Excerpt:
The Globe and Mail: Video game narrative is often compared, perhaps unfairly, to that of other media, including books and film. Yet BioShock managed to overcome this hurdle and earn nearly universal praise for its story, which made important, philosophical statements about society and morality. This leads me to wonder three things. First, how does video game storytelling differ from that of other media?
Jordan Thomas: That's a long conversation – but one principle which differs (with BioShock and BioShock 2) is in the treatment of the protagonist. In the best heroic fiction, the author can be quite sadistic, arbitrarily torturing the main character because in a passive medium, his or her ultimate triumph or catharsis is deterministic – guaranteed.
In games, however, there's a kind of axiom of 'fair play' at work – the real-life player should ideally be allowed to succeed or fail by personal skill rather than ideal dramatic timing, and they absolutely won't accept an arbitrary weakness foisted on them by the narrative – unless it's extremely well seeded. But a story where the hero just lays waste to his foes without nearing defeat at any point is typically very dull.
So, in BioShock-like stories (where the goal is to minimize any feelings of 'slippage' between the player and his or her character), the writer ends up needing to think like a game designer. Any surprise setbacks or sleight-of-hand twists need to feel fair to the player in hindsight. It's a lot harder than it sounds.
One of the most popular video game franchises of all time is set to receive a Netflix film adaptation, according to an announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
Gee...can't wait to see how many things they change and stray away from, oh don't forget the miscast actors
Netflix did well with Dare Devil and the Punisher and I hear the Witcher is pretty good I know when I had Netflix at the time Stranger Things was also good. But Bioshock I love the franchise Bioshock Infinite is my favorite game I would pay the $21 Canadian just to check out Bioshock. Normally I would never renew my Netflix after they did their price hike but Bioshock would be worth it.
Love Bioshock but I'll prepare myself for the likelihood this will be both crap and a pale imitation of the source material. That covers most video game adaptations and Netflix films.
The best games are able to create a never-before-seen setting and weave a completely engaging story into its DNA. One series beats almost all others out for its environmental storytelling and narrative: BioShock.
Hurts to see the word "worst" related to Bioshock saga.
The 3 games are masterpieces.
oh great. Can’t wait to see the posts of game titles in a ranked order without context as to why.
In a podcast with Wassup Conversations, Jordan Thomas, director and the writer of BioShock 2 reveals his initial ideas for a new rapture and how they were shut down by 2K.
"My first proposal was about a little sister, it was playing as a little sister and it was much more horror-oriented pace and about vulnerability, closer to Thief frankly, but I was told no, we want it to be our Gears of War, this need to be a big shooter franchise with an emphasis on the shooter element, and so what I think of the protagonist of a shooter as is a big lumbering sort of porthole on a stick with guns sticking out in front like you’re almost a vehicle."
And he also wanted it to be above the sea or in space. What a wasted opportunity.
It's surprising the game turned out to be good with this guy at the helm. The combat mechanics were actually the biggest improvement in the sequel as much as he wouldn't want to hear that, everything else was inferior.