Improving/Exalting/Simplifying Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Gears of War, GTA, Fallout, Left For Dead, and all RPGs/FPSs With The Gold 45 Revolver /Ideas Have Consequences/Moral Premise Technology & Making $$$ $Billions$$$ in the Renaissance by Dr. Elliot McGucken on 07/30/09 12:29:00 pm del.icio.us digg this! reddit! stumble it!
Posted 07/30/09 12:29:00 pm
Improving/Exalting/Simplifying ASSASSIN'S CREED with The Gold 45 Revolver /Ideas Have Consequences/Moral Premise Technology:
The game opens in Rome. From street to street you walk, on by the Parthenon and Coliseum. You hear bits and pieces of conversations, and your task is to infiltrate the communist movement and carry out missions so as to prove your trustworthiness, as you rise on towards the top, so you can assassinate the communist leader.
You can see the titles of the books people are carrying/reading in the cafes, and you can can accept and read the pamphlets they are passing out. Sometimes you pick one up after they drop it, while getting up from their table in the cafe. You see the Marxist philosophy expressed, so you subtly follow them and say, "excuse me--I think you dropped this." They thank you. "It's good reading," you choose to say, and they introduce themselves. You are standing beneath an ancient archway inscribed with Virgil's immortal words, and you smile to yourself, as the words remind you of your true, exalted mission: "Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito."
This would be a brand new form of spy/assassin game, centered about the player's knowledge regarding various politcial philosophies, which would guide them in their choices in the dialogue trees, by which they would either move closer to the top of the communist party, or be exiled/killed. Imagine how fun that would be to fool communists en route to kiling their leader! Of course any other ideologies/ideas could be used/woven into the AI/technology, but the novel dynamic would be the same.
The novel technology would perform best for the most realistic scenarios acknowledging the fact that freedom's classical ideals have ever lead to greater peace and propserity than collectivism's. Imagine pretending to sympathize with the ideologies of the Red Coats/ Scottish Nobles/Sauron/Nazis while infiltrating their ranks to kill their leader. And imagine the dire consequences of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time!
The more convincing you are in the dialogue (dialogue trees such as Mass Effect, but endowed with the ideas have consequences technology which deals with different ideologies that have far-ranging consequences which will be rendered in the game)--the more you respond and interact like a communist--the faster you move up, and the less *physical/risky* missions you have to perform to prove your worth to the communist party. If you fail to rise to the top and assassinate the leader, tens of millions will be killed; and freedom and liberty will be taken from all in the triumphant communist regime.
In various embodiements of the game, there will also be opportunities to bring communists over to your side by quoting the US Constitution/ Founding Fathers/etc., so as to help you achieve your goals, but watch out, as it might get you killed! Best to move slowly and wait for them to broach the subject of the Constitution and liberty, but watch out again, as it could be a trap! Especially coming from a hot woman you just spent the night with!
Missions may involve you passing out communist pamphlets, defacing the opposing party's posters/signs signifying liberty, and disseminating propaganda. Missions could also involve you having to prove your worth by killing members of the opposing party--(your party!)--so as to rise on up, but such actions could result in losing the game, as you would be living the dervish "ends justify the means" philosopy.
At any rate, all embodiements end with the ideas or ideals--first heard in words--rendered in deeds. If you fail to kill the communist leader, you get to witness tens of millions dying. If you succeed, you get to witness liberty and an exalted, prosperous, and free world.
OMG! We're surrounded by fanboys! & we forgot our Gold 45 Revolvers at home!
Of course different ideologies could be explored/incorporated, and various game designers would endow game with thier own preferred ideas and supposed consequences. But the richest games will be those which remain close to freedom's spiritual reality; as well as the classic, epic, common story uniting all those who have fought for exalted liberty, truth, and freedom.
The games would rely on the player's knowledge/intuition regarding the various tenets of the ideologies. Both direct quotes from Marx/Lenin/ Stalin/Mussolini could be used, as well as dialogue containing the basic themes of communism; as well as quotes/themes from Jefferson/ Hayek/Mises.
Again, this is another subset of novel gaming types afforded by my research:
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING EXALTED VIDEO GAMES AND VIRTUAL REALITIES WHEREIN IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Improving/Exalting/Simplifying MASS EFFECT with The Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences/Moral Premise Technology:
While Mass Effect does have various endings, the design teams complicate the game design vastly, leading to far more work, by neglecting to incorporate simple classical ideals--simple moral premises, which could influence and unify the AI/algorithms for love and war as well as the internal and external action. Aristotle noted that the internal action--the physical and dramatic action--are united by a common ideal or moral premise. In The Matrix and Star Wars, the moral premise runs straight up the middle--does one selflessy serve truth and freedom, or does one serve the dark side/Matrix? The great, heroic economists of freedom--Mises and Hayek-- also perceived that economics is a moral quest. Mass Effect's shortcoming is that it ultimately doesn't matter if one is good or bad--the moral choices have nothing to do with aactual morality in our universe wherein ideas have consequences.
"The Ludwig von Mises' Institute's official motto is Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito, which comes from Virgil's Aeneid, Book VI; the motto means "do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it." Early in his life, Mises chose this sentence to be his guiding principle in life. It is prominently displayed throughout the Institute's campus, on their website and on memorabilia." --http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises_Institute
Now imagine if the character were presented that quote at the beginning of the game, and then called upon to live up to it.
Again, MASS EFFECT never shows the rendering of classical ideals real. For instance, one is not able to hear Jefferson's, nor Cicero's, nor Scorates', nor Aristotle's, nor Mises' words; nor is one able to see them rendered real in the game. In forming a fellowship, one is not able to judge characters via their ideals and *character.* But soon, the game will exalt all this!
Improving/Exalting/Simplifying FALLOUT with The Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences/Moral Premise Technology:
Opinion: 'Fallout 3 - I Kill Children' by Simon Parkin [In a new opinion piece, game producer and journalist Simon Parkin examines Fallout 3's block on harming children in the game, suggesting that, even with its obviously good intentions, it has proved "video games' ineffectiveness in providing meaningful disincentives and negative repercussions for in-game atrocities".]
Self-censorship was the least effective course of action open to Bethesda if they are looking to morally instruct their players. Why not take the route less traveled and try to implement some meaningful consequence, something beyond an essentially meaningless "karma" stat? (YES!! THE KARMA IS MEANINGLESS! WHY NOT INCORPORATE A GOLD 45 REVOLVER WHICH ONLY SHOOTS ZEUS'S LIGHTNING IN THE END IF YOU HAVE BEEN DOING THE RIGHT, MORAL THING THROUGHOUT?)
Of course it is the route less traveled for a reason: it's a whole lot more work. (NO IT ISN'T! JUST GIVE THE PLAYER A WEAPON WHICH LOSES ITS POWER THE MORE EVIL THEY BEHAVE! THE PATENT SOLVES THIS PROBLEM IN A SIMPLE/EFFICIENT MANNER!) The framework of systems and rules that govern Fallout 3 serve the setting: a place of lawless anarchy. As such it's difficult to introduce a potent enough disincentive to murdering children (NO IT ISN'T! JUST GIVE THE PLAYER A WEAPON WHICH LOSES ITS POWER THE MORE EVIL THEY BEHAVE! THE PATENT SOLVES THIS PROBLEM IN A SIMPLE/EFFICIENT MANNER! IF YOU SHOT CHILDREN, THE 45 WILL NOT GLOW GOLD & SHOOT ZEUS'S LIGTNING, AND THE MBA FEMMINST FANBOY VAMPIRES WILL OVERCOME AND KILL YOU IN THE END!!). And, in more general terms it's hard to make any game talk to a player in true terms of "good" and "bad," when the medium's primary vocabulary is one of "success" and "failure." (HUH? KILLING CHILDREN IS BAD! KILL KIDS = NO GOLD 45 4 U! NO ZEUS LIGHTNING 4 U!)
In real life, if you kill a child, you will be imprisoned and, depending on where you live, killed for the crime. Not only that but, insanity aside, there will also be heavy physical, mental and emotional repercussions to your action, things that will stay with you throughout the rest of your life.
How can these kinds of severe, complex outputs be communicated in a video game? (KILL KIDS AND YOU WILL SUFFER A HORRID DEATH FROM THE SWARMING HORDES OF VAMPIRE/ZOMBIES SCREAMING MBA BUZZWORDS AND THE FIATACORAY'S CLOGANS!) Do you, as in Steel Battalion, kill the player and wipe the save game to teach a lesson? Or do you, as in Fable 2, let the player's evil shape the character's physical appearance, making them more unpleasant and ugly for it? (GIVE THE PLAYER A WEAPON WHICH
EA & EGM: Case Studies in Fail: Reject Epic Narrative = Fail Basically this article could be applied to the entire industry which is shedding billions in market cap and thousands of jobs.
Over the past several years, I would pick up major gaming magazines (EGM/Play/Edge) and turn straight to the letters section--the letters from the readers/avid gamers.
