In an interview with VG247, Naughty Dog developer and Uncharted 3 cinematic lead Taylor Kurosaki reckons story-telling in video games is finally getting somewhere.
“It’s just now getting exciting. I feel we’re just now getting to the point where you have that suspension of disbelief. Where the technology is not a limiting factor,” he says. “You can truly be immersed now.”
Oh, COME ON. Everybody knows Phantasmagoria was totally immersive back in 1995. Remember that bit where that guy was shovelling dirt in that chick’s mouth? That was like Shakespeare stuff, and the graphics were amazing.
Asked if today’s games are going to be remembered in ten or fifteen years’ time (like Phantasmagoria, obviously), Kurosaki says that, “It comes through in the crafting of it. You can appreciate playing Super Mario [Bros]; it doesn’t hold up graphically, but it’s such a well crafted game that it’s still relevant. Looking back at the work we’ve done in all series it does hold up, and I think it will continue to hold up. But yes, the graphics will get better [and] the technology will evolve, but as a piece, as a time capsule I think [Uncharted 3] will be looked upon favourably. I hope so – that’s our goal.”
He also adds that, “I do think that we are one of the leaders in the storytelling aspect of it.”
Seriously, though, it’s an interesting point, and I’m not convinced it’s entirely true that technology has been a limiting factor in the past. Old LucasArts and Sierra adventure games, for example – or Super Mario Bros, for that matter – might have had crappy graphics by today’s standards – but, significantly, back then, they weren’t crappy. In fact, I remember when Quest for Glory II looked incredible.
These days, games are so quickly disparaged for “bad” graphics to the point, it seems, that graphics are more important than anything else. I rather think games are limited by unrealistic or even spoiled player expectations instead.
Naughty Dog: We’re “one of the leaders” in game story-telling << Discuss on the MyGaming forum.
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