The Value of Today's Video Games

The year is 1914. American fugitive Robert Cath jumps from his speeding motorcycle to board the Orient Express, where he finds his friend has been murdered.

It's not the latest Tom Clancy spy novel or the plot of next summer's blockbuster. Instead, it's a video game. Video games are presenting a new venue for storytelling and academic study.

Two University of Florida researchers who have analyzed storytelling games say they can be richer and more involved than books or films and are a medium that needs more attention from scholars.

Video games stem from a long tradition of storytelling, with aspects that are exclusive of narrative, said Sean Fenty, a UF graduate student whose studies focus on new media. Contrary to analysis that dismisses the narrative aspects of video games, Fenty's thesis asserts they provide another vehicle to express stories.

Research on video games has shown they help users develop better hand-eye coordination and have better attention to detail. Interactive narratives offer this and more: A user has the power to take meaningful action in a dilemma and see the results of the decisions and choices that are made.

Some video games have not only the gaming aspect, but also are intertwined with a sophisticated and complex plot.

"Just as film has proven itself capable of producing great stories like Citizen Kane and Casablanca," Fenty argues, "the computer game is beginning to show that it too can be a vehicle of great narrative."

What sets the narrative in a video game apart from that in a book is the active role a player takes in the story. Unlike books or films, players have a direct impact on outcomes and story lines.

The majority of research now being done in the gaming field is measuring the violence and gore contained in some games, but more work is beginning to be done to evaluate the importance and impact of interactive narratives, according to Fenty.

Jane Douglas, a UF associate English professor who specializes in interactive fiction, says a video game can hold the visual stimulation of a film and be just as engaging as a piece of literature. Douglas supervised Fenty's thesis work.

"Video game narratives provide a much more intense experience than some movies or books," Douglas said. "Users can feel as if they are immersed, and some games last 40 to 50 hours."

Douglas, who teaches an interactive narrative course at UF, said more students are taking an interest in this aspect of game design because of increasing consumer interest in stimulating narrative within a game.

Stuart Moulthrop, a professor at the University of Baltimore who specializes in interactive media, agrees. Moulthrop notes that while European scholars are engaging in serious study of video games, similar research is only just beginning to take hold in the U.S. academic world.

"There's a major difficulty about taking games seriously," Moulthrop said. "They are viewed as an entertainment form."

Video games also offer more in-depth stories and richer characters, Fenty argues. One such game, "The Last Express," has over 40 characters, including the motorcycle-jumping fugitive Robert Cath, whom the player becomes to interact with other characters. As the story unfolds, the player meets personalities representing the major nationalities of Europe and becomes intertwined in a story of love, myth and intrigue.

The first commercially available video game was Pong in 1973, which had no interactive narrative, as the object was to bounce a ball back and forth across the screen. The first narrative story game was 1977's Adventure. This computer game is solely text-based and was the first role-playing game.

More money has been spent on video games than on movies in the past two years. A report released by the Wall Street Journal showed total videogame software and hardware sales in the U.S. reached $8.9 billion versus $7.3 billion for movie box office receipts.

Just as not all books are novels, not all video games are narratives. The critical study of computer games is important because of the influence they have on society and how this influence might be harnessed in new and exciting ways, not only to entertain but also to teach, Fenty said.

"Educational titles like 'Where is Carmen San Diego' and 'Blues Clues' will change the way we learn, and interactive narrative like 'The Last Express' will change the way we think of literature," Fenty said.