Invariably, there would be writers stating that they were looking for games with more exalted narrative, epic story, and meaning.
And the fanboy/fanmba editorial staff would often be both condescending and dismissive, basically giving them the middle finger in telling them to shut up and go back to their single-mom's basement to play Fallout/GTA and shoot cops and hookers and women in metallic bras, as really, GTA is all about the family, really, and living morally, with profound ideas that have profound consequences; and epic, exalted meanings for the greater culture.
And then, a few short months later, after giving the finger to the reader/consumer/yearner for art and narrative, EGM went under.
CASE STUDY #1: The Epic Failure of Dante's Inferno: The Epic Price of Ignoring Epic Story and Placing Dante's Beloved, Incorruptible Beatrice in Hell, and Playing up the Giant Nipples/Vaginas/Baby- Killing for The Vocal Fanboys
So EA goes and slaps the name Dante's Inferno on a God of War Mod, basically giving the middle finger to Dante's art, life, love, poetry, religion, soul, and spirit, casting his beloved, incorruptible Beatrcie in hell, and recasting Dante the poet and scholar as a buff, world-wrestling-federation champion. And this is the result--a quickly forgettable #eafailsuck, generic, been-there-done-that-but-better-the- first-time-around game:
What can be said for Dante’s Inferno? Well, it is definitely a complete rip-off of God of War, so it has that going for it. Oh, and it probably would have been better just to have made the game about a random crusader diving through the many layers of Hell and claiming inspiration to the literary classic. Now it just enrages anyone with an appreciation for those long forgotten “book” things your ancestors used to read. You know, back when paper was used by everyone and not just bureaucrats behind the times.
Truth be told the game wasn’t really all that thrilling. In fact, it was a little bit irritating and just a tad sickening. A number of buttons can be used for different attacks, yet somehow I always found myself pulling off the same combo that ended with me stabbing into the ground with a bone scythe. It felt like the only way to win was to simply button mash without any real plan in mind. . . .
. . .The combat to Dante’s Inferno isn’t terrible, but it isn’t great either. It’s just another action game trying to be God of War. The story may be good if you could care less about the literary origins. The artwork goes from being generic to outright disturbing and disgusting. EA can use as much controversial marketing tactics as they wish, but there is a very small audience for this game. It will have its fans, most certainly, but weeks after this game has been released it will become forgotten.
All those hours, upon hours wasted in debauching art and losing EA's investor's cash. All those hours, upon hours spent ignoring the story and focusing on mere, fleeting marketing gimmicks, placing Aristotle's spectacle first and his story dead last, thusly inverting the order of Aristotle's Poetics, and harassing booth babes:
I reached out to Jonathan Knight regarding how the Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences / Moral Premise technologies could exalt not only Dante's Inferno, but his entire company, but he was pre-dedicated to debauching Dante's Divine Work, ignoring the fundamental precepts of the divine, epic narrative, and losing market cap.
And that's where the epic advantage lies. In all their epic EA arrogance they are forgetting that which matters most in art--the soul and spirit, and thus story.
CASE STUDY # 2: EGM MAGAZINE'S FAIL
What an opportunity EGM had! When they received letters from readers demanding profundity, poetry, and epic meaning in their games, they could have run with it! They could have become the flagship publication of the renaissance, while rallying game companies and developers who exalted epic narrative in their games, carving out a vast new market for games! If only!
But instead, because EGM magazine gave the exalted consumer the middle finger, they are now defunct. EA's fanboyish/fanmbaish Dante's Inferno is taking EA down the same EGM road to financial hell, giant vaginas, nipples, and babby killing all. But that's what you get for placing Beatrice in Hell.
I predicted this in my patent application, citing EGM's flippant, arrogant, fanboyish response to an honest gamer seeking exaltation, story, enlightenment in their games. What did they do? EGM told him to shut up and go back to his mom's basement and play GTA.
PRIOR ART AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESENT INVENTION There is a vast demand for deeper, more intellectual video games that is generally opposed throughout the industry. Many designers are weak minded like the Storm Troopers in Star Wars, and thus they believe hiring and killing prostitutes constitutes exalted story, as the fiatocracy's Death Star commands them to believe. Many will defend their hiring and killing prostitutes by the fact that one doesn't have to in the open-ended world, but then it GTA is not truly an open-ended world wherein one cannot take a prostitute to church, nor even speak words of exalted wisdom to her that might save her soul, nor give her a copy of Dante's Inferno nor Homer's Odyssey to exalt her soul. While developers, publishers, and insiders constantly hype the storytelling in games so as to sound cool and push product for mere monetary profit, the young can see that the emperor is wearing no clothes. In EGM's letter of the month, a reader expresses the rising generation's demand by writing:
EGM Letter of The Month:
“As I grew up, videogames grew up with me. I started playing games like Donkey Kong and Carnival on the ColecoVision before I could read, and Nintendo's Mario title were a staple of my early childhood. As I got older, I saw the storytlines and gameplay mechanics become more intricate and engaging. When I went through my rebellious and bitchy teenage years, so did videogames. And as I grew and matured, so did the subject matter of the games themselves.
Now that I'm 22, more things are vying for my time and attention such as work, college, women, drinking, and lamenting over my long-gone and simpler childhood. Needless to say, if I'm going to devote 20-plus hours of my life to completing a game, it had better be well worth it. And to me personally, a game well worth it is one I can take something away from on an intellectual level. For example, a game that makes me question my own existence, or the war in Iraq, or the increasing diconnectedness of our modern high-tech lives would be the holy grail of gaming to me. What are the chances that gaming will finally grow once more and develop a social and political conscience?—Eric Staskiewicz, summer, 2008 EGM
EGM answers “The answers are pretty damn good. Games are more and more frequently making “statements” about society and politics—see BioShock, GTA4, even Army of Two for just a few examples. We'll always have mindless diversions as well, of course, but count on seeing more and more depth of theme and storytelling in the coming years.”—Summer, 2008
And so it is that jacking cars, shooting police and the innocent, and hiring and killing prostitutes is now not only exalted art, but sublime political science and sociology. The younger generation is seeking exaltation and enlightenment in their video games, and the response is a) it is already pretty damn good so shut up and b) mindless diversions rock and c) it will get even better than hiring and killing prostitutes. It is quite obvious from the above letter, that the demand for video games with exalted principles is not being served. Fanboys do not believe in the “word,” and thus they poke around in their cave, grunting and smiling when the prostitute dies after they are done with her, enjoying their “art.”
Such novel games will stand head and shoulders above the prior and current art, including GTA, GOW, and Fallout 3, about which Kotaku reports: Cannabalism, Slavery and Sex in Fallout 3—http://kotaku.com/ 5022866/cannabalism-slavery-and-sex-in -fallout-3. An interview with one of Fallout3's lead designers goes as follows http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/39736 ... Screenshot s-Interview:
“1) Which of the following, if any, will be featured in Fallout3; Romance, Sex, Homosexuality, Nudity, Prostitution, Slavery, Cannibalism, Children, Child killings, drugs, addictions? And of the things that won't be featured, can you explain why they won't be included in the game? “It touches on most of those. Slavery, children, drugs and addiction more than the others, as those factor for into the setting more. In regards to nudity and child killings, no, it features neither of those, as they don't really add to the flavor of the game (I'll get into children in the next question more). I think if you look at Fallout 1, and the footprint it has with the topics you ask about, Fallout 3 is pretty much the same, in that it features the types of things you mention at about the same rate, no more, no less. Drugs and drug addiction play a larger role perhaps, as it's a key gameplay device. I think the heart of this question is “has the harshness and maturity of the
Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:09 am by gold45revolver Why Are Game Developers Anti-Story/Anti-Aristotle? While letters to major gaming magazines routinely express wishes for more story, substance, depth, character, and meaning in games, lead designers in the money-losing, jobs-killing, aging industry arrogantly dimiss story and classic, epic meaning, soul, and poetry, time and again exalting GTA IV as the end-all, be-all of storytelling and dramatic art in the realm of interactive gaming.
Everywhere one turns, one sees, "The death of the author!" "The death of story!"
"The death of the author!" "The death of story!" They shout as they bring down the classical soul and spirit, while shooting more hookers and innocent cops and civilians, and then campaigning against those who suggest games are capable of exalted dramatic art, if we only created them to serve the customer deman, instead of the fanmba's massive money-losing, jobs-killing, inovation-averse ego.
They basically give the customer (who is yearning for story and epic,exalted art) the finger, and then they wonder why their market caps are shedding billions and their culture is declining.
Check out this article and contrast the sanrky, arrogant, story- dismissing tone of the article to the engaged, enlightened, story- exalting tone of the responses:
As you can see, vast opportunities exist to serve the maturing customer, who is not being served!
Instead of serving the demand for meaning, profundity, character, depth, and story, the industry is instead saying, "OMG! LOL! The author is dead! Bang bang bang! Just like in GTA we can kill innocent civilians, and in fallout 3 we can shoot women in metallic bras, we can kill story in real life! Bang! Bang! LOLZ! ROTFL! Shoot them giant walls of text! LOL! All your giant walls of text are belong to us!"
