Andy Serkis -- who became a household name after bringing The Lord of the Rings' Gollum to life -- has criticized games for having no heart. Serkis feels that with games becoming such a huge medium, their storytelling aspects aren't doing enough justice to the ever-expanding audience that is embracing interactive entertainment.
"Games -- there's no heart in them," explains Serkis, who was involved in the motion-capture for PS3 game Heavenly Sword. "They're not about anything that is lasting. We put so much into the writing of film scripts and plays, but not into games. And games are where the audience is going to be.
"In the next generation of kids, you're going to see a lot of storytelling in games. And I think it's important to invest in that. I absolutely think that gaming is a massive storytelling arena in the making and now the technology has arrived to do that. It's a fascinating time."
While I think that tarring all games with the same brush does a disservice to some of the truly engaging and thought-provoking titles that already exist, Serkis does have a great point. All creative industries are about making money, but videogames put so much more focus and attention on profit over creativity that it's become blatant just how little publishers care about storytelling and providing a truly memorable experience.
So very few videogames these days are made out of love, and very much like Serkis, I hope that changes. However, much of the blame also lies with the consumer. Until a publisher can put heart into games without worrying about bankruptcy, I'm sure we'll see a lot more of the games that Andy Serkis wants to see.
Contest:
6:40 PM on 02.11.2009
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Ya gotta have heart
Must everything become a story in order to become valid in your (and Hollywood's) eyes?
In short, Loco Roco 2 > King Kong.
I told him to say this. I'm sorry.
you piss me off Andy... Heavenly Sword is too short... who wants to pay $60 for a 5 hour 3rd person slasher... I got it for only $20 and havent even played it..
still... I hate you :'(
On the whole though, I think games are a rather inefficient method of telling a story. It takes too much effort on the part of the person who's being told, there's too much time where the action is out of the storyteller's hands, and neither of those are conducive to effectively telling a story.
Who knows what he's actually basing his opinion on, but if it's only based on his time on Heavenly Sword I think somebody needs to sit him down and show him better examples of quality games throughout the years.
There's a time for deep, engaging, thought-provoking stories, and then there's a time for cheesy popcorn flicks, just like there's room enough in an industry for both games like Metal Gear Solid, Shadow of the Colossus, and Final Fantasy (insert number of preference here), alongside Halo, Super Smash Brothers, and Katamari Damacy.
But if all the entertainment industries actually got together and started singing "Kumbaya" around a campfire, then we wouldn't have anything to talk about here on Destructoid. >.>
But not every game needs to be epic. But it's not like he's abhorring video games.
And why does everybody get so worked up about a differing opinion? Constantly reminds me of politics when people act like that.
some games with heart: FFVII, FFVIII, Lost Odyssey... and that's just from the JRPG-genre...
idiot...
The reason some of us fight for Games to be recognissed as Art, is because they aren't by the majority. Ask the common man to sum up gaming, you'll get Mario, Sonic, Halo, Gears of War, COD.
Not Beyond Good & Evil, Outcast, Psychonauts, Monkey Island, or even Uncharted. Why? Maybe we're not the mature audience we all assume the rest of us to be.
Whilst we all like to think of gaming as quite a mature activity considering the themes, but to the rest of the world, they just see their children playing mario.
No game out there now has a script/story that could ever compete with some of the best films or books. They would never be nominated for an Oscar or a Pulitzer. Some may have stories that are fun, interesting, or even have a lot of heart, but none of them speak to the human condition in a way that's mature, restrained, and crafted with a deep and personal talent.
Best regards, Katya, CEO of dvd burner copy, atto iscsi initiator