just_nonplussed

Seems like you have your work cut out for you! Sounds like an interesting dissertation.
 
I'll try to give you some useful advice. :-) I've written quite a few essays before...
 
Try to think holistically about game design as narrative design. This means discussing games as a whole ('whole-istic'); as one medium. It's good to have specific examples to talk about in-depth, but always begin from a wider perspective. For example, then you will be able to easily compare say, GTA to breakout on the 2600, even if they're not in the same genre so to speak. It will allow you to connect all your examples in the essay much easier so they can feed off each other. But also, the idea is that games are games and they all tell stories regardless of how modern they are or whether they have dialogue or not. Go and research some Atari games and you'll see some early examples of storytelling in games. Download a ROM or something and actually play them; stuff like Pitfall, Missile Command, Adventure, and Kaboom (I wrote an essay on this that might help).
Also, story is fundamentally about structure right? So check out games by Nintendo from the SNES era. They have great structure, and while they don't generally tell grand, sweeping or 'original' dramas, they are perfect examples of harmony between play and narrative. Indeed, the gameplay and the game design is the narrative.
 
The big issue you could tackle is the difficulty lots of game designers have in creating meaningful internal logic in a game design, and the difficulty of integrating player choice, and pre-written storytelling script. There are no rights or wrongs, and many ways of doing it - but there are also many pitfalls.
 
Here's some stuff I wrote on Shadow of the Colossus's storytelling.
And more on Kaboom. I have some other stuff on my blog if you want to check it out. I also made a small game called 'invisible wall' (check my bio) to demonstrate how story can be told simply through simple interaction and visual symbols. 

Good luck, and remember the difference between the story the player creates and the story the designer tries to tell - and how these interact.

oh, i didn't know that mass attack was going to be like canvas curse. thanks for the info! canvas curse is one of my favourite DS games. HAL make some great little games.
 
on a side note, the sub title 'mass attack' does sound kind of alarming. lol. rhymes with 'gas attack'. makes kirby sound like a terrorist.

 
What makes Metroid so beautiful..?
 
For years I've been entranced by the beauty and elegance of the Metroid design, but unable to articulate why. There's always been something esoteric and mystical about that world. You're always generally alone, exploring alien terrain and discovering mystical artifacts. Samus is like a detective, searching for clues; working out the puzzle that is the environment that engulfs her. You can never trust your senses in Metroid, as walls often aren't there, or lava turns out to be an illusion, often hiding secret passages and hidden items. There's always a silence to this investigative gameplay that seeps into you and begins talking to you directly. These are some things that are beautiful about Metroid, but I want to explain something more fundamental.
 

Knowledge is Power

@Video_Game_King said:

@MrKlorox said:

I kinda wished Nintendo would have focused more on the Metroid aspect than the Zelda aspect for their 25th anniversaries this year. Then again, the Ocarina of Time game style is clearly what metroidvania is supposed to be like in 3D... so whatever.

Huh? How? I can see parallels, but they're not analogous.

Both the Metroidvania style (Shadow Complex) and the 3D Zelda style (Darksiders) are built upon the idea of exploration, and gaining new abilities that act as keys to enter new areas that were previously unaccessible. That to me defines Metroidvania. However, Metroidvania doesn't really have as much of a focus on puzzles.

Metroid Prime even feels like Retro Studios said, "Let's make a game like the 3D Zeldas in first person using the Metroid universe."

I don't think I have ever played a Metroid game the entire way through. I keep on meaning to get Super Metroid off the virtual console (based on the assumption that the original is unplayable, which doubtlessly it is), but my backlog is horrendously big enough as it is. Ah well, Happy Birthday Samus, may your characterization continue to be a point of contention among people with too much time on their hands.

@MrKlorox said:

I kinda wished Nintendo would have focused more on the Metroid aspect than the Zelda aspect for their 25th anniversaries this year. Then again, the Ocarina of Time game style is clearly what metroidvania is supposed to be like in 3D... so whatever.

Huh? How? I can see parallels, but they're not analogous.

Some great tracks on that album. Played trough the entirety of Super Metroid for the first time last sunday. The only 2D Metroid I hadn't beaten up until then

okey reason why I dont see games as art is.

1. games are designed so your dopamine receptors or other pleasure parts of the brain stimulate, it is the same stimuli as gambling(for the brain).

2. a painting will never go too far unlike video games when it comes to violence, blood n gore, sexuality, etc. Because it is all about what the painter is feeling not what the audiene is feeling. The only limitation for the painter is his morale, not "what will sell" view.

3. story's are very often just crap, while there are just crap films. but video games kinda takes the cake on that one. because we stop playing the video games because it has bad mechanics or gamebreaking bugs n glitches not because the story is so shity, if we would stop playing games because the story was pure crap then most people would have stoped within act2 or 3 on gears of war2. there are more examples of crapy storys but I really dont want to make a list about it.

4. Video games should be looked upon as games like poker and risk, dnd, warhammer, etc.

Btw i dont look films as an art form.