Well, the responses to the article are redeeming and inspiring!
http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/death-of-the-author "On October 8th elguachojkis said: Totally agree with _Sylvain... the opinions expressed in this article are truly worrying! I hope these two people read your 'lack of substance abuse' blog entry... actually I feel like (for my own gamer sake) mailing it to all the shmucks out there "writing" video games that think movies from the 30's are radically different from movies made now, just because the editing is faster and the shots are shorter! Experiences are NOT Stories!"
On October 7th Raul23 said: Aside from Ragnar, these guys clearly don't care about storytelling or being an author because they have nothing to say, not that there's anything not wrong with that.
Login or register to post comments On October 7th michael_sylvain said: I found this article infuriating, and it made me into the equivalent of an old woman shouting at a news programme as if in some way I'd be heard. Somebody needed to question the opinions rather than asking for more. Because there's so much stuff here that doesn't make sense, and seems substanceless in practice - big claims without real logic.
Anyway, assuming you've read this because you're interested in the way narrative and gaming goes together (or fails to) here's a longer and slightly too wordy response I wrote to try and explain why this piece was so frustrating: http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/lack-substance-abuse
I have noted in the MMO industry (as well as films and, to a lesser extent in fantasy literature) a decline in the quality of storytelling. It seems that designers are generally more eager to make an easy-money sequel rather than create something new that is truly powerful. I suppose the good news is that games seem to pull it off better sequels than movies, yet this doesn't avoid a stagnation of creativity. The same old thing gets regurgitated again and again.
Well, all that this means is that vast, billion-dollar opportunities exist to break out the Jospeh Campbell and Aristotle and Homer, and rock some rockin' games with depth, character, meaning, and profundity, while exalting the gold 45 revolver technologies!
I've got nothing against GTA and Fallout 3--rather the corporate- fanMBAs hate story, narrative, and exalted dramatic art. They are holding the industry back, creating opportunities for narrative designers.Top Report this postReply with quoteEdit post
Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:16 pm by gold45revolver Re: Why Are Game Developers Anti-Story/Anti-Aristotle?
maldal wrote:
I'm wondering if we read the same article here, Doc. I thought the article was fascinating stuff, but for the life of me, couldn't remember the name of it, so thanks for the link.
The first question on the second page of the interview really is the crux of the discussion:
In terms of meshing these narratives together with the gameplay, what can be done? What’s failing at the moment and how can that change?
The discussion the three designers have regarding this is really at the center of the Narrative vs. Gameplay Discussion, and even amongst these industry professionals, have very different opinions on the role of Narrative and Story in games.
There is the desire to have more water-cooler moments, that is, a player-generated story within the rough confines of the existing universe, where - specifically - they used Left 4 Dead as an example. Yes, there is a really rough story that is fleshed out by how the players proceed through the game world. The narrative, then, is based less on classical structure and more on emergent gameplay. The story changes each time the players proceed through the game - sometimes, they survive, others, the zombies overwhelm them. That's a very powerful difference between other story-based entertainment (Drama, Literature and Film) where they finish .
That isn't a bad thing, conversely, the story of Half Life and Half Life 2 is the Monomyth writ large. Excellent stories, to be sure, and also very directed.
The quote from Ragnar Torquest, who worked on Dreamfall, one of the great Story-based adventure games, said it best at the end of the page with:
I think what games can do really, really well is to create a world where there is a story but only if you look for it. Then you’re being told the story you want to be told and not the one we want. I think that’s the great potential of games.
That sentiment has been shared here before, and I agree.
Using GTA IV as sole examples of narrative in games is disingenuous, and even in this article, they don't particularly care for the narrative or story of GTA IV. As Hocking said:
I actually stopped playing it (GTA IV) after about five or six hours because I didn’t want to pay attention to what was going on with the characters and the authored narrative.
Chet's pretty critical of GTA IV above that, even though he enjoyed the story when he said:
I got interested in your choices there (in GTA IV) – who you got to hang out with. The storyline kind of opposed the goofy gameplay, so there was a point where I just kind of got aggravated with it and wouldn’t have minded just being able to watch the cutscenes.
What I got out of the exchange about GTA IV was how the tone and style of gameplay provided to the player was very different from the tone and style of the story as it was delivered to the player. For a game that is about giving players choice, it's hard to take Niko's remorse over becoming a murderous monster in Serbia seriously when you spend hours indiscriminately BEING a monster. You're forcing an emotional connection on the player that is contrary to the gameplay freedom that is given to the player.
Thanks for the enlightened & well-reasoned response Steve.
Overall I think there are huge opportunities for narrative designers and people such as yourself and the visionaries behind this board in tomorrow's industry--opportnuities to build better, deeper, more engaging games.
Best,
Dr. E
Hey there Steve,
The important thing to note is that Aristotle ranked the story elements in "order of importance," and it seems that videogames often reverse this, placing spectacle first and story last. Story is the soul of the work, and the soul alone is immortal, and thus all enduring franchises must exalt story.
[0103]The remainder of the list of titles, spanning every aspect of the "rotten barrel" of cultural decline; from business, to marriage, to government, to entertainment, would consume the entire length of this paper. Aristotle said, "When storytelling declines, the result is decadence," and is it any wonder that when the classics are removed from education, the world is impoverished? Video games lack epic story and soul as films invert Aristotle's Poetics, placing spectacle first and character and plot last; and as Oscar Wilde reminds us, "life imitates art." Well, this present invention would place plot and character first, and spectacle last in video games, countering common fanboy opinion. The dumbing down knows no bounds, and the present invention would foster video games that allowed players to argue and reason with professors, in word and deed: [0104]Our society and our literature and our culture are being dumbed down, and the causes are very complex. I'm 73 years old. In a lifetime of teaching English, I've seen the study of literature debased. There's very little authentic study of the humanities remaining.--Harold Bloom, Dumbing Down American Readers, LA Times, Sep. 24, 2003
[0105]Screenwriting teacher Robert McKee quotes the great poet Yeats, in describing the postmodernized Hollywood. [0106]Flawed and forced storytelling is forced to substitute spectacle for substance, trickery for truth. Weak stories, desperate to hold audience attention, degenerate into multimillion-dollar razzle-dazzle demo
As I begin preproduction on a pretty narrative-based game, I find myself referring to Steve Gaynor's quote:
[url]Video games are not a traditional storytelling medium per se. The player is an agent of chaos, making the medium ill-equipped to convey a pre-authored narrative with anywhere near the effectiveness of books or film.[/url]
Yes--such philosophies have held games back.
In real life, we are all agents of chaos.
And yet, epic, exalted stories emerge time and again in real life, because of life's moral premises and epic mythological reality, which are strangely absent from games. Truth is stranger than fiction!
Think about the true story of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans battling for epic idealism and freedom.
Think about Sir William Wallace battling for freedom and epic idealism.
Think about the Founding Fathers writing for and then battling for epic freedom--rendering classical ideals real in both word and deed.
In all the above cases; epic, classical story emerged alongside romance and profound meaning. Narratives far greater and more engaging than those found in GTA/bioshock/Fallout naturally emerged, and became legends as they were told over and over.
The stories today's fanboys tell are, "I killed a hooker lolz! and then pwn3d giant vaginas and nipples in dante's inferno ! lolz!! epic narrative sux and boox r giant walls of t3xt!" And then the fanbmas tell tragic stories of massive layoffs and the closure of EGM which gave that vast contingent seeking epic story the middle finger.
300/William Wallace/the Founding Fathers were united by the same classical, epic, exalted ideals of freedom; which are nowhere to be found in the fanboys/fanmbas favorite games--Fallout & GTA3.
By introducing classical ideals (the gold 45 revolver(TM)/ideas have consequences/moral premise technologies) into the center and circumference of the game's AI, novel forms of gaming will exalt the industry with billions of dollars in revenue.
As games get more and more graphically realistic, why not make them more life-like on a spiritual, narrative, moral, and romantic level?
Basically this article could be applied to the entire industry which is shedding billions in market cap and thousands of jobs.
Over the past several years, I would pick up major gaming magazines (EGM/Play/Edge) and turn straight to the letters section--the letters from the readers/avid gamers.
Invariably, there would be writers stating that they were looking for games with more exalted narrative, epic story, and meaning.
And the fanboy/fanmba editorial staff would often be both condescending and dismissive, basically giving them the middle finger in telling them to shut up and go back to their single-mom's basement to play Fallout/GTA and shoot cops and hookers and women in metallic bras, as really, GTA is all about the family, really, and living morally, with profound ideas that have profound consequences; and epic, exalted meanings for the greater culture.
And then, a few short months later, after giving the finger to the reader/consumer/yearner for art and narrative, EGM went under.
