Cinematics Are Killing Gameplay?

Howard Brown writes "David Rodriguez is a Lead Game Designer at High Voltage Software. His latest article on Buzzscope discusses videogaming's overabundance of cinematics, and how their misuse is taking us further and further away from what videogaming is all about." From the article: "I made it perhaps three virtual feet before managing to trigger another cinematic. Silently biting back a curse I again attempted to button through it, but those rat-bastard developers were bound and determined to have me watch their cinematic magic. Idly tapping the button, as if hoping that somehow the rules would change, I sat and listened as some NPC taught me all about targeting."

Comments

Allow cutscenes to be skipped

[interiot]

Simple solution: allow game authors to add whatever cutscenes they want, but make it clear that it's very bad form to not allow the user to skip the cutscene by pressing a key. Then everybody wins.

I agree.

[BigZaphod]

When I sit down to play a game, that's what I want to do - play. I get sick of waiting for some weak story or lame plot to unfold in front of me. For me, it isn't about that. It's about blowing stuff up or solving puzzles. I don't need a whole convoluted back-story to enjoy myself.