Videogames as Narrative Medium
© 2003 Nich Maragos

  1. Chapter I - Are Games Art?
    1. The Case Against
    2. The Case For
  2. Chapter II - Narrative Components of Games
    1. Imagery
    2. Sound
    3. Movies
  3. Chapter III - Conventional Narrative in Games
    1. Plot
    2. Character
    3. Point of View
    4. Setting
    5. Theme
    6. Sidequests
    7. Metanarrative
  4. Chapter IV - Interactive Narrative in Games
    1. The Arbitrary Choice
    2. The Burdensome Choice
    3. The Interpretive Choice
    4. The Behavioral Choice
    5. Rewards
  5. Chapter V - Conclusion
  6. Works Cited

Of course, there are only so many opportunities for a character to speak during the course of pure gameplay. Most of the narrative force in modern games is in brief (or, in some cases, extremely lengthy) movie-like segments commonly known as cutscenes. A cutscene is defined as any instance within a game where control is taken out of the player’s hands and the story becomes non-interactive.

Cutscenes have been around for a long time, dating back at least to Ninja Gaiden on the NES. The game is divided into gameplay portions, where the player controls the ninja character Ryu Hayabusa through exotic locations, and crudely animated cutscenes between these missions, which advanced the underlying story.

What distinguished Ninja Gaiden’s cutscenes from earlier and similar efforts was the union of music, moving images, and text. In order to reproduce the feeling of watching an action movie on the simple NES format, the developers would show a close shot of Ryu’s eyes with the subtitle, "And if I say no?" followed by a CIA operative in sinister lighting with the subtitle, "You know the answer to that." This method of storytelling worked reasonably well, but only due to its taking direct control away from the player—any attempt to relay plot information during gameplay would only result in a distraction from the intense focus needed to proceed through the levels.

Cutscenes since then have become vastly more sophisticated in terms of presentation (as mentioned earlier, they now regularly feature smooth animation and voice talents), but they follow the same general principle as Ninja Gaiden’s early efforts. Because of this, they are a major source of contention amongst gaming critics. Some (including this author) feel that they enhance the gameplay experience and are themselves a valid way of enjoying a game, while others consider them obstacles to pure gameplay, which they see as the true aim and purpose of games. Nonetheless, it must be said that gaming’s potential as a narrative form has developed almost entirely by way of these cutscenes—from the castle retainers in Super Mario Brothers telling our hero that "Our Princess is in another castle" to the lifelike CGI animation depicting armored cavalry charging forth in Final Fantasy X—and for purposes of this essay, they will be considered a vital component of the medium.

To Chapter 3 ->