CASE STUDY #1: The Epic Failure of Dante's Inferno: The Epic Price of Ignoring Epic Story and Placing Dante's Beloved, Incorruptible Beatrice in Hell, and Playing up the Giant Nipples/Vaginas/Baby- Killing for The Vocal Fanboys
In one fell-swoop, EA blew several opportunities to exalt both classical culture and their bottom line. Mired in the "debauch the culture/currency and deconstruct the Greats" that so dominates our culture, EA approached Dante's Divine Comedy from a hateful, arrogant, fanboyish angle; instead of from a loving, manly, humble one.
So EA goes and slaps the name Dante's Inferno on a God of War Mod, basically giving the middle finger to Dante's art, life, love, poetry, religion, soul, and spirit, casting his beloved, incorruptible Beatrcie in hell, and recasting Dante the poet and scholar as a buff, world-wrestling-federation champion. And this is the result--a quickly forgettable #eafailsuck, generic, been-there-done-that-but-better-the- first-time-around game:
What can be said for Dante’s Inferno? Well, it is definitely a complete rip-off of God of War, so it has that going for it. Oh, and it probably would have been better just to have made the game about a random crusader diving through the many layers of Hell and claiming inspiration to the literary classic. Now it just enrages anyone with an appreciation for those long forgotten “book” things your ancestors used to read. You know, back when paper was used by everyone and not just bureaucrats behind the times.
Truth be told the game wasn’t really all that thrilling. In fact, it was a little bit irritating and just a tad sickening. A number of buttons can be used for different attacks, yet somehow I always found myself pulling off the same combo that ended with me stabbing into the ground with a bone scythe. It felt like the only way to win was to simply button mash without any real plan in mind. . . .
. . .The combat to Dante’s Inferno isn’t terrible, but it isn’t great either. It’s just another action game trying to be God of War. The story may be good if you could care less about the literary origins. The artwork goes from being generic to outright disturbing and disgusting. EA can use as much controversial marketing tactics as they wish, but there is a very small audience for this game. It will have its fans, most certainly, but weeks after this game has been released it will become forgotten.
All those hours, upon hours wasted in debauching art and losing EA's investor's cash. All those hours, upon hours spent ignoring the story and focusing on mere, fleeting marketing gimmicks, placing Aristotle's spectacle first and his story dead last, thusly inverting the order of Aristotle's Poetics, and harassing booth babes:
I reached out to Jonathan Knight regarding how the Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences / Moral Premise technologies could exalt not only Dante's Inferno, but his entire company, but he was pre-dedicated to debauching Dante's Divine Work, ignoring the fundamental precepts of the divine, epic narrative, and losing market cap.
And that's where the epic advantage lies. In all their epic EA arrogance they are forgetting that which matters most in art--the soul and spirit, and thus story.
CASE STUDY # 2: EGM MAGAZINE'S FAIL
What an opportunity EGM had! When they received letters from readers demanding profundity, poetry, and epic meaning in their games, they could have run with it! They could have become the flagship publication of the renaissance, while rallying game companies and developers who exalted epic narrative in their games, carving out a vast new market for games! If only!
But instead, because EGM magazine gave the exalted consumer the middle finger, they are now defunct. EA's fanboyish/fanmbaish Dante's Inferno is taking EA down the same EGM road to financial hell, giant vaginas, nipples, and babby killing all. But that's what you get for placing Beatrice in Hell.
I predicted this in my patent application, citing EGM's flippant, arrogant, fanboyish response to an honest gamer seeking exaltation, story, enlightenment in their games. What did they do? EGM told him to shut up and go back to his mom's basement and play GTA.
PRIOR ART AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESENT INVENTION There is a vast demand for deeper, more intellectual video games that is generally opposed throughout the industry. Many designers are weak minded like the Storm Troopers in Star Wars, and thus they believe hiring and killing prostitutes constitutes exalted story, as the fiatocracy's Death Star commands them to believe. Many will defend their hiring and killing prostitutes by the fact that one doesn't have to in the open-ended world, but then it GTA is not truly an open-ended world wherein one cannot take a prostitute to church, nor even speak words of exalted wisdom to her that might save her soul, nor give her a copy of Dante's Inferno nor Homer's Odyssey to exalt her soul. While developers, publishers, and insiders constantly hype the storytelling in games so as to sound cool and push product for mere monetary profit, the young can see that the emperor is wearing no clothes. In EGM's letter of the month, a reader expresses the rising generation's demand by writing:
EGM Letter of The Month:
“As I grew up, videogames grew up with me. I started playing games like Donkey Kong and Carnival on the ColecoVision before I could read, and Nintendo's Mario title were a staple of my early childhood. As I got older, I saw the storytlines and gameplay mechanics become more intricate and engaging. When I went through my rebellious and bitchy teenage years, so did videogames. And as I grew and matured, so did the subject matter of the games themselves.
Now that I'm 22, more things are vying for my time and attention such as work, college, women, drinking, and lamenting over my long-gone and simpler childhood. Needless to say, if I'm going to devote 20-plus hours of my life to completing a game, it had better be well worth it. And to me personally, a game well worth it is one I can take something away from on an intellectual level. For example, a game that makes me question my own existence, or the war in Iraq, or the increasing diconnectedness of our modern high-tech lives would be the holy grail of gaming to me. What are the chances that gaming will finally grow once more and develop a social and political conscience?—Eric Staskiewicz, summer, 2008 EGM
EGM answers “The answers are pretty damn good. Games are more and more frequently making “statements” about society and
Play Magazine Gets It: The Renaissance in Epic Story Will Be. . . as long as you're willing to man up and fight for it....
[quote] "NO COMPELLING VIDEO GAME NARRATIVE WAS EVER MADE BY A WRITER WHO HAD HIS GUTS CLENCHED UP IN FEAR. AS WITH A LOT OF THINGS IN LIFE, [url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ]HEROIC BRAVERY (http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ)[/url] IS WHAT IS NEEDED." --Kyle B. Stiff, --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009
"But the stuffed suits refused to budge an inch regarding their policy of not working with creative script writers who have the backbone to take risks. Instead, they stand ready to declare yet another "death of storytelling" in video gaming." --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009 [/quote]
The most recent (November 2009) issue of Play Magazine has several articles devoted to storytelling in games.
By far the best one is to be found on page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES.
The article takes place in the future, after 2015 when the "Anti-Story division effectively won the debate," and thus "grew lax," finally allowing the Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences / Moral Premises to be exalted.
Like my Gold 45 Revolver patent, the article, by Kyle B. Stiff, references a game based on Homer's Odyssey, as well as a game exalting Penelope's moral actions; and the meaningful, epic, profound hero's journey.
PLAY MAGAZINE wrote:
[quote]After video games were relegated to something to do while stuck in traffic, the Anti-story movement became lax A game called THE ODYSSEY was made. It was marketed as an educational tool, something to help high school kids understand the ancient literature; a necessary ruse to have a story-driven game green-lit. It was about Odysseus and his long journey home from the Trojan War. The gods opposed him and he had to fight a horde of misshapen beasts using brute strength and nauseatingly violent finishing moves. There were tactical elements as well, as Odysseus had a crew of goons to back him up. And role-playing dialogue too, in which the player controlled Penelope, Odysseus's wife, as she devised plots to delay a horde of suitors from claiming her husband's estate.... Damn, we loved it! The final scene was vilified in mainstream news because, just as in the original tale, Odysseus and his son round up Penelope's unhelpful servants, take them behind some building, and slaughter them. ... But we didn't love the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because it made us feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey towards a goal rather than slogging from one day to the next. --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009[/quote]
[quote]All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self- evident. Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 - 1860)[/quote]
DR. E'S 2007-2008 Gold 45 Revolver Patent wrote:
[quote](EXALTING THE MEANINGFUL HERO'S JOURNEY!("But we didn't love the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because it made us feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey towards a goal."--Kyle B. Stiff, 11/2009))[1790]The basic concepts and ideas in this invention will have far-ranging implications for the realm of video games, for the greater culture, novel video games, greater commercial opportunities in the realm of games, greater and enhanced opportunities in merging games with film and literature, greater opportunities for games with deep and profound souls and storytelling, and new opportunities for games with vast educational potential. The ideas and embodiments described herein may be modified, extended, and improvised upon in countless ways. The present invention can bring both the external hero's journey, that Moses and Odysseus traveled, as well as the internal hero's journey, that Jesus and Socrates walked.
4. System and Method for Female Video Game Characters With Soul and Virtue and Male Characters With Soul and Virtue:
[1622]Imagine video games that presented female characters with the depth of soul and spirit owned by classical characters such as Penelope, Beatrice, Mary Magdelane, the Virgin Mary, and The Mona Lisa.
[1623]Having female characters behave and act morally, while others don't, would provide a novel form of gameplay. For instance, in the Odyssey, Agamemnon's wife cheats on him, and the man she takes in ends up killing Agamemnon. This is contrasted to Penelope, who remains faithful throughout, thusly ensuring that Odysseus's life and home are preserved. So it is that in this novel form of video games, women will be shown on both sides of the moral premise, and not only that, but their moral choices will be fundamental to the eventual victory or defeat.
