Narrative in games

In his book Chris Crawford explained that stories are complex structures with hard to meet criteria. He believes that these criteria are often unmet in video games.

Chris Crawford went on to explain that stories in essence are about people. Even stories with a object as a central focus are more interested in how the object effects the people who interact with the object. Crawford believes that this is where games go wrong. In games objects are very important. Equipment obstacles and collectables are all examples of this.

He also talks about the importance of conflict in a story. Conflict can be both direct and indirect. An example of direct conflict is a war but a more indirect example would be a ideological difference between a pragmatist and ideologue for example. Crawford believes that while there is a lot of conflict in games it tends to be conflict of the simplest kind : violence.

I would have to disagree with Crawford but I would also have to give him the benefit of the doubt. The extract that Crawford wrote on this point was from 2005. I am of the opinion that games since then have advanced dramatically in their ability to tell story. Games like 'Mass Effect' and 'the Walking Dead' have really struck out in terms of story telling by offering both social conflict and proper character development.