Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

David Jenkins:  "GameCentral speaks to the writer of Black Ops II and The Dark Knight, about what makes a good video game story - and a bad video game movie."

Leigh Alexander:  "Many players crave more authorship and storytelling in games -- until they get an ending they don't like" ...

As co-founder and GM of BioWare, I’m very proud of the ME3 team; I personally believe Mass Effect 3 is the best work we’ve yet created. So, it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations. Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics – but out of respect to our fans, we need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility.

A good response from BioWare to the controversy surrounding the Mass Effect ending.

"Storytelling, via game writing, has been cast as a subservient player to game design in all but a few cases, and yes it’s developed an inferiority complex. The thing is, it’s a dicotomy that just doesn’t exist. Story and play are built out of the same units."

What happens within Skyrim's snowy borders is a step closer to the holodeck fantasy many game designers and players are familiar with – an immersive, dynamic environment that responds to the player's actions in a coherent, even dramatic way.

The creative director of Irrational Games explains why he's personally directing the acting between the two game leads, Booker and Elizabeth, for his upcoming sequel, and what he's learned over the course of working with the actors and the game...

[Ken Levine discusses how theatre has influenced his approach to game storytelling and working with actors - a fabulously indepth article.]

Halo entered the sci-fi scene as a video game in 2001 with the release of Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox. Being strictly a video game, no one expected it to spawn the dynamic, evolving universe that exists today.

Anthony Mole:  "Some critics argue that video game narratives are poor, in comparison to books and movies; however, maybe video games simply offer a different kind of story experience?"

"The Dishonest Narrative Event is any time the video game’s reigns are ripped from the player’s hands in order to serve a specific plot’s agenda. In some cases, it is simply irritating or otherwise forgivable. Other times, it is the exact reason why a game’s narrative falls apart due to its own self-obsession."

DRC: This article examines the clash between cut-scenes and player driven storytelling.  It includes some great examples of what does & doesn't constitute a "dishonest narrative event".

"Always play when possible, and only show when absolutely necessary."

The problem here is, every line that’s spoken in the games by any one character has to be pre-recorded. That has an impact on the possible solutions and quests given.

We wanted to create the most cinematic and seamless action shooter that we possibly could, something that offered satisfying and precise gunplay alongside the kind of powerful storytelling that the series is so famous for...

Naughty Dog hopes The Last of Us is the storytelling renaissance this industry needs.

The game industry is riddled with the unsung heroes of interactive storytelling. As game developers are increasingly looking to create meaningful virtual narrative experiences, listening to the real-world wisdom of these writers can help everyone on the development pipeline understand…