Storytelling and My Future
By Lost_In_Gaming 4 Comments
What sparked my desire to write this blog post was a thread in the PS3 forums asking whether or not stories in [PS3] games have gone downhill or, even, are just gone. You can find my two cents on the subject in thread, but here it is for you:
Hmmm. The reason I have started to drift further away from games and towards televison is because I have found that story is what drives me to play a game. It shows me that the game has a lot of depth and feel to it. LOST, the TV show, was a turning point for me. What I mean is that it showed me the difference in the storytelling mediums of video games and television. I just find better story in TV than I do in video games. It's sad and it has brought a change of heart for me in where I want to go in my life. I thought it was game development, but I find that writing is 1.) my personal strong suite and 2.) I have a bigger passion for writing whatever comes to mind so that I can make something artistic out of it (and by 'artistic' I mean something that is compelling, naratively, from begining to end).
As of late, I have been really thinking about what I want to do with my life. I thought I had it all planned out. I was going to go to University of Michigan - Dearborn for four years and get my Bachellor's in Computer Information Science (CIS) and follow their "Game Design Trak" to become a video game developer, but lately I don't know if that is what I want anymore. Writing has always been something I love to do and, modesty aside, I am pretty good at it, too. So now, I am at a crossroad where I can either turn right and make the choice to change my major and to get into writing, instead of CIS, or I can continue going straight and take the CIS/Game Dev. path. It's not that I don't want to do the CIS option anymore, it's more, "which do I want more and which will give me better job security for my future?" I wish I could have the best of both worlds...maybe write a story for a video game, but the thing is, I beleive that TV/movies are better mediums for a story to be told than a video game. Granted, there are many games that tell a strong, strong story with character development and drama, but I wonder what will keep me working for a long, long time. I don't wanna loose my job because no one will go for a script I have written or because there isn't enough funding. If I was in video games, the only thing I need to worry about is getting a job at a development comany, hiring me to write code for a game they thought of, not me. It takes away the creative control that I want and gives me job security.
I have talked to my family and friends and even researched what colleges, including mine, have to offer with the dilema I have. I felt it necessary for me to write this out so that I can think more about it and not dwell on one part of it. I am going to be a freshman in college in just over a month, so I have some time to think about what I want to do. They say the first two years are for you to find out what you really want to do. I hope they're right, because I wish I knew already.