prince of Persia (which might as well have been European) attempts something similar, albeit a little less concentrated. I would assert that American gameplay, in either its intentional or non-intentional attempt at open-ended gameplay (from GTA to Battlefield 1942), is generally on a steady course of avoiding emotions, or relying on violence to propogate them. Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda) has made note in multiple interviews of Americans' over-reliance on violence to create emotion. He's right. Of course, this ought not be surprising when American industry leaders like Carmack decry story in video gaming every chance they get.
Finally, as a postscript I'm not entirely sure MSNBC ought to be asking Spector anyway. Oh, yeah, I think he's a gaming god like anyone else, and that moment in System Shock 2 when you walk into the room . . . (oh wait, I'm not MSNBC). But the latest incarnation of Deus Ex was about as emotionally involving as the default Windows XP screensaver. Perhaps he'll redeem himself with Thief III?
The article starts by talking about how you'd feel after losing a squad RTS-type thing. That's a world away from Ico or Final Fantasy.
To get you feeling loss and the usual trappings of the "squaddie / buddy" movie, you have to get the player to care about the squaddies. That means giving them personalities not just special skills, and playing it through properly. You'd need make the interfaces much more "real" - stop someone breaking down by talking them round, keep the squad together, have your soldiers have their own friendships and react appropriately when their buddy gets blown away - worse if you just talked them round with a "you'll be okay" speech...
It stops being a standard Dirty-Dozen mission and turns into a tactical game where there's emotional stresses as well as the shooting opposition. The technology's there, but would trigger-happy ruthless-General-wannabes buy it? Do people get into squad games for this, or do they want to pit wits like a proper General, and just shout "It's a war, soldier. And in war, people die!" like you see in testosterone-fuelled films?
Ico works by giving you someone helpless to protect, with real signs of fear and reluctance (body language you can read, stronger than text dialogue), and a character who's isolated and fairly weak but fights on regardless, who you can identify with and be drawn along with. When your own character finds things out about him / herself it draws you in, because he/she reacts and the emotions they display make you empathise with them.
FF is probably quite similar, only with more of an ensemble cast - especially FFX. It's like a film; you see people at their best and worst - that tends to involve you, if you have any natural empathy in the first place.
Other games where I got unexpectedly attached to the characters - The Getaway (which was filmic again, I suppose), and Primal (ditto).
Summarising: I think there are different ways of provoking emotional reaction.
You can draw on film / TV techniques, which players understand and interpret easily into involvement (FF sequence, Max Payne, etc).
You can go the AI route, and try to make characters into fully rounded people to be interested in. (Note: this has already been attempted in "Real Life", the legendary MMORPG)
You can make the character you control draw you in by his/her reactions to the unfolding plot, hooking the player along (the Planescape:Torment, Ico, MGS approaches)
However, it's only the one you can do in real life that isn't there in games yet - and as I said when I started this rant, there's probably not enough demand in most genres.
Thanks for reading.