Interactivity - A Different Approach to Entertainment

Interactivity - A Different Approach to Entertainment
Mato Filipovic

By: Mato Filipovic

April 29, 2019

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LIKE NO OTHER
Interactivity, the final frontier. Maybe not the final but it is the most recent frontier in the entertainment industry.
We found so many ways for entertainment: reading books, watching movies, playing games, etc. It is a miracle how we find time to actually be productive!
Out of all the ways to entertain ourselves, video games are the most unique. They allow you to do things that you could never do in real life such as flying, jumping on turtles, kicking some major ass on the streets or decorating your house. Actually, you can do that last one in real life, but somehow it is more entertaining when you do it on screen.

ON MY COMMAND
It is that aspect of interactivity that really gives us the power in our hands. With a press of a button, a character jumps on screen, and suddenly it becomes you, or you become that character, whichever version you prefer. You are making decisions on how the story will flow. You can’t do that in any other medium.

A writer of the book will tell his’ or her’s story, and you can’t change the outcome. Same goes for the movies. No matter how hard you want it, Jack will still freeze to death and that old lady will throw that blue jewel in the sea (I mean... Why?!). Don’t you wish you could stop her? In games, you can. Well, there is no Titanic: The Movie The Game, but you know what I mean.

The best example of this is Telltale games (fitting name). They took franchises like Walking Dead, Fables and even Batman and gave us a chance to change the outcome of the story. It is the story that these games are most focused on, along with decisions.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS
Take Batman: The Telltale Series for example. Now, I would hate to spoil the story for you so I will try to be as vague as possible.
Somewhere in the middle of the game, you are given a choice to either trust the character or to decide to keep things for yourself. I trusted the character without thinking too much about it. Boy, was I shocked when that character betrayed me later in the game.

Now, it wasn’t the twist in the story that shocked me, but the fact that I choose to trust that character. How could I be so manipulated? How couldn’t I see it? It felt personal, and it felt good. I realized I’m not playing as Batman. I AM Batman! (*thunder in the distance*)
And the game, like the rest of Telltale games, is filled with such choices. You can be a total douchebag and talk trash about your friends, or you can help them with some good advice. However, every choice has consequences so don’t expect help from Harvey Dent if you sabotage his campaign for district attorney (This may or may not be an actual example from the game - shhh, no spoilers.)

Some movies took cues from games and incorporated choices, most recent example being Black Mirror Cumberbatch. Hm, something seems not quite right with that title...
We love to be in control of things, and video games give us that. We decide how to play.

IT IS NOT WHO I AM UNDERNEATH...
The choices we make in our lives is what defines us. The choices we make in video games is what defines video games. When all is said and done, it is not really about the story, graphics or gameplay, it is about the players and how they interact with the world that is presented before them. That is something that no other medium can offer.

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