MAN I am stoked to see what games will be made in the future. I love interactivity and feeling what I do is important and effects the world I play in, but like Matt said; Sometimes you just wanna sit back after a tough mission and watch an awesome cutscene.

This is going to be fun.

Good discussion.  I definitely feel like the gaming industry is liberated from the constraints of TV/movies, which generally have to clamor toward larger audiences to make money.  Games of course have to sell to turn a profit, but the higher product costs allow for many niches and approaches to storytelling that don't have to be so one-size-fits-all.  Games can dialogue-driven (Mass Effect, Uncharted) or silent (Journey, Myst) and still tell excellent stories.

April issue? Anyway, you guys should do more of this.

EDIT: Go Blackhawks!

I'm a Writing Major myself, currently in College, and I'm hoping to make it in the gaming industry to write scripts and storyboards and what not. Nifty discussion. Thanks for some insight!

Interesting topic.

Games definately have their unique challenges in terms of storytelling in comparison to movies (that have a fixed script). If you look at how storytelling has evolved over the last 10 years though, games have gone from using pre-rendered cutscenes to cutscenes using the in-game engine.

I would bet on more mechanics like the mass effect paragon/renegade actions or even an improved version of quicktime events (perish the thought) emerging, with an emphasis on contextual actions rather than fixed linearity.

All of this however is ultimately tied to what technology allows.

I personally would really love to see other developers take a page out of Telltale's book and make their own episodic games.  I just finished The Walking Dead (Episode 5) today, and came away so impressed by it (and even got teary eyed towards the end).  My only complaint about that game is the wait for season 2.

this is amazing.

Totally agree with Secret of Mana kickin the door open to narrative in games for me as well. I was blown away as a kid by how intriguing that game was

I thought this video was going to be about how game writers used to be there to pump up excitement for upcoming games like Nintendo Power but has now turned more venomous and opinionated like dissecting certain gaming company directions.

This is nice too but that other discussion would be really interesting to talk about. A self examination of the video game journalist's evolution.

I really enjoyed this. Well, the 2 mins I saw before the video player started trying to murder my computer. I wish you guys did more of stuff like this, I really enjoy it.

I've been trying to get some of my friends interested in games with heavier plots, like The Walking Dead, but none of them appreciate the stories in games like I do. They tried skipping the conversation parts of the game in TWD and then quit when I told them 'This IS the game!' They just what big event after big event to happen. I can understand liking the action in Call of Duty games, but I prefer games with a fleshed out story and deep characters. I like the anticipation and tension between big events.

Great discussion GI!

I'm definitly the sort of gamer that appreciates games mainly for their stories and their ability to get me to care about the characters I'm playing as/interacting with.

That being said, I do think the balance between cinematics and gameplay should be carefully monitered and balanced. There were definitly times in MGS games and a few JRPG's I played where I would suddenly realize "wow this cinematic has been going on for fifteen minutes!" And of course I couldn't just skip it because I would still want to know what was going on!

A truly wonderful video feature! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

My appreciation for the stories of video games that overcomes my desire for gameplay is what allows me to swallow down the fact I will never play God of War or Bioshock or any of those fantastic games. As long as somebody posts the cutscenes on YouTube, I can make it.

I love these discussions. My introduction and history with games are so vastly different from yours. The March issue looks like it will be amazing. Whenever the GI staff takes their time to create these videos, you have my word that I will be watching.

I try to pay attention to story in games. Most of the time I end up pressing whatever button I can to skip cutscenes. If there are little notes/recordings I read or listen to them but they don't really have an impact.

Interesting topic, but.....the narrative of videogames, even the ones said to be "Art," still lack the power and quality of one of the lesser novels of a lesser novelist like Thomas Hardy. It's a shame, but videogames have a long ways to go before they are more than toys.

Great discussion.  I love story heavy games.  In fact, the reason I play games is for the stories.  I know a lot of gamers don't really care for linear game stories, but those are my favorite.  I'm an observer, so I don't like putting myself into the game.  Instead, I like to be led along through twists and turns, and I especially love being surprised by the actions of the characters.  

So true I love when I get to see a cutscene just sit and watch  the pure awesomness.