[1624]Opportunities abound for deeper, more profound female characters, as fanboys such as Cliffyb and Wyckyg are yet focusing on breasts, as Wired reports: [1625]"Speaking to Wired.com at Microsoft's recent media event, the designer (above left) says that Epic Games is trying to make their upcoming Xbox 360 shooter more appealing to the casual audience. The game's female characters, he said, won't have "ginormous tits." And the lauded kill-alien-swarms-with-a-buddy cooperative mode will let you adjust the game's difficulty on the fly depending on who's playing. How do you make a game girlfriend- friendly? You do jump-in, jump-out co-op. You have configurable difficulty settings for the other player. You have very cool and bad- ass main characters that have a very human side. And you make sure that the female characters in your game don't have ginormous tits and aren't bad stereotypes. What are the female characters in Gears 2 like? I've always made sure, working with the art department, that Anya is strong-willed but also very mother-like to the squad. She has a very modest chest and doesn't look like some sort of heavy metal movie fantasy."--http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/cliffy-b- gears.html
[1626]Well, that is vast and resounding progress. Boobs are mentioned three times in the above passage, although nobody mentions the vast importance of the moral woman's character in the realm of classical, epic storytelling. No gaming expert has yet ever suggested that the ultimate woman character in a video game ought behave morally, like Penelope. In our dumbed-down, spectacle-driven society, morality is seen as a bad thing--the exact antithesis to art. And so the best the fanboys can do is make the in-game character's breast-size smaller. There is no mention of making them faithful, nor having them speak intelligently, nor making them weave and unweave a tapestry, as does Penelope, to keep the suitors at bay, while waiting faithfully for Odysseus. So it is that games have yet to achieve higher, classical, epic art. And so it is that this patent, by instilling deep ideas and ideals within the game's context and AI, will allow for superior gameplay.
[1627]Female Characters with Soul and Virtue: Every year Play Magazine publishes its Girls of Gaming collection which states at http://playmagazine.com/thegirlsofgaming/index.html, Girls of Gaming Vol. 5 "is jam packed with hotness from every corner of the gaming universe and when you sign up to go digital you'll get our 20-page Best-Of Girls of Gaming absolutely free, along with bonus mature content too hot for print. The print edition is something special as well, featuring embossed, spot varnished covers and top quality materials." Year after year Play Magazine publishes this work, and year after year the industry creates games; but they are missing soul on both the masculine and feminine levels. A game that showed a character being seduced, but resisting, as did Penelope in The Odyssey, could enhance game play by inspiring and exalting the main character to make it on home. Imagine cut-scenes that showed women reading exalted poetry, or lines from Shakespeare' plays, representing virtues. They could be contrasted to evil women and temptresses throughout literature. [1628]1. Imagine cut scenes that showed women acting with virtue to inspire the player to make it on home. For instance, seeing Penelope behaving virtuously and resisting the suitors could inspire the player to make it on back to the damsel in distress. [1629]2. Imagine cut-scenes that showed men acting with virtue to inspire the female in-game-character to also act virtuous. For instance imagine a character of Penelope witnessing Odysseus's resistance of the Sirens, or his other noble actions and refusals of temptations.
[1630]If a player were playing as Penelope, and they did not act morally and took on a suitor as Husband, the suitor would kill her husband when she got home, as happened with Agamemnon. Thus moral actions would have moral consequences; and immoral actions would have immoral consequences.
[1631]A game such as GTA could be enhanced by allowing the player to shoot the pimp and save the women/prostitutes, telling the women to sin no more.
[1774]FIG. 5 illustrates how the present invention may be used to bring the great books and classics alive in a dialogue and action tree, wherein ideas have consequences. The present invention may father future inventions which treat this fundamental, basic concept in far more detail. The player (500) would reach a plot point in Homer's Odyssey (501). The player would then have to make a choice of what to say/do. By choosing Odysseus's words and/or his actions (504), such as telling his men to tie him to the mast, the player is rewarded with the exalted plot of the Odyssey as they are taken closer to winning their home and Penelope, and they get to encounter the next plot point
> Play Magazine Gets It: The Renaissance in Epic Story Will Be. . . as > long as you're willing to man up and fight for it....
> [quote] > "NO COMPELLING VIDEO GAME NARRATIVE WAS EVER MADE BY A WRITER WHO HAD > HIS GUTS CLENCHED UP IN FEAR. AS WITH A LOT OF THINGS IN LIFE, > [url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ]HEROIC BRAVERY > (http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ)[/url] IS WHAT IS > NEEDED." --Kyle B. Stiff, --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by > Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009
> "But the stuffed suits refused to budge an inch regarding their policy > of not working with creative script writers who have the backbone to > take risks. Instead, they stand ready to declare yet another "death > of storytelling" in video gaming." --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF > HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009 > [/quote]
> The most recent (November 2009) issue of Play Magazine has several > articles devoted to storytelling in games.
> By far the best one is to be found on page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF > HEROES.
> The article takes place in the future, after 2015 when the "Anti-Story > division effectively won the debate," and thus "grew lax," finally > allowing the Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences / Moral > Premises to be exalted.
> Like my Gold 45 Revolver patent, the article, by Kyle B. Stiff, > references a game based on Homer's Odyssey, as well as a game exalting > Penelope's moral actions; and the meaningful, epic, profound hero's > journey.
> PLAY MAGAZINE wrote:
> [quote]After video games were relegated to something to do while stuck > in traffic, the Anti-story movement became lax A game called THE > ODYSSEY was made. It was marketed as an educational tool, something > to help high school kids understand the ancient literature; a > necessary ruse to have a story-driven game green-lit. It was about > Odysseus and his long journey home from the Trojan War. The gods > opposed him and he had to fight a horde of misshapen beasts using > brute strength and nauseatingly violent finishing moves. There were > tactical elements as well, as Odysseus had a crew of goons to back him > up. And role-playing dialogue too, in which the player controlled > Penelope, Odysseus's wife, as she devised plots to delay a horde of > suitors from claiming her husband's estate.... Damn, we loved it! The > final scene was vilified in mainstream news because, just as in the > original tale, Odysseus and his son round up Penelope's unhelpful > servants, take them behind some building, and slaughter them. ... But > we didn't love the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because > it made us feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey > towards a goal rather than slogging from one day to the next. --page > 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, > NOVEMBER, 2009[/quote]
> [quote]All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. > Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self- > evident. Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 - 1860)[/quote]
> DR. E'S 2007-2008 Gold 45 Revolver Patent wrote:
> [quote](EXALTING THE MEANINGFUL HERO'S JOURNEY!("But we didn't love > the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because it made us > feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey towards a > goal."--Kyle B. Stiff, 11/2009))[1790]The basic concepts and ideas in > this invention will have far-ranging implications for the realm of > video games, for the greater culture, novel video games, greater > commercial opportunities in the realm of games, greater and enhanced > opportunities in merging games with film and literature, greater > opportunities for games with deep and profound souls and storytelling, > and new opportunities for games with vast educational potential. The > ideas and embodiments described herein may be modified, extended, and > improvised upon in countless ways. The present invention can bring > both the external hero's journey, that Moses and Odysseus traveled, as > well as the internal hero's journey, that Jesus and Socrates walked.
> 4. System and Method for Female Video Game Characters With Soul and > Virtue and Male Characters With Soul and Virtue:
> [1622]Imagine video games that presented female characters with the > depth of soul and spirit owned by classical characters such as > Penelope, Beatrice, Mary Magdelane, the Virgin Mary, and The Mona > Lisa.
> [1623]Having female characters behave and act morally, while others > don't, would provide a novel form of gameplay. For instance, in the > Odyssey, Agamemnon's wife cheats on him, and the man she takes in ends > up killing Agamemnon. This is contrasted to Penelope, who remains > faithful throughout, thusly ensuring that Odysseus's life and home are > preserved. So it is that in this novel form of video games, women will > be shown on both sides of the moral premise, and not only that, but > their moral choices will be fundamental to the eventual victory or > defeat.
> [1624]Opportunities abound for deeper, more profound female > characters, as fanboys such as Cliffyb and Wyckyg are yet focusing on > breasts, as Wired reports: [1625]"Speaking to Wired.com at Microsoft's > recent media event, the designer (above left) says that Epic Games is > trying to make their upcoming Xbox 360 shooter more appealing to the > casual audience. The game's female characters, he said, won't have > "ginormous tits." And the lauded kill-alien-swarms-with-a-buddy > cooperative mode will let you adjust the game's difficulty on the fly > depending on who's playing. How do you make a game girlfriend- > friendly? You do jump-in, jump-out co-op. You have configurable > difficulty settings for the other player. You have very cool and bad- > ass main characters that have a very human side. And you make sure > that the female characters in your game don't have ginormous tits and > aren't bad stereotypes. What are the female characters in Gears 2 > like? I've always made sure, working with the art department, that > Anya is strong-willed but also very mother-like to the squad. She has > a very modest chest and doesn't look like some sort of heavy metal > movie fantasy."--http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/cliffy-b- > gears.html
> [1626]Well, that is vast and resounding progress. Boobs are mentioned > three times in the above passage, although nobody mentions the vast > importance of the moral woman's character in the realm of classical, > epic storytelling. No gaming expert has yet ever suggested that the > ultimate woman character in a video game ought behave morally, like > Penelope. In our dumbed-down, spectacle-driven society, morality is > seen as a bad thing--the exact antithesis to art. And so the best the > fanboys can do is make the in-game character's breast-size smaller. > There is no mention of making them faithful, nor having them speak > intelligently, nor making them weave and unweave a tapestry, as does > Penelope, to keep the suitors at bay, while waiting faithfully for > Odysseus. So it is that games have yet to achieve higher, classical, > epic art. And so it is that this patent, by instilling deep ideas and > ideals within the game's context and AI, will allow for superior > gameplay.
