OTT & Transmedia : Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Director Answers Video Game Questions by Ashley Renee Smith

Great share, Ashley Renee Smith. Bryan Intihar said, "you want to deliver the fantasy while making a world and character that you absolutely love and want to spend time with." That's the same thing for Fantasy movies and shows. The line between video games and movies/shows is getting thinner and thinner.

Agreed, Maurice Vaughan!

What line between Maurice Vaughan ? The line between in my world is a direct line from what would be a set in a scene to what would be a game/VR environment. It's written into the story. When I was envisioning the world, I thought about what would be needed to transform it into different media. That multiple media experience is almost expected anymore, especially if you've got a whole other world. The game characters are an extension of action figures and the game world is an extension of the movie or show. And the game is a unique thing, too. So are the comic books that started it.

Maurice Vaughan totally agree, but it's always been pretty thin. looking just even at the resurgence of fmv games. but also something Robin Arnott said in GameLoading: Rise of the Indies which is a great movie - about when he was studying he went to film school but suddenly realised that there were alot of people who were way more passionate and apt for film directing, so he thought he would do sound for films. then he found video games and realised that "in my opinion games were doing way more interesting things than film" and also something zoe bell said about games - paraphrasing: I want to do this and that and that and this, and with games - I'm not sure who said it but that games can expand on what films offer for creatives and audiences, games allow you to express yourself in a way that films just can't. and colin northway in the same film said "there is a whole world of games that is not shooting people in the head" also check out: raiders!, star wars uncut, japan's comeback game, indie game: the movie, indie game: life after, the dungeon masters, the gamers 1-3, enter the battlefield, cartoon college and crumb, tetris, blackberry, pirates of silicon valley, fb2b - from bedrooms to billions, and the followup the playstation revolution, out of print by julia marchese, follow friday the film by erin faulk, power of grayskull by one of the coolest guys around - rob mccallum, nice guy too. generation startup, startup nations and wired: shenzhen the silicon valley of hardware. just a few of my favourite films about creative culture.

@Terri Morgan Before, a lot of games didn't have big, movie-like or show-like stories (games on systems like Atari, NES, PS1, 64, etc.), but in recent years and now, games have big stories like movies and shows do. And some games have better stories than movies and shows.

Early games were more about timing and reaction skills or puzzles with objects. Once we moved to role-play games, the universe changed and so did all the programming, design, scripting, and so much more. imho Games have better stories because the players can keep playing and get a different game every time. It's a different kind of scripting that gives the players all sorts of choices. Lots of immersion and opportunities to create within the games. We can watch and listen to shows over and over again, but they will always be the same. RPGs and all the multi-player games will always have something familiar and something new.

"Games have better stories because the players can keep playing and get a different game every time. That's a great point, Terri Morgan. Some of the storylines in games now are incredible. I don't play games much anymore, but I watch gameplay walkthroughs. The "Spider-Man 2" storyline is one of the best I've seen in a game.

having not played spiderman 2 the last time story games were super hyped was when uncharted and tomb raider remake, god of war were out. I hated them because they weren't very well written. but it was great to see a proper tps adventure game genre. I've heard lots of hype about spiderman 2, but as a gamer I don't feel the need to upgrade my system. my personal hype is for games like paper beast by eric chahi (who made another world) and following people like Davey Jones (lemmings, gta), mike bitthel (thomas was alone, subsurface circular), brian colin (rampage), richard hoffmeier (cart life), davey wreden (the stanley parable, the beginner's guide) - now that's good writing! I also follow a few game developer companies - the ones that hold expression and quality as sacred, - triband, Doug TenNapel, David Broadhurst, Robby Zinchak, grey havens, megagon, wishfully, might and delight, giant army, ghost story/irrational, neostream sk, playdead, subtle, Mureena Oy, supergiant, sloclap, robin arnott, northway, stoneblade, obsidian, foddy, campo santo, panic! - rather than hyper marketing from the big companies (which reflects hollywood remarkably well.)

