Lionhead boss and Fable designer Peter Molyneux has shared his belief that the "greatest story ever told" will be in a game. He's apparently not a fan of the Bible, although to be honest, that book could do with a rewrite and a few new plot twists. The hero dying was totally predictable.
"The greatest story ever told? I think it’s going to be in a computer game," states Molyneux, before getting a little artsy fartsy. "And I think that if I play the greatest story ever told in the same game as you play it, your greatest story is going to be different to my greatest story. And that is power."
"That ambition to do that, to write that story, or to write that game that allows you to experience that story, is definitely something Lionhead Studios wants to do."
Videogames certainly have the potential to be impressive storytellers, and it's something that will come as the industry matures and becomes more comfortable in its identity. While I think it'll be some time before the games industry overcomes its unique upbringing and has writers capable of achieving what Molyneux wants, it's cool to see that there are some big developers out there trying to spin a good yarn.
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Contest:
10:40 AM on 04.07.2009
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OMG SPOILERZ!!
He gets better.
That's a bet I will not take.
Simply put, even if a game comes out with supposedly the best story ever made, who is to say that a novel or a film won't come out with a better story? Not even that, does a game NEED to tell the best story ever made? I don't see why.
I believe that games have already told some of THE best stories ever conceived. Games like GTA4 (gameplay was 'meh' but characerisation and dialouge was perfect) the MGS series, some of the FF games, and let us not forget the magnificent narrative of Bioshock. Or Half life 1 and 2 both have excellent, amazing stories.
Games have already told some of the best stories I ever had the pleasure of experiencing, I don't see why they need to tell THE best story ever made.
granted, there are some game storylines that have amazed me and made me question my own purpose in life, but in the end games are too open-ended to allow for a truly culture-challenging narrative to exist.
sure, the interactivity can help a player feel closer to the story and characters, but too many aspects of games can go unseen, unheard forgotten. without having the true depth of the narrative exposed to players, no game story will ever be fully realized for every gamer. for a story to truly be "the greatest," all who experience it need to have a level playing field from which to compare experiences both with each other and within themselves.
and a game forbids this kind of exchange from taking place.
Now that's replay value.
Now I'm sorry, but there's a reason none of the great novels are "choose your own adventure" books. If an author has a genuinely great story to tell, he needs to tell it, not as *you* decide, but as the author himself intended. Put that story "into the hands of the player!" and it gets watered down, just like a good book often gets watered down when it goes into the hands of some hollywood director, only worse.
But...but.. I don't know the difference.
I know you don't pete, I know you don't. Try to make games like you did 10-15 years ago.
Also Biblical YTMND
Know what I hate? Open endings.
I still think that a movie is best story telling medium, cause a video game is combination of a movie and an interactive game. So people will always be focusing on the interactive part no matter how much focus is put into the interactivity of the game. So even if the movie part has a great story, the interactive gameplay part will be a negative part.
thats gonna be awesome.
I respect and look forward to his goal, but I don't think that's what he should be aiming for. I think he should be focused on trying to tell a specific type of story, to teach a lesson of some sort. Those games that end up having great narrative (see:Mushman) don't rely on telling too much, but instead focus on a specific idea to teach the player something. That's just half of it. The gameplay needs to be enjoyable too. Or he could just remake The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy.
also aaaaaggghh! molyneux annoys the crap out of me! All this grandiose and 'i wanted to make a game my wife would enjoy' well you're games suck! and games with great stories have ALREADY been made and they weren't open ended!
Whoah, got a little carried away there.... Molyneux, ggrrrrr