cct300-lab1

The failure of interactive movies has more to do with the idea that movies are naturally supposed to be a passive media. Interacting with movies requires one to be actively engaged in the media. The interaction may not appeal to an older generation, who are used to the classical method of story narration. Video games, on the other hand, were more a new means of media. Hence, it followed the adoption cycle (early adopters, etc.). There was no substitute for video gaming and having video games at home was seen as a luxury, as opposed to going to a video game arcade and playing it. Obviously, it is hard to create a narrative story structure in multiplayer games because they depend more on social interactions between the players. It relies on the players’ creative abilities and their social interaction that creates the storyline. Hence, the debate in question is whether a game should be narrated by the players or by the creators of the game. A narrated story is more engaging because there is a strict line of rules and orders that the player must follow to be successful in the game. The issue with this mode of playing is the fun only lasts until the game is completed. After that, the player might not want to play the game again because of its repetitive, predictable story line. Multiplayer environments on the other hand doesn’t require a long, narrative story line. However, there needs to be a goal or mission present to make the player feel like they will be achieving something. There also needs to be a reward system in place to rank the players. Finally, multiplayer games need to try their best to emulate real life social interaction. Currently, multiplayer games use hardware devices such as microphones and webcams to emulate a real-life social setting.