on the other hand just because a game is a money grab transfer from a more mainstream product in a different media like spiderman, doesn't meant it's crap. something I have to tell myself not to prejudge. because look back at xmen, maximum carnage, robocop (which was a game first) and the sega disney games. They were all amazing games, and were pure money grab Ip adaptations. the difference is in the creator putting the passion into the quality, implementation and expression of those games. from what I hear spiderman 2 had passionate people making it the game it is. but like I said as a gamer I'm just not interested in buying into the hardware upgrade craze, I still have a ps3 and only because it's also a blu ray player.

I've thought about getting a ps4 just for media molecule's dreams and cyberpunk and the mutant league football update. But imo they upgrade way before there are enough games on that system.

I get your point, Teri Morgan but I feel like that's a simplification that ignores the fact that game writers don't just write story. And story games goes back to MUDs, the first adventure games, the first text adventure games and the second point and click adventure games. which gave way to graphics based platformers, jrpgs, and the first 2d (that looked like 3D) doom-style games, way before hexen and heretic on mac. obv there were still so many other genres and hybrids, that were some story-based and non-story based like shmups of many flavours, by direction - horizontal vs vertical, by setting style metal slug vs raiden, etc. arcade games is almost a genre itself, but is more just a style with genres within it. puzzle games can be written as well, but no they're not story games, but they could be. for me the difference between indie and non-indie is not the size that's a symptom, the cause is that "you are free to express."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQgHSX2tof4

dungeon crawlers - monster maze some of the first attempts at 3d with 2d tech - doom-like (dungeon crawler)

A lot of good stuff in this thread. Throwing my two-cents' worth as an original Pong player. I truly believe the evolution of the video game did not come from what the public wanted, but from the minds of pioneers who created something new and innovative, taking a big leap and bigger chance. The mesmerizing experience of sitting in front of a TV and playing a video game was addicting from the start. Add colors. Add 8-point movement. A joystick. A fire button. Pixels. It goes on and on. The technical evolution was easy to predict. The art of video games, however, in my opinion is a cornucopia of mutations brought to us by people who saw more than the hardware and simple shoot 'em up play. Someone thought, "why am I shooting at this thing? Where did it come from?" They created something that gave them - and us - the answers. Then more questions, more answers. Video games became the movie we wanted to be in but could never act. The adventure we read about in books but could never live, until it came to the screen. It put us in control. Creators felt it too, and strove to give us more. More story. More character. More music (and I will say video game music has evolved into some truly beautiful art.) From the Pong console to arcade games like Space Invaders, to the booth games like Star Wars Trench Run, to everything we have today, there is a stark similarity between the evolution of the video game and the evolution of film. Film has had longer to be sure, but the many arts that are wrapped within the video game will catch up, if not surpass, pretty soon. Story, music, acting, there really isn't much that is not involved. I think it will circle back, the video game evolution. Eventually, and we're starting to see it, the "old" games, basic games, will be brought in to the new paradigm of video game design and experience and we will relive them in ways we never imagined.

I think thats true, James Hoey! Vintage games are really popular on virtual gaming stores for download. The market for side-scroller games and point-and-click games have become more popular again as well. The game I'm currently most excited about is Super Mario Bros Wonder, which is a new Nintendo Mario game that is stylized like the classic Super Mario that I LOVED to play when I was a kid.

James Hoey great points, love your passion! This reminds me of a few quotes i’ve collected from game devs - “There is a whole world of games, that is not shooting people in the head” – Colin Northway, GameLoading: Rise of the Indies

“When politicians like Sen. Joseph Lieberman target video game violence, perhaps it is to distract attention from the material conditions that give rise to a culture of domestic violence, the economic policies that make it harder for most of us to own our own homes, and the development practices which pave over the old grasslands and forests. Video games did not make backyard play spaces disappear; rather, they offer children some way to respond to domestic confinement.”

