writing | Vagrant Bard

Objection! #2 – A Voz da Narrativa

20 04 2009

Originalmente Publicado em EArena Games

Em sua segunda coluna, Arthur Protasio mostra o valor de uma história bem contada! Senta, que lá vem história!

Call of Duty 4

Não é mistério que a narrativa nos games se tornou mais elaborada de anos atrás para cá. Não significa dizer que narrativas complexas são uma novidade, mas que a atenção dada a elas tem aumentado e a quantidade de jogos preocupados com a mesma também. Não mais são apenas os RPGs associados com a ideia de uma boa história ou experiência. Ocorre que apesar de todo esse quadro, ainda se acredita que a narrativa nos jogos eletrônicos tem muito o que aprender.

É dito que os jogos eletrônicos, por representarem uma mídia recente, copiam outras, como o cinema. Alguns alegam que essa similaridade é positiva, pois permite que os jogadores vivenciem a ação no melhor estilo hollywoodiano. Outros, como Jonathan Blow (criador de Braid), afirmam que o forte dos jogos digitais é a interação e, se a mesma for suprimida em favor de uma história (que já não é boa), teremos o equivalente a filmes ruins. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Arthur Protasio, braid, Call of Duty 4, coluna, EArena Games, Fallout 3, Force Unleashed, Game Developers Choice Awards, Game Developers Conference, Games, GDC, GDCA, Grand Theft Auto, Guerra nas Estrelas, narrativa, Star Wars, writing
Categories : Coluna Objection!, Games, Português

Blizzard Writing Contest

30 03 2009

Blizzard Entertainment is hosting its first global writing contest. This is a spectacular way to write your own fanfic and not be sued, but rather be prized for it.

If you enjoy the Blizzard Entertainment universes, such as the lore from StarCraft, WarCraft, and Diablo, feel free to grab a pen (preferably a keyboard) and elaborate a fantasy fiction between 3,000 to 10,000 words.

The stories need to be written in English, but even if the title has “global” in it, Brazilians (among others) are going to have to let this one go. Only residents from the following countries are allowed to participate: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Ireland, Russia, The Netherlands, and South Korea.

The deadline is April 12th. I’m eager to read the results.

For more information visit Blizzard’s web site.

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Tags: blizzard, contest, Diablo, fanfic, fantasy, fiction, global, StarCraft, WarCraft, writing
Categories : English, Games, News/Notícias

7th Serpent: Genesis

26 02 2009

Genesis is the second episode in the 7th Serpent series. A Max Payne 2 Mod, released in December 2008, that continues the morbid not-so-distant future in which the massive Serpent Industries progresses with its newest versions of cloned nanotech-soldiers. You are the latest and most advanced version of these super “serpent” soldiers. As Vince Petero, the 7th serpent prototype, you have a mission to complete and targets to take out; even if you never were asked to take part in any of this.

Though I did not shape the backstory of the series, I had the honor of working as writer (and tester) for this cinematic action-packed mod. It was an awesome experience and one that I learned much from. Along with the whole team, I’d like to especially thank Diego “Aavenr” Jiménez and Clément “Corwin” Melendez for bringing me on board. I have to admit it was a lot of fun writing for the game, all the way from cutscenes to dialog, and going through the experience of understanding that writers need to adapt. The point wasn’t to realize my wildest RPG dreams through the script, but combine both gameplay and story elements through the nuances of spoken words as best as possible. Next to that, nothing beats the thrill and satisfaction of seeing your written dialog turning into voice acting.

Don’t waste anytime and be sure to have your share of explosions and slow motion flying bullets by playing 7th Serpent. You’ll need the Max Payne 2 original game and the mod file, but there’s no hassle. Make sure to play both episodes, you don’t want to miss out on the story (and the fun). Crossfire (episode 1) can be found here and Genesis (episode 2) here.

There are no facts, only interpretations.

–Friedrich Nietzsche

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Tags: 7th Serpent, Arthur Protasio, Clément Melendez, crossfire, Diego Jiménez, genesis, max payne 2, MOD, writer, writing
Categories : English, Games

WGA Awards Force Unleashed

23 02 2009

The WGA’s (Writers Guild of America) Videogame Writing Award came to a close (back in February 9th). Previously mentioned here, it seems AAA contenders, such as Fallout 3, Tomb Raider: Underworld, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 have succumbed to Star Wars’ power.

The narrative of Force Unleashed takes place between the ending of the movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and the beginning of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and has the player don the role of Star Killer, Vader’s secret apprentice. Praised for its story by critics and gamers alike, this 3.5 Star Wars episode provides a lot of backstory to the saga. Congratulations to writers Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, and Cameron Suey for their efforts and in succeeding with such canon and sacred material.

Licensed material rarely manages to achieve such heights, especially when concerning storytelling. To be awarded in place of other IPs native to the videogame medium is either a good or a bad thing. There’s the possibility that Star Killer’s tale is in fact the best one or the best told out of all the nominations. Then again, there’s also the alternative we haven’t fully realized the videogame medium’s storytelling potential and for that matter we relate better to a narrative told through tried-and-true methods, like movies and novels.

Nevertheless, gotta’ get me a copy so I can play it.

Source: Gamespot

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Tags: Award, Fallout 3, Force Unleashed, guild, Red Alert 3, Star Wars, Tomb Raider, Videogame, WGA, writers, writing
Categories : English, Games

WGA’s Annual Videogame Writing Award

13 01 2009

For the second time, the Writer’s Guild of America is nominating games for its annual Videogame Writing Award. The most famous, or AAA titles, among those are Fallout 3, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Sadly though, the selection process requires winners to be members of the Guild. Naturally this reduces drastically the number of contestants and doesn’t account for the majority of games released.

Nevertheless, games are a somewhat recent medium and if the event’s objective is to “encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, improve the status of writers, and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry”; so be it.

As a Bethesda fan and having only played Fallout 3 (at length) from the list, I’ll cross my fingers for it. I’m sure though all of the games contribute to storytelling in their own distinct genre and manner.

Credit goes to the games which did not necessarily come closer to traditional means of storytelling similar to other mediums (like film), but rather found their own voice and method of telling stories.

I would like to see Dead Space and GTA 4 participating as well.

EDIT: Micah Wright commented that actually, the Award rules only require that writers who nominate themselves join the WGA’s sister group, the Videogame Writers Caucus, and don’t need to be members of the Guild per se.

Source: Gamasutra