> [1627]Female Characters with Soul and Virtue: Every year Play Magazine > publishes its Girls of Gaming collection which states athttp://playmagazine.com/thegirlsofgaming/index.html, Girls of Gaming > Vol. 5 "is jam packed with hotness from every corner of the gaming > universe and when you sign up to go digital you'll get our 20-page > Best-Of Girls of Gaming absolutely free, along with bonus mature > content too hot for print. The print edition is something special as > well, featuring embossed, spot varnished covers and top quality > materials." Year after year Play Magazine publishes this work, and > year after year the industry creates games; but they are missing soul > on both the masculine and feminine levels. A game that showed a > character being seduced, but resisting, as did Penelope in The > Odyssey, could enhance game play by inspiring and exalting the main > character to make it on home. Imagine cut-scenes that showed women > reading exalted poetry, or lines from Shakespeare' plays, representing > virtues. They could be contrasted to evil women and temptresses > throughout literature. [1628]1. Imagine cut scenes that showed women > acting with virtue to inspire the player to make it on home. For > instance, seeing Penelope behaving virtuously and resisting the > suitors could inspire the player to make it on back to the damsel in > distress. [1629]2. Imagine cut-scenes that showed men acting with > virtue to inspire the female in-game-character to also act virtuous. > For instance imagine a character of Penelope witnessing Odysseus's > resistance of the Sirens, or his other noble actions and refusals of > temptations.
> [1630]If a player were playing as Penelope, and they did not act > morally and took on a suitor as Husband, the suitor would kill her > husband when she got home, as happened with Agamemnon. Thus moral > actions would have moral consequences; and immoral actions would have > immoral consequences.
> [1631]A game such as GTA could be enhanced by allowing the player to > shoot the pimp and save the women/prostitutes, telling the women to > sin no more.
> [1774]FIG. 5 illustrates how the present invention may be used to > bring the great books and classics alive in a dialogue and action > tree, wherein ideas have consequences. The present invention may > father future inventions which treat this fundamental, basic concept > in far more detail. The
> On Nov 12, 12:36 pm, dre <drell...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Play Magazine Gets It: The Renaissance in Epic Story Will Be. . . as > > long as you're willing to man up and fight for it....
> > [quote] > > "NO COMPELLING VIDEO GAME NARRATIVE WAS EVER MADE BY A WRITER WHO HAD > > HIS GUTS CLENCHED UP IN FEAR. AS WITH A LOT OF THINGS IN LIFE, > > [url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ]HEROIC BRAVERY > > (http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ)[/url] IS WHAT IS > > NEEDED." --Kyle B. Stiff, --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by > > Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009
> > "But the stuffed suits refused to budge an inch regarding their policy > > of not working with creative script writers who have the backbone to > > take risks. Instead, they stand ready to declare yet another "death > > of storytelling" in video gaming." --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF > > HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009 > > [/quote]
> > The most recent (November 2009) issue of Play Magazine has several > > articles devoted to storytelling in games.
> > By far the best one is to be found on page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF > > HEROES.
> > The article takes place in the future, after 2015 when the "Anti-Story > > division effectively won the debate," and thus "grew lax," finally > > allowing the Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences / Moral > > Premises to be exalted.
> > Like my Gold 45 Revolver patent, the article, by Kyle B. Stiff, > > references a game based on Homer's Odyssey, as well as a game exalting > > Penelope's moral actions; and the meaningful, epic, profound hero's > > journey.
> > PLAY MAGAZINE wrote:
> > [quote]After video games were relegated to something to do while stuck > > in traffic, the Anti-story movement became lax A game called THE > > ODYSSEY was made. It was marketed as an educational tool, something > > to help high school kids understand the ancient literature; a > > necessary ruse to have a story-driven game green-lit. It was about > > Odysseus and his long journey home from the Trojan War. The gods > > opposed him and he had to fight a horde of misshapen beasts using > > brute strength and nauseatingly violent finishing moves. There were > > tactical elements as well, as Odysseus had a crew of goons to back him > > up. And role-playing dialogue too, in which the player controlled > > Penelope, Odysseus's wife, as she devised plots to delay a horde of > > suitors from claiming her husband's estate.... Damn, we loved it! The > > final scene was vilified in mainstream news because, just as in the > > original tale, Odysseus and his son round up Penelope's unhelpful > > servants, take them behind some building, and slaughter them. ... But > > we didn't love the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because > > it made us feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey > > towards a goal rather than slogging from one day to the next. --page > > 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, > > NOVEMBER, 2009[/quote]
> > [quote]All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. > > Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self- > > evident. Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 - 1860)[/quote]
> > DR. E'S 2007-2008 Gold 45 Revolver Patent wrote:
> > [quote](EXALTING THE MEANINGFUL HERO'S JOURNEY!("But we didn't love > > the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because it made us > > feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey towards a > > goal."--Kyle B. Stiff, 11/2009))[1790]The basic concepts and ideas in > > this invention will have far-ranging implications for the realm of > > video games, for the greater culture, novel video games, greater > > commercial opportunities in the realm of games, greater and enhanced > > opportunities in merging games with film and literature, greater > > opportunities for games with deep and profound souls and storytelling, > > and new opportunities for games with vast educational potential. The > > ideas and embodiments described herein may be modified, extended, and > > improvised upon in countless ways. The present invention can bring > > both the external hero's journey, that Moses and Odysseus traveled, as > > well as the internal hero's journey, that Jesus and Socrates walked.
> > 4. System and Method for Female Video Game Characters With Soul and > > Virtue and Male Characters With Soul and Virtue:
> > [1622]Imagine video games that presented female characters with the > > depth of soul and spirit owned by classical characters such as > > Penelope, Beatrice, Mary Magdelane, the Virgin Mary, and The Mona > > Lisa.
> > [1623]Having female characters behave and act morally, while others > > don't, would provide a novel form of gameplay. For instance, in the > > Odyssey, Agamemnon's wife cheats on him, and the man she takes in ends > > up killing Agamemnon. This is contrasted to Penelope, who remains > > faithful throughout, thusly ensuring that Odysseus's life and home are > > preserved. So it is that in this novel form of video games, women will > > be shown on both sides of the moral premise, and not only that, but > > their moral choices will be fundamental to the eventual victory or > > defeat.
> > [1624]Opportunities abound for deeper, more profound female > > characters, as fanboys such as Cliffyb and Wyckyg are yet focusing on > > breasts, as Wired reports: [1625]"Speaking to Wired.com at Microsoft's > > recent media event, the designer (above left) says that Epic Games is > > trying to make their upcoming Xbox 360 shooter more appealing to the > > casual audience. The game's female characters, he said, won't have > > "ginormous tits." And the lauded kill-alien-swarms-with-a-buddy > > cooperative mode will let you adjust the game's difficulty on the fly > > depending on who's playing. How do you make a game girlfriend- > > friendly? You do jump-in, jump-out co-op. You have configurable > > difficulty settings for the other player. You have very cool and bad- > > ass main characters that have a very human side. And you make sure > > that the female characters in your game don't have ginormous tits and > > aren't bad stereotypes. What are the female characters in Gears 2 > > like? I've always made sure, working with the art department, that > > Anya is strong-willed but also very mother-like to the squad. She has > > a very modest chest and doesn't look like some sort of heavy metal > > movie fantasy."--http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/cliffy-b- > > gears.html
> > [1626]Well, that is vast and resounding progress. Boobs are mentioned > > three times in the above passage, although nobody mentions the vast > > importance of the moral woman's character in the realm of classical, > > epic storytelling. No gaming expert has yet ever suggested that the > > ultimate woman character in a video game ought behave morally, like > > Penelope. In our dumbed-down, spectacle-driven society, morality is > > seen as a bad thing--the exact antithesis to art. And so the best the > > fanboys can do is make the in-game character's breast-size smaller. > > There is no mention of making them faithful, nor having them speak > > intelligently, nor making them weave and unweave a tapestry, as does > > Penelope, to keep the suitors at bay, while waiting faithfully for > > Odysseus. So it is that games have yet to achieve higher, classical, > > epic art. And so it is that this patent, by instilling deep ideas and > > ideals within the game's context and AI, will allow for superior > > gameplay.
