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Will Wright's Dream Machines

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the where-does-he-get-those-wonderful-toys dept.

Mike writes "Will Wright writes in Wired Magazine, primarily centering his focus on imagination, how it affects the way we play games, and how it is affected in turn by the games we play. From the article: 'Games cultivate - and exploit - possibility space better than any other medium. In linear storytelling, we can only imagine the possibility space that surrounds the narrative: What if Luke had joined the Dark Side? What if Neo isn't the One? In interactive media, we can explore it.'"

9 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Eh ... by Monkelectric · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We can explore any aspect of the story that the developer already thought up and wrote code for ...

    --

    Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

    1. Re:Eh ... by MavEtJu · · Score: 3, Informative

      The developer maybe, but that might not be the final developer. As a (former) coder on a MUD with an internal TCL scripting language, I was most of the time happily surprised to see what the people who build areas in the MUD came up with. A lot of that made me go "I never would have come up with it", but still I'm the one who made the original code which made this possible.

      So possibilities don't end where you fantasy ends, it ends where the combined fantasy of others end. And that is often much further and in a way different direction that you can come up with.

      --
      bash$ :(){ :|:&};:
  2. They're mostly linear nowadays anyway by CRCulver · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A lot of role-playing games have long foresaken the idea of allowing characters to choose the course of events. Instead, many plot elements are made obligatory so that the gamer can see the fancy CGI that the team put so many hours into creating. An early example of this trend is Final Fantasy VII, but the more recent example that really takes the cake is Final Fantasy X where pretty much all the free-roaming and ability to identify with the main character--the traditional strengths of the genre--where tossed out with unpleasant results.

  3. Well... Linear except for dying by cinnamoninja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Even in the most linear stories, traditional media has to work very hard to make a reader/watcher feel the tension of the main character's choices. We are desensitzed to the classic hero position -- "Choose right or die." It takes an extremely talented writer to really make you worry. But even in the most unoriginal and linear games, you are in the hot seat and you can *die* if you choose wrong. This is especially try of nethack/moria roguelikes, where death doesn't just mean load up the last save point. It immerses you in a story. Games have emotional power -- I hope to see more developers use them to tell a story and not just see pretty pictures. Cinnamon

    1. Re:Well... Linear except for dying by ToasterofDOOM · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I had no idea how in depth games could get until I started just recently playing nethack. I think that if the devs wanted flashy graphics, it would take away from the immersion (my friend says anything other than the tty interface is blaspheme) You are right about how roguelikes got it right. When push comes to shove, you must remember that death is really meaningful. It's a pity that we discovered roguelikes so soon before Oblivion (=D), and i truly hope I won't forget them. Few games, if any can truly make the characters decisions as weighty as a roguelike. Several times I have been insituations where I agonize over whether or not to fight, flee, or pray in a battle, and no modern game has given me that personal level of tension, satisfaction, and ultimately not feeling as bad when I waste a great sunny afternoon killing grid bugs and cursing those damn nymphs.

      --
      I am Spartacus
  4. what if? by moosesocks · · Score: 4, Funny
    What if Neo isn't the One?
    Game Over
    --
    -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  5. What if Neo isn't the One? by merreborn · · Score: 3, Funny

    What if Neo isn't the One?

    Then the credits woulda started rolling right after the oracle told him he wasn't, halfway through the first movie, and we'd have all been spared an hour, and 2 crappy sequels.

  6. Re:It's all well and good, but... by maumedia · · Score: 5, Informative

    You should take a look at what Will Wright is actually working on before making a broad statement like that. He knows what kind of crappy spiral MMOs are taking, he's trying to innovate beyond trying to get the outfits skimpier and the blood shinier:

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330 420559198&q=spore

  7. I knew I was a strange kid... by LordNightwalker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just watch a kid with a new videogame. The last thing they do is read the manual. Instead, they pick up the controller and start mashing buttons to see what happens.

    Heck, I must have been one strange kid then... Usually the very first thing I'd do was read the manual, especially the background story. My cousin or my friends on the other hand didn't. Never really thought about it, but I always figured I was the normal, albeit somewhat brainy type, and the others were just lazy or dumb or something. Now it appears I was the weird kid, and they were the normals...

    Just out of curiosity... How many of you guys actually read the manuals to each and every piece of hardware or software you ever bought? I assume the proportion of anal retentive manual readers in the general population is somewhat elevated here in our beloved slashdot community. ;)

    --
    Install windows on my workstation? You crazy? Got any idea how much I paid for the damn thing?