I think that narrative and the scope of narrative has to be really particular to the kind of game that you’re playing, and I think that’s the important part, and I would say yes, not every game needs narrative um, particularly for that I would say things like your more casual games, your handheld games. I play ya know, a lot of Words with Friends, there really isn’t a strong story in that but I don’t need one. Um, however what I think is interesting about that is the 2 people who are playing against each other in many ways create their own story , create their own experience, and I think in gaming we need to think about story more broadly and differently than you do in a more linear format because that kind of experience while it may not seem like traditional story, you’re creating the story of how you’re playing it, as you’re doing it, so that’s really exciting. Something that doesn’t have a story component, it just doesn’t have a crafted narrative, and that’s fine. I absolutely think yes, by the time you’re getting into anything that has a certain amount of length, breadth, um to it, you … yeah I don’t know a game that wouldn’t benefit from strong story planning, strong story telling because it is absolutely something that we know, like the various studies, surveys, other things that have happened that tell us gamers love story, they absolutely get drawn into and attach to the story and particularly the thing about story that is the most exciting is the people really tend to be the characters, and in ya know, in your sort of TV, film, books, all of those sorts of things there is an understanding there that your characters are the story, and I think the games industry is just starting to realize that, oh yeah, it’s not the beats of the plot that make up a story experience, it’s the way that the plot impacts the characters. That’s the true story, that’s the stuff that people really respond to, whether it’s in a linear form or whether it’s in games. Ya know everyone’s ideal when they’re working in games is, they would love to have millions of people walking around in a t-shirt with their character on it because that is thing that.. and they’re only gonna do that if they really identify with who that character is, and what that character’s gone through, how they might be similar, how they wish they were more similar to that character, there’s just something about actually making a personification of something in a game that allows people to then see themselves in it, and allows people to relate to it, and go through emotions that are separate from sometimes the emotions of, Oh yes! I won! Or, oh I failed on this particular game, um because you’re always gonna have that rollercoaster in any game, but then having that other part that you can cling to and understand there’s a shared experience here, maybe not with another player but also with that character that’s here, um is really exciting and I think the games industry is really starting to make a shift and understand that narrative and particularly strong characters are really vital to making strong games.