> > [1627]Female Characters with Soul and Virtue: Every year Play Magazine > > publishes its Girls of Gaming collection which states athttp://playmagazine.com/thegirlsofgaming/index.html, Girls of Gaming > > Vol. 5 "is jam packed with hotness from every corner of the gaming > > universe and when you sign up to go digital you'll get our 20-page > > Best-Of Girls of Gaming absolutely free, along with bonus mature > > content too hot for print. The print edition is something special as > > well, featuring embossed, spot varnished covers and top quality > > materials." Year after year Play Magazine publishes this work, and > > year after year the industry creates games; but they are missing soul > > on both the masculine and feminine levels. A game that showed a > > character being seduced, but resisting, as did Penelope in The > > Odyssey, could enhance game play by inspiring and exalting the main > > character to make it on home. Imagine cut-scenes that showed women > > reading exalted poetry, or lines from Shakespeare' plays, representing > > virtues. They could be contrasted to evil women and temptresses > > throughout literature. [1628]1. Imagine cut scenes that showed women > > acting with virtue to inspire the player to make it on home. For > > instance, seeing Penelope behaving virtuously and resisting the > > suitors could inspire the player to make it on back to the damsel in > > distress. [1629]2. Imagine cut-scenes that showed men acting with > > virtue to inspire the female in-game-character to also act virtuous. > > For instance imagine a character of Penelope witnessing Odysseus's > > resistance of the Sirens, or his other noble actions and refusals of > > temptations.
> > [1630]If a player were playing as Penelope, and they did not act > > morally and took on a suitor as Husband, the suitor would kill her > > husband when she got home, as happened with Agamemnon. Thus moral > > actions would have moral consequences; and immoral actions would have > > immoral consequences.
> > [1631]A game such as GTA could be enhanced by allowing the player to > > shoot the pimp and save the women/prostitutes, telling the women to > > sin no more.
> Play Magazine Gets It: The Renaissance in Epic Story Will Be. . . as > long as you're willing to man up and fight for it....
> [quote] > "NO COMPELLING VIDEO GAME NARRATIVE WAS EVER MADE BY A WRITER WHO HAD > HIS GUTS CLENCHED UP IN FEAR. AS WITH A LOT OF THINGS IN LIFE, > [url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ]HEROIC BRAVERY > (http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ)[/url] IS WHAT IS > NEEDED." --Kyle B. Stiff, --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by > Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009
> "But the stuffed suits refused to budge an inch regarding their policy > of not working with creative script writers who have the backbone to > take risks. Instead, they stand ready to declare yet another "death > of storytelling" in video gaming." --page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF > HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER, 2009 > [/quote]
> The most recent (November 2009) issue of Play Magazine has several > articles devoted to storytelling in games.
> By far the best one is to be found on page 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF > HEROES.
> The article takes place in the future, after 2015 when the "Anti-Story > division effectively won the debate," and thus "grew lax," finally > allowing the Gold 45 Revolver / Ideas Have Consequences / Moral > Premises to be exalted.
> Like my Gold 45 Revolver patent, the article, by Kyle B. Stiff, > references a game based on Homer's Odyssey, as well as a game exalting > Penelope's moral actions; and the meaningful, epic, profound hero's > journey.
> PLAY MAGAZINE wrote:
> [quote]After video games were relegated to something to do while stuck > in traffic, the Anti-story movement became lax A game called THE > ODYSSEY was made. It was marketed as an educational tool, something > to help high school kids understand the ancient literature; a > necessary ruse to have a story-driven game green-lit. It was about > Odysseus and his long journey home from the Trojan War. The gods > opposed him and he had to fight a horde of misshapen beasts using > brute strength and nauseatingly violent finishing moves. There were > tactical elements as well, as Odysseus had a crew of goons to back him > up. And role-playing dialogue too, in which the player controlled > Penelope, Odysseus's wife, as she devised plots to delay a horde of > suitors from claiming her husband's estate.... Damn, we loved it! The > final scene was vilified in mainstream news because, just as in the > original tale, Odysseus and his son round up Penelope's unhelpful > servants, take them behind some building, and slaughter them. ... But > we didn't love the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because > it made us feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey > towards a goal rather than slogging from one day to the next. --page > 111: I WANT THE BLOOD OF HEROES, by Kyle B. Stiff, PLAY MAGAZINE, > NOVEMBER, 2009[/quote]
> [quote]All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. > Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self- > evident. Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 - 1860)[/quote]
> DR. E'S 2007-2008 Gold 45 Revolver Patent wrote:
> [quote](EXALTING THE MEANINGFUL HERO'S JOURNEY!("But we didn't love > the Odyssey because it was violent, we loved it because it made us > feel powerful, heroic, like we were on a meaningful journey towards a > goal."--Kyle B. Stiff, 11/2009))[1790]The basic concepts and ideas in > this invention will have far-ranging implications for the realm of > video games, for the greater culture, novel video games, greater > commercial opportunities in the realm of games, greater and enhanced > opportunities in merging games with film and literature, greater > opportunities for games with deep and profound souls and storytelling, > and new opportunities for games with vast educational potential. The > ideas and embodiments described herein may be modified, extended, and > improvised upon in countless ways. The present invention can bring > both the external hero's journey, that Moses and Odysseus traveled, as > well as the internal hero's journey, that Jesus and Socrates walked.
> 4. System and Method for Female Video Game Characters With Soul and > Virtue and Male Characters With Soul and Virtue:
> [1622]Imagine video games that presented female characters with the > depth of soul and spirit owned by classical characters such as > Penelope, Beatrice, Mary Magdelane, the Virgin Mary, and The Mona > Lisa.
> [1623]Having female characters behave and act morally, while others > don't, would provide a novel form of gameplay. For instance, in the > Odyssey, Agamemnon's wife cheats on him, and the man she takes in ends > up killing Agamemnon. This is contrasted to Penelope, who remains > faithful throughout, thusly ensuring that Odysseus's life and home are > preserved. So it is that in this novel form of video games, women will > be shown on both sides of the moral premise, and not only that, but > their moral choices will be fundamental to the eventual victory or > defeat.
> [1624]Opportunities abound for deeper, more profound female > characters, as fanboys such as Cliffyb and Wyckyg are yet focusing on > breasts, as Wired reports: [1625]"Speaking to Wired.com at Microsoft's > recent media event, the designer (above left) says that Epic Games is > trying to make their upcoming Xbox 360 shooter more appealing to the > casual audience. The game's female characters, he said, won't have > "ginormous tits." And the lauded kill-alien-swarms-with-a-buddy > cooperative mode will let you adjust the game's difficulty on the fly > depending on who's playing. How do you make a game girlfriend- > friendly? You do jump-in, jump-out co-op. You have configurable > difficulty settings for the other player. You have very cool and bad- > ass main characters that have a very human side. And you make sure > that the female characters in your game don't have ginormous tits and > aren't bad stereotypes. What are the female characters in Gears 2 > like? I've always made sure, working with the art department, that > Anya is strong-willed but also very mother-like to the squad. She has > a very modest chest and doesn't look like some sort of heavy metal > movie fantasy."--http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/cliffy-b- > gears.html
> [1626]Well, that is vast and resounding progress. Boobs are mentioned > three times in the above passage, although nobody mentions the vast > importance of the moral woman's character in the realm of classical, > epic storytelling. No gaming expert has yet ever suggested that the > ultimate woman character in a video game ought behave morally, like > Penelope. In our dumbed-down, spectacle-driven society, morality is > seen as a bad thing--the exact antithesis to art. And so the best the > fanboys can do is make the in-game character's breast-size smaller. > There is no mention of making them faithful, nor having them speak > intelligently, nor making them weave and unweave a tapestry, as does > Penelope, to keep the suitors at bay, while waiting faithfully for > Odysseus. So it is that games have yet to achieve higher, classical, > epic art. And so it is that this patent, by instilling deep ideas and > ideals within the game's context and AI, will allow for superior > gameplay.
> [1627]Female Characters with Soul and Virtue: Every year Play Magazine > publishes its Girls of Gaming collection which states athttp://playmagazine.com/thegirlsofgaming/index.html, Girls of Gaming > Vol. 5 "is jam packed with hotness from every corner of the gaming > universe and when you sign up to go digital you'll get our 20-page > Best-Of Girls of Gaming absolutely free, along with bonus mature > content too hot for print. The print edition is something special as > well, featuring embossed, spot varnished covers and top quality > materials." Year after year Play Magazine publishes this work, and > year after year the industry creates games; but they are missing soul > on both the masculine and feminine levels. A game that showed a > character being seduced, but resisting, as did Penelope in The > Odyssey, could enhance game play by inspiring and exalting the main > character to make it on home. Imagine cut-scenes that showed women > reading exalted poetry, or lines from Shakespeare' plays, representing > virtues. They could be contrasted to evil women and temptresses > throughout literature. [1628]1. Imagine cut scenes that showed women > acting with virtue to inspire the player to make it on home. For > instance, seeing Penelope behaving virtuously and resisting the > suitors could inspire the player to make it on back to the damsel in > distress. [1629]2. Imagine cut-scenes that showed men acting with > virtue to inspire the female in-game-character to also act virtuous. > For instance imagine a character of Penelope witnessing Odysseus's > resistance of the Sirens, or his other noble actions and refusals of > temptations.