― Henry Jenkins, The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology

“I believe that our ability to grow as an industry is directly proportional to our ability to understand our past: if we cannot understand it because we cannot play it, our evolution may well be stunted.” – Richard Rouse III, Game Design Theory and Practice

I love that the switch and steam as well have done some remasters of some of the old favourites - close combat series had some recent games, alex kidd dx, gain ground, gynoug aka wings of wor, dragon’s lair fmv by don bluth, and wing commander IV fmv, age of empires and grim fandango - also apparently the ps1 mini can be modded to play win95 games. You just have to rip the disc and get the emulator. Which is awesome! Because until recently you couldn’t play non-remastered disc games of that era unless you have a win95 machine, which is like I think it’s a $20k collector’s item. But games like galactic swarm, plants vs zombies, the sims original deluxe, neverhood, dungeon keeper, close combat series (except you can get all but the first one online from the publisher of close combat.) and some of the indie games on steam are amazing! Like mike bithell, rich hoffmeier, northway, might and delight, wishfully, triband, 22 cans, hello, campo santo and panic!, devolver digital, obsidian, irrational/ghost story, neverjam, foddy, die gut fabrik, neostream SK, media molecule (bought out by sony eu I think), davey wreden and robin arnott, playdead, megagon, retrolution, blood bowl, austin jorgensen, robby zinchak, grayhaven, supergiant and giantarmy, destructive creations, peter tamte with six days in fallujah (he also brokered the deal to sell bungie to microsoft - I’ve been in touch with him but it looks like he’s not going to be in my book, he’s been so busy with six days I haven’t heard back yet.)

My personal top 22 all-time fave video games: 1. MTGO, 2. Another World, 3. land of Illusion: starring mickey mouse, 4. Close combat, 5. The sims 1, 6. Lemmings, 7. Dig dug, 8. Gain ground, 9. Pro wrestling sms, 10. Marble madness, 11. Skullmonkeys, 12. Rampage, 13. Hacker evolution untold, 14. Joust, 15. Discworld 2, 16. Syphon filter 1, 17. California games, 18. Crimsonland, 19. MK2, 20. EA MMA, 21. No fear downhill, 22. Limbo

Great choices, PolyD Flynt! I also LOVE Limbo! My favs are probably- 1. Super Mario World, 2. Mario Party, 3-5. God of War 1-3, 6. Assassins Creed: Revelations, 7. Bioshock, 8. Uncharted 2, 9. Limbo, 10. Crash Bandicoot

Not a fan of crash bandicoot, I just felt it was taking tomb raider’s 3d style or later sonic and I don’t like that style, I prefer wall e and the lego games for 3d platformer style. But it’s okay we differ. For me uncharted showed one of the first times when a syphon filter meets grim fandango kind of story-driven adventure game could be true to form and really open up the writing possibilities, so I agree that game series is important! I didn’t get into the god of war or assassin’s creed or bioshock, I’m more into the indie stuff. But some great stories in those games! Love mario as well. I actually prefer mickey to alex kidd and sonic on the sega side of things. But sonic and mario both have amazing games! Do you like any racing/sports games? No fear downhill is my favourite but I’ve been thinking about doing something like Speedball or Rocket League but indie. Eventually. Currently working on two video game prototypes a fighting adventure about a yeti like daughter of a witch and a demon god and her friend, a paralysed ex-pro wrestler turned scribe. It’s going to be a bit like my friend pedro meets a 2d grim fandango meets syphon filter or uncharted but low budget. -in visual style. I’m writing the story, non-linear script and pseudocode atm, planning to get some character concept art (from some favourite emergin artists on fb) early 2025 or sooner ideally. My other game is a sim about hustling in high school.

Can't wait for a "Bioshock" movie, Ashley Renee Smith!

Same, Maurice Vaughan!