Video games and literature.

Today I’m going to talk about two games. One from 2013 the other from 1999

The Last Of Us, is a magnificent post apocalyptic experience. Much like Cormac McCarthy’s, The Road, the story follows a child and adult on their journey across a tarnished America. Like The Road, the story isn’t about how the world came to such a state of decay. It merely serves as a backdrop, creating a setting for the two main characters. The Last of Us is one of the most memorable experiences in video game history. It’s a tale littered with uncertainties, vulnerability and the omnipresent feeling of despair. (A quick teaser review. But it helps you get the feel of what the game is like.)

The Last of Us is a great example of the trans media narrative. It could easily have been a book, or movie but I think it was captured perfectly as a game. I think that games now are where comics were 50 years ago. And I think we’re just coming to an age where people understand the cultural value that’s told/shown in the games of today.

Games are narrative and immersion and music. Games are art.

I think another great example of this is a game called Planescape: Torment. It was based of the Planescape RPG boardgames and has some of the best writing and character progression I’ve played through.

In fact, author Patrick Rothfuss is on board and helping with the writing of the new Planescape game. (Which I helped fund on kickstarter. Kickstarter deserves a blog post of its own.) 

It’s rather wild to see how games have been evolving. Everything has changed, people expect more. Even if they can’t put their fingers on it —Some people want better graphics or stories or art or music and that drives the value dynamicly upward. And that’s pretty cool.