An article by Ernest Adams over at Gamasutra got me thinking about "high class" video games. The article is an interesting read, but Adams doesn't really discuss what a "high class" video game is in any in-depth fashion. Moreso, it seems that the article is a plug for Merchant Ivory films. (To be honest, he's piqued my interest about their films) Off the top of my head, it's pretty obvious that there are no video games that could be considered "high class". Yet when I think about it, there are definitely elements in all different manners of video games that could be combined to create a "high class" video game. So, what does Mr. Adams consider to be a Merchant Ivory-class game?

A Merchant Ivory video game would be visually opulent, without being about explosions or “bullet time.” Its polygons would be spent on small details rather than large effects. ...It would reward close attention and playing more than once...

Graphics aren't much of a consideration nowadays. Any game worth their salt is not going to be sporting piss-poor graphics that are as bad as launch title's graphics. Admittedly, some developers decide to launch games at the end of a console's life to build up hype, instead of waiting six months and launching it on a new system, as in Dirge of Cerebus. The graphics would have benefitted so much more by waiting six months and releasing it as a launch title on the PS3. These sort of games must catch the eye in one of two ways: either by having a unique style that is striking and beautiful, as with Okami, or to have graphics that are realistic, where the people will look almost real, but avoiding the uncanny valley. I don't expect graphics to necessarily be so awe-inspiring that the people almost look real, but I would use Twilight Princess or the Prince of Persia series as a good measuring stick. Any game that is going to try to be high class should easily pass this requirement. The content, on the other hand, is something that is much harder to satisfy.

So what would it be about? The same things that highbrow books and movies and other entertainment forms are about: history, science, technology, politics, music, art, religion, diplomacy, family, manners, love, death, duty, sorrow, revenge, depression, and joy. For starters, anyway. Oh, yes, and probably sex, too, but sex handled with grace and sensitivity.

A couple of things jump to my mind after reading this: Prince of Persia and Final Fantasy Tactics. I'm sure there are more games than this that inspire grandiose images in your heads, but this is all that pops up in mine at the moment. Essentially, the game must have a well crafted story that is not merely the backdrop to your actions, but actually motivates you to do things in game. Surely you feel rage when Teta dies in Tactics, and it really sets a fire within the player. The story has to be good enough so that you stop seeing the characters in the game as mere objects, but rather as friends, enemies, and loved ones. The game must truly strike a fiery passion within the player to complete the game, and not take them out of it with product placement, obstentious tutorials, or mindless quests. To have such an all-encompassing plot, though, is nearly impossible for many games. In my mind, only RPGs or 3rd person action titles like Metal Gear Solid, Prince of Persia, and Devil May Cry will be best suited to pull this off. I'm sure other genres can, but I can't think of any gameplay that would be able to pull off a fluid mix between play and story. The game can't just be fun. It must be satisfying. Rather than feeling like you've just eaten fast food, the "high class" game would be like a steak dinner, giving the player a feeling of fufillment and true accomplishment, and hopefully the player will take something away from playing the game. Certainly each person playing the game is different, and the results won't be the same, but the feeling should be fairly universal. In my personal experience, I've had this feeling when I've watched The Green Mile, Oldboy, Little Miss Sunshine and the like. Metal Gear Solid certainly gave me this feeling after beating the game. I think the story worked well enough, and I really felt a great sense of accomplishment after beating it and hearing the story of the game.

Above all, a Merchant Ivory video game would be about people and ideas. It would appeal to thinkers and creators, which is why the works of Meier and Wright spring to mind as potential examples. It would challenge the player to understand and appreciate new things rather than to jump on platforms or to shoot aliens. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with jumping on platforms and shooting aliens, but they belong to a different class of products that entertain in a different way.

I'd certainly enjoy seeing these sort of "high class" games come out onto the market. I'm excited for Twilight Princess, because I feel that it is pretty close to reaching into the area of a "high class" game, even though its a gigantically popular title. About all that needs to be worked on is to make the story more intriguing and in-depth than it already is. Once gaming has its own version of "high class" material, then maybe some people will shut up about video games not being a worthy medium.