Interesting Correlation

[40oz]

http://lemondropchild.com/2010/06/how-far-does-the-modern-journey-of-discovery-go/

My writing teacher had us read a chapter in a book. The chapter was titled "Splendors of Crap" and to summarize it, the author states that he feels that those animated 3D children's movies such as Shrek and Madagascar are deteriorating from the imaginations of children. Unlike the TV series that he watched as a kid, "The Planet of the Apes" which has low budget sets and holes in the plot that he was able to fill in with his own imagination when he played games in the backyard with his friends.

I was really impressed with this chapter especially because it reflects and clarifies an opinion that I (and probably many others) had been developing over the last couple years concerning video games with state of the art graphics. As these games come out and blow us away with their perfect visuals, cinematic plots, and scripted gameplay, every single person encounters the exact same experience as everyone else because the game conveys everything that they want to and leaves nothing for the imagination.

The above link is a blog that kinda summarizes the chapter and shows some quotes. I couldn't actually locate the exact piece of literature to link to, but if you ever get the opportunity to read "Splendors of Crap", you won't be dissapointed.

[Csonicgo]

This has nothing to do with graphics. He was merely saying that, in his opinion, There is no space to relate your experiences or thoughts to what is being presented in today's cinema/media. Characters and plots are such a specific scope that there is no room for discussion other than "yeah, I liked that part". Unlike movies such as Citizen Kane and Greed (Where you can write tome after tome of analysis of those) bullshit from me-too studios such as Dreamworks gets pumped out year after year.

The only exceptions I can think of are the Pixar movies (Wall-E, The Toy Story trilogy). Toy Story in itself is how you keep a "Brand identity" and still have something a person can relate to. The scenes related with Buzz Lightyear's mental breakdown is possibly one of the saddest damn things I ever saw in a theatre.

I can remember vividly what happened in Monsters, Inc. and Wall-E, but the only parts I can remember from Shrek was some Matrix gag that was, even then, not very funny.

Fuck Dreamworks.

And to further muse on this, perhaps the mere notion that some people may pan the movie/play/tv show makes producers/directors force the writers to dilute the plots so much that the characters seem to be robots. The "get much money, fast" technique has slaughtered cinema into a laughing stock where atrocious bullshit like "Vampires Suck" and "Meet the Spartans" somehow make enough money to cover the budget fifty times over.


In relation to games, Graphics or not, a linear, boring game is a linear, boring game. Developers these days are going back to punishing players that want to explore, There are no alternate ways to play, and so on. The concept of "secrets" is pretty much gone these days, too.

[Xeros612]

Csonicgo said:

but the only parts I can remember from Shrek was some Matrix gag that was, even then, not very funny.

But how can you forget the overflow of pop culture references that are only worth a chuckle the first viewing?

As for the rest of the subject at hand, I think we can be more or less glad that it's really only mainstream companies doing this. Of course that means it's harder to find high quality forms of entertainment media, but looking at more obscure (internationally, at least) developers such as GSC and how to this day people are finding new things hidden in each of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games(granted they aren't -that- old), and the plots, while not exactly perfect, lend themselves greatly to interpretation and analysis. There's even a nearly 200 page thread discussing plot elements based around one minor character between the first two games.

[40oz]

Csonicgo said:

This has nothing to do with graphics.

Yes it does. I'm suggesting that with the more cinematic experiences in games that depict the most detailed fantasy settings, are desensitizing players (especially young children) to be forced to see things for what they are instead of exercising their imagination. I think I had become a victim of this growing up and I see it even more so in my younger brother. I feel like this essay really opened my eyes.

[Csonicgo]

It's hilarious to think that, in the past if capabilities were there, developers wouldn't try to make their creation exactly the way they wanted people to see it.


If you want imagination, try something called a book.

EDIT:

[Chopkinsca]

One reason why text adventure games were fun. They just gave you a bare description of the scene and your head had to fill in the rest. These days though the kids have too much ADD to play text adventure games.

[Captain Toenail]

I dunno, I loved Toy Story when I was a child, I'd even go so far as to say it's a work of art. Yeah Shrek isn't so great for children because I think it was aimed at adults too with the references and stuff. I know my nephew loves Shrek and he has a massive imagination.

[Clonehunter]

I've found that Movies more than often provoke imagination, while video games recently have it going the other way around.

[Xeros612]

Honestly... I'm not seeing where detailed graphics or an actually present storyline == imagination killers. The art of storytelling is expanding into more entertainment mediums, and it's not like not having to make up the majority of what goes on by yourself is a bad thing.

[40oz]

Splendors of Crap said:

“I wouldn’t worry about it so much, I guess, if I felt like my kids had the space in their own heads and, especially, in their own physical worlds to lay it all out and make it their own. Sometimes they don’t seem able to operate in an imaginative world. When we go to Maine in the summer my wife and I open the back door and step aside and wait for them to fly out into the grass and the sunshine. Acres of woods and wildflowers, butterflies and streams, a tame waterfall. A waterfall and hours of freedom from rules and parental control. And they stand there on the doorstep, eyeing one another, shuffling from foot to foot.”

I'm just saying that I think really overachieving video games (and movies) kinda provoke children to enjoy the reality they create and not really make be satisfied with the reality around them.

A classmate of mine mentioned in class as we were talking about this chapter the she works in a day care center, and the daycare center is full of blocks, puzzles, lego bricks and other toys, and a lot of the time she will get a large number of kids that sit there completely unamused, like they don't even understand the concept of 'pretending.'

[Clonehunter]

Good god, that's just plain sad. What happened to the world?

[Aliotroph?]

Why do we have this FUD every few months? It's garbage. It has been garbage in every form in every generation. Most people don't have any imagination and never have. The ones who do seem to think this is a new thing for some reason.

Also Citizen Kane just stands above 10,000 or so movies from the same period that sucked so much nobody watches them now. This is like how Star Wars did the same thing in the 70s and several movies since have done too. No problem.

[Maes]

Sounds like a moot point to me. It's not that there weren't live-action fantasy films and TV series in the past that showed "surreal" things yet left little to the imagination. Now if we're debating something at the level of the Flintstones vs something like Toy Story...

[AndrewB]

I think the reason that games used to require more imagination is simply because the technology was so limited that we NEEDED to fill in the gaps with our own imagination. If we had today's technology 20 years ago, the games would suck equally as much.

That doesn't mean graphics don't correlate negatively with gameplay. Of course they do in many respects.

[40oz]

AndrewB said:

I think the reason that games used to require more imagination is simply because the technology was so limited that we NEEDED to fill in the gaps with our own imagination. If we had today's technology 20 years ago, the games would suck equally as much.

I agree completely

AndrewB said:

That doesn't mean graphics don't correlate negatively with gameplay. Of course they do in many respects.

That's not the point I'm trying to make. I'm more concerned about the minds of people's exposure to games of the same caliber as today's standards, and how it's interfering with those ability to appreciate the qualities of real life.

[Fluffles]

I think it really depends on how you watch a movie or play a game. If you use your brain to think outside of the actual movie n make up assumptions n use imagination to think whats gunna happen or what you could do. One reason I do love playing games like doom is because the simplicity makes me think alot more than if I was to play lord of the rings online or some game.