Speaking of Minimalism and Glassware
Edited By aaronverber
Imagine an empty cup. The cup represents my ability to express an idea. I'm not going to lie: my cup is pretty fancy--none of that plastic crap. We're talking glassware from Target, at least. But the cup is still only so big. In fact, it's pretty small. I can, of course, only pour one glass of water in at a time. The water is what I want say about anything in particular. I want to say a lot--I want to pour the water in all at once, but I can't. I have to take my time and drink the water as I go. This is frustrating, to say the least.
I feel like I have a lot to say about player agency versus player power, scale, story, storytelling, progression, art, originality, allusions, challenge--and I will, eventually. But I guess the overriding thought behind all of it is a hope for something new, something different. As much as I've loved following along with all the E3 shenanigans, the Big Picture, step-away-from-the-dots-and-see-what's-really-going-on sort of idea I got from this week was, "Well, it worked last time, didn't it?" (Again, this is a loaded statement, with several obvious exceptions, but I'm going for brevity.) By that, I don't mean a lack of originality. That's not my complaint. I've come to accept that there is no such thing--it's a myth, ironically enough. Because that's where most everything comes from, eventually, if you tear away all the embellishment and pomp: those pesky Greeks.
I'm looking for something with a spark. A glow. A love you don't find every day. I mean Journey. I mean Portal 2 (the first was original enough for both of them, if you ask me). Of course they exist within the trappings of what has come before. So does everything else. But it feels fresh. And I wish I could do a better job expressing what that feeling is, but I feel it strongly enough to trust it.
Don't get me wrong. In my first two blog posts, I praised Doom (which created one genre) and Dragon Age: Origins (which in some way stands as the current culmination of another). The first was game-changing (get it?). The second was a love-letter to RPG fans. But there is some sum experience that is gained from the good games that cannot be faked by the bad. I just wish I knew what that was. I mean, who wouldn't? But I feel like I have a lot of water in my brain, waiting to get out. I want the answers to be in there so badly. I just have to wait it out, I guess, and drink a lot of water along the way.
Imagine an empty cup. The cup represents my ability to express an idea. I'm not going to lie: my cup is pretty fancy--none of that plastic crap. We're talking glassware from Target, at least. But the cup is still only so big. In fact, it's pretty small. I can, of course, only pour one glass of water in at a time. The water is what I want say about anything in particular. I want to say a lot--I want to pour the water in all at once, but I can't. I have to take my time and drink the water as I go. This is frustrating, to say the least.
I feel like I have a lot to say about player agency versus player power, scale, story, storytelling, progression, art, originality, allusions, challenge--and I will, eventually. But I guess the overriding thought behind all of it is a hope for something new, something different. As much as I've loved following along with all the E3 shenanigans, the Big Picture, step-away-from-the-dots-and-see-what's-really-going-on sort of idea I got from this week was, "Well, it worked last time, didn't it?" (Again, this is a loaded statement, with several obvious exceptions, but I'm going for brevity.) By that, I don't mean a lack of originality. That's not my complaint. I've come to accept that there is no such thing--it's a myth, ironically enough. Because that's where most everything comes from, eventually, if you tear away all the embellishment and pomp: those pesky Greeks.
I'm looking for something with a spark. A glow. A love you don't find every day. I mean Journey. I mean Portal 2 (the first was original enough for both of them, if you ask me). Of course they exist within the trappings of what has come before. So does everything else. But it feels fresh. And I wish I could do a better job expressing what that feeling is, but I feel it strongly enough to trust it.
Don't get me wrong. In my first two blog posts, I praised Doom (which created one genre) and Dragon Age: Origins (which in some way stands as the current culmination of another). The first was game-changing (get it?). The second was a love-letter to RPG fans. But there is some sum experience that is gained from the good games that cannot be faked by the bad. I just wish I knew what that was. I mean, who wouldn't? But I feel like I have a lot of water in my brain, waiting to get out. I want the answers to be in there so badly. I just have to wait it out, I guess, and drink a lot of water along the way.
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