BioWare Sees A Future Of Games Without Combat As The New S**

[Necuno]

BioWare Sees A Future Of Games Without Combat As The New S**

Dragon Age and Star Wars: The Old Republic developers BioWare may still rely on hack and slash violence to keep the game-buying masses satisfied, but it also sees the possibility in mass appeal games that don't rely on combat mechanics.

Instead, BioWare creative lead Greg Zeschuk envisions mainstream games driven by story and acting, not "battle moments," telling GamesIndustry.biz that "we're actually getting to the point where the acting is almost there."

Obviously, not all games rely on lasers, swords, and laserswords to succeed. But even 2008's bestsellers still relied on combat, whether that meant shooting Locust hordes in the face or launching blue shells at other kart racers.

Zeschuk and fellow BioWare lead Ray Muzyka believe we're on the cusp of seeing blockbuster games "that are story-driven."

Muzyka, in particular, thinks the video game industry is at its "mid-point of maturation."

"It's almost like we finally got our camera built in the movie sense," he says. "It took a long time, decades in the movie industry, where we went from black and white to talkies to the point where we actually started to get rich acting and direction and the subtle moves of camera and things like that that are now accepted practices. From that point on the industry just flourished, and I think the videogame industry is at that point now..."

player A: lets duel !!!
player B: yay mother f***er !!!, let me wip out my dancing shoes and we will have a dance off.

[OmegaFenix]

Not that there is anything wrong with story driven games there will always be violence to some degree. Human beings are by their very nature violent and destructive. Video games have been one of those things that let us act on this violent nature with out, in most cases, becoming violent ourself. Removing Violence from games could cause people to find other means of satisfying the violent desires that exist inside us all.

Just my thougts

[Solitude]

I like the idea of games without combat. For instance I played the Syberia games recently and even though it's old style point-and-click adventure, it makes me wonder what kind of movie like games can be made today. Where the gameplay is more about making decisions and choosing dialog options with everything being movie like.

Hmmm isn't Hard Rain or something like that going to be such a game? I can't remember.

Either way I'm looking forward to non-combat based games.

[OmegaFenix]

I like the idea of games without combat. For instance I played the Syberia games recently and even though it's old style point-and-click adventure, it makes me wonder what kind of movie like games can be made today. Where the gameplay is more about making decisions and choosing dialog options with everything being movie like.

Hmmm isn't Hard Rain or something like that going to be such a game? I can't remember.

Either way I'm looking forward to non-combat based games.

DO you mean Heavy Rain? That has combat in it but not in the traditional sense.

[Solitude]

Heavy Rain. Aww I thought it doesn't have any combat in it. I still look forward to games with no combat and a movie like experience.

[Necuno]

Heavy Rain. Aww I thought it doesn't have any combat in it. I still look forward to games with no combat and a movie like experience.

all games have conflict or contest in them, even pacman.

[Solitude]

all games have conflict or contest in them, even pacman.

I said combat. As in the article that this thread is about:

Instead, BioWare creative lead Greg Zeschuk envisions mainstream games driven by story and acting, not "battle moments,"

[Isengard]

I'm not sure how strong of a future such games will have, judging by what games are more popular these days (the violent kind a.k.a. Gears of War) it leaves me doubting that the vast majority of gamers will enjoy such titles. It will always remain a niche in my opinion.

[hideinlight]

Watchmen and Pan's Labyrinth had a good story, but they were also extremely violent.

[Necuno]

point is, this has been done and i guess the generation of today will never know the old days with the point and click quests/'cinematic' that we used to play a lot.