> [1630]If a player were playing as Penelope, and they did not act > morally and took on a suitor as Husband, the suitor would kill her > husband when she got home, as happened with Agamemnon. Thus moral > actions would have moral consequences; and immoral actions would have > immoral consequences.
> [1631]A game such as GTA could be enhanced by allowing the player to > shoot the pimp and save the women/prostitutes, telling the women to > sin no more.
> [1774]FIG. 5 illustrates how the present invention may be used to > bring the great books and classics alive in a dialogue and action > tree, wherein ideas have consequences. The present invention may > father future inventions which treat this fundamental, basic concept > in far more detail. The
> As I begin preproduction on a pretty narrative-based game, I find > myself referring to Steve Gaynor's quote:
> [url]Video games are not a traditional storytelling medium per se. > The player is an agent of chaos, making the medium ill-equipped to > convey a pre-authored narrative with anywhere near the effectiveness > of books or film.[/url]
> Yes--such philosophies have held games back.
> In real life, we are all agents of chaos.
> And yet, epic, exalted stories emerge time and again in real life, > because of life's moral premises and epic mythological reality, which > are strangely absent from games. Truth is stranger than fiction!
> Think about the true story of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans > battling for epic idealism and freedom.
> Think about Sir William Wallace battling for freedom and epic > idealism.
> Think about the Founding Fathers writing for and then battling for > epic freedom--rendering classical ideals real in both word and deed.
> In all the above cases; epic, classical story emerged alongside > romance and profound meaning. Narratives far greater and more engaging > than those found in GTA/bioshock/Fallout naturally emerged, and became > legends as they were told over and over.
> The stories today's fanboys tell are, "I killed a hooker lolz! and > then pwn3d giant vaginas and nipples in dante's inferno ! lolz!! epic > narrative sux and boox r giant walls of t3xt!" And then the fanbmas > tell tragic stories of massive layoffs and the closure of EGM which > gave that vast contingent seeking epic story the middle finger.
> 300/William Wallace/the Founding Fathers were united by the same > classical, epic, exalted ideals of freedom; which are nowhere to be > found in the fanboys/fanmbas favorite games--Fallout & GTA3.
> By introducing classical ideals (thegold45 revolver(TM)/ideas have > consequences/moral premise technologies) into the center and > circumference of the game's AI, novel forms of gaming will exalt the > industry with billions of dollars in revenue.
> As games get more and more graphically realistic, why not make them > more life-like on a spiritual, narrative, moral, and romantic level?
> Basically this article could be applied to the entire industry which > is shedding billions in market cap and thousands of jobs.
> Over the past several years, I would pick up major gaming magazines > (EGM/Play/Edge) and turn straight to the letters section--the letters > from the readers/avid gamers.
> Invariably, there would be writers stating that they were looking for > games with more exalted narrative, epic story, and meaning.
> And the fanboy/fanmba editorial staff would often be both > condescending and dismissive, basically giving them the middle finger > in telling them to shut up and go back to their single-mom's basement > to play Fallout/GTA and shoot cops and hookers and women in metallic > bras, as really, GTA is all about the family, really, and living > morally, with profound ideas that have profound consequences; and > epic, exalted meanings for the greater culture.
> And then, a few short months later, after giving the finger to the > reader/consumer/yearner for art and narrative, EGM went under.
> CASE STUDY #1: The Epic Failure of Dante's Inferno: The Epic Price of > Ignoring Epic Story and Placing Dante's Beloved, Incorruptible > Beatrice in Hell, and Playing up the Giant Nipples/Vaginas/Baby- > Killing for The Vocal Fanboys
> In one fell-swoop, EA blew several opportunities to exalt both > classical culture and their bottom line. Mired in the "debauch the > culture/currency and deconstruct the Greats" that so dominates our > culture, EA approached Dante's Divine Comedy from a hateful, arrogant, > fanboyish angle; instead of from a loving, manly, humble one.
> So EA goes and slaps the name Dante's Inferno on a God of War Mod, > basically giving the middle finger to Dante's art, life, love, poetry, > religion, soul, and spirit, casting his beloved, incorruptible > Beatrcie in hell, and recasting Dante the poet and scholar as a buff, > world-wrestling-federation champion. And this is the result--a quickly > forgettable #eafailsuck, generic, been-there-done-that-but-better-the- > first-time-around game:
> What can be said for Dante’s Inferno? Well, it is definitely a > complete rip-off of God of War, so it has that going for it. Oh, and > it probably would have been better just to have made the game about a > random crusader diving through the many layers of Hell and claiming > inspiration to the literary classic. Now it just enrages anyone with > an appreciation for those long forgotten “book” things your ancestors > used to read. You know, back when paper was used by everyone and not > just bureaucrats behind the times.
> Truth be told the game wasn’t really all that thrilling. In fact, > it was a little bit irritating and just a tad sickening. A number of > buttons can be used for different attacks, yet somehow I always found > myself pulling off the same combo that ended with me stabbing into the > ground with a bone scythe. It felt like the only way to win was to > simply button mash without any real plan in mind. . . .
> . . .The combat to Dante’s Inferno isn’t terrible, but it isn’t > great either. It’s just another action game trying to be God of War. > The story may be good if you could care less about the literary > origins. The artwork goes from being generic to outright disturbing > and disgusting. EA can use as much controversial marketing tactics as > they wish, but there is a very small audience for this game. It will > have its fans, most certainly, but weeks after this game has been > released it will become forgotten.
> All those hours, upon hours wasted in debauching art and losing EA's > investor's cash. All those hours, upon hours spent ignoring the story > and focusing on mere, fleeting marketing gimmicks, placing Aristotle's > spectacle first and his story dead last, thusly inverting the order of > Aristotle's Poetics, and harassing booth babes:
> I reached out to Jonathan Knight regarding how theGold45 Revolver / > Ideas Have Consequences / Moral Premise technologies could exalt not > only Dante's Inferno, but his entire company, but he was pre-dedicated > to debauching Dante's Divine Work, ignoring the fundamental precepts > of the divine, epic narrative, and losing market cap.
> And that's where the epic advantage lies. In all their epic EA > arrogance they are forgetting that which matters most in art--the soul > and spirit, and thus story.
> CASE STUDY # 2: EGM MAGAZINE'S FAIL
> What an opportunity EGM had! When they received letters from readers > demanding profundity, poetry, and epic meaning in their games, they > could have run with it! They could have become the flagship > publication of the renaissance, while rallying game companies and > developers who exalted epic narrative in their games, carving out a > vast new market for games! If only!
> But instead, because EGM magazine gave the exalted consumer the middle > finger, they are now defunct. EA's fanboyish/fanmbaish Dante's Inferno > is taking EA down the same EGM road to financial hell, giant vaginas, > nipples, and babby killing all. But that's what you get for placing > Beatrice in Hell.
> I predicted this in my patent application, citing EGM's flippant, > arrogant, fanboyish response to an honest gamer seeking exaltation, > story, enlightenment in their games. What did they do? EGM told him to > shut up and go back to his mom's basement and play GTA.
> PRIOR ART AND ADVANTAGES OF PRESENT INVENTION > There is a vast demand for deeper, more intellectual video games that > is generally opposed throughout the industry. Many designers are weak > minded like the Storm Troopers in Star Wars, and thus they believe > hiring and killing prostitutes constitutes exalted story, as the > fiatocracy's Death Star commands them to believe. Many will defend > their hiring and killing prostitutes by the fact that one doesn't have > to in the open-ended world, but then it GTA is not truly an open-ended > world wherein one cannot take a prostitute to church, nor even speak > words of exalted wisdom to her that might save her soul, nor give her > a copy of Dante's Inferno nor Homer's Odyssey to exalt her soul. While > developers, publishers, and insiders constantly hype the storytelling > in games so as to sound cool and push product for mere monetary > profit, the young can see that the emperor is wearing no clothes. In > EGM's letter of the month, a reader expresses the rising generation's > demand by writing:
> EGM Letter of The Month:
> “As I grew up, videogames grew up with me. I started playing games > like Donkey Kong and Carnival on the ColecoVision before I could read, > and Nintendo's Mario title were a staple of my early childhood. As I > got older, I saw the storytlines and gameplay mechanics become more > intricate and engaging. When I went through my rebellious and bitchy > teenage years, so did videogames. And as I grew and matured, so did > the subject matter of the games themselves.
> Now that I'm 22, more things are vying for my time and attention such > as work, college, women, drinking, and lamenting over my long-gone and > simpler childhood. Needless to say, if I'm going to devote 20-plus > hours of my life to completing a game, it had better be well worth it. > And to me personally, a game well worth it is one I can take something > away from on an intellectual level. For example, a game that makes me > question my own existence,
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