Game Design, Gamer Culture, Movies, TV
A Look at How We Tell Stories
“Tell me a story.” It is a phrase that embodies pure innocence, that we all uttered as our parents tucked us into bed at night. As we grew older, we replaced the spoken narratives of our parents with picture books. As we grew even older still, those were replaced with novels and we learned to appreciate television and film as artistic media. Now that we are old enough to appreciate the beauty of a good story, we have even more places to find them. Each entertainment medium is capable of telling moving tales, but they are all done in drastically different ways. What is it you want from your stories? And where do you look for them?
Video games that are based off of movie or television licenses have a reputation for either being not nearly as good, or faithfully as disappointing as their source material. There are exceptions to this rule, though they are few and far between. But then there are cases where Hollywood completely drops the ball and neglects a premise that—while it may be hit or miss cinematically—begs to be given a video game treatment.
If you’re an anime fan who games, or a gamer who enjoys anime on the side, then you probably know the frustration of not having a good game based on one of your favorite series. While the gaming industry seems like it will continue to milk shows like Dragonball Z, Naruto, Gundam, and Bleach for games, if they took the time to watch something else, they might find their next hit game.
Why is the Blu-ray player on the PS3 important? This question has been addressed again and again; it even echoes a similar question asked ages ago about the PS2 and its DVD player. I’ve defended the PS3 before, although I don’t own one, though I will in the future (if I can ever afford it), but that’s irrelevant. Let’s ignore the PS3 for a minute and just look at the bonus of having a Blu-ray player included. Anime fans, pay attention.
The 1980s was the early video game era, but it was also a time of great cartoons. Since the FCC wasn’t all about doing the parent’s job for them back then, cartoons could be less about education and more about entertainment. While some 80s characters have found new life today, there are still those that could find great opportunities in video games.
He is a being of many names: The Brown Rectangular Thing, The Giant Poop Monster, but perhaps none so great as The “Every Time You Masturbate, God Kills a Kitten” Guy. His friends simply call him Domo-kun. Whatever manner you choose to observe him, he’s still equally loveable. And weird-looking, for that matter.
Back in the day, the success of your video game console was determined by the popularity of your company’s mascot. It is from those times that we have the Mario and Sonic franchises of today. But what about the figureheads of consoles passed that didn’t make it? After some investigating, I was able to track a few of them down so we can learn the age-old question: where are they now? 
This week, it was announced that Harmonix would provide another free downloadable song with Rock Band- namely, Stephen Colbert’s hit “Charlene (I’m Right Behind You).” Yes, that’s right, the man is a force to be reckoned with: not only is he a TV personality, a former presidential candidate, and a writer, but now he’s also a music god featured on a hit video game. Can anything stop Stephen Colbert?