Task 1 – Forms of Storytelling

TEXT

There are many games that are inspirated from books and novels as they use lots of words that are descriptive and creative which create an image into the readers mind, which expands the imagination and possibilties of the environment, characters and story which makes this great to make it into a game.

American McGee’s Alice

This is a game that was reimagined into a version where the game is more dark and gloomy, filled with horror aspects and twisted characters which gives the game a really great and unique twist. The game follows the same story as the book using the same chaacters and plot but it makes the game seem more dark and action packed where you see a different side of the main character, Alice, in a completely different way where she has became insane after witnessing the death of her family in an apparently accidental fire that broke out in her home at the age of seven. The wonderland is a creation inside of Alice's mind, which had been corrupted meaning that she had to save wonderland in order to save herself.

The Harry Potter Series

The Harry Potter Series is very well known in practically most forms that it was originally published in where it was first through a book. The content and the overall story that the book contained was pretty much perfect for it to be turned into a game that a wide vareity of the popularity would be interested playing. The book gave the reader lots of creative thoughts and wide range of imagination such as magic, mystery and connections between the characters used. If this was used inside of a game, it would allow the player to let their imagination out.



The Binding of Issac

The Binding of Issac is a game that was highly inspired by the bible, for example, there are characters in like Judas, Eve, Cain and some more. There are also bible related items you find whilst playing the game and the actual story of the game is mostly inspired from the bible. In the bible, it says that 'there was a man named Abraham who loved God so much that he'd do anything for him. One day, god speaks to Abraham and asks him to sacrifice his son Issac to show his devotion.' The game takes this exact story and just replace Abraham with Issac's mother and then the game pretty much continues from there as Issac just passes through floors to fight and defeat the floor boss.

THEATRE

Theatre uses expressions and props which can give multiple games inspiration with the type of stle and stories that this genre gives off for a video game. This includes things such as the curtains used and puppets which give it that unique style that the player may enjoy.

Puppeteer

Puppeteer is a game that literally revolves around a theatre and it uses puppets which are usually used in theatres or give of a threatre type of vibe. In gameplay, you can hear the audience interact with the game as they laugh at what the characters say so it's like you're actually in the theatres audience watching them but playing the game as well. The game itself seems staged and it makes the fact that every character speaks so obvious makes you think that the game is not created for a serious need but more comedic and it allows the audience and the player to overally interact with the game. Things such as spotlights are used on the characters which also gives of the feeling that the game is set in a theatre and just the environment in the theatre reminds me of a theatre too. I also like how they have made everything seem like props as well to give off the vibe that the game is not realistic and staged like a theatre act.



Battleblock theatre

Battleblock theatre is a game that is portrayed as a game that was set in a theatre like area and all of the cut scenes in the game have a puppet like style. The story of the game is that a ships crashes because of a storm and then the characters are held as prisoners who have to complete deadly levels to progress. I love how this game is a coop kind of style because it makes the game more interactive and fun in my opinion.

In this video, you can see how the narrator exaggerates everything and he puts the whole opening cutscene in a theatre like manner. It reminds me of a a type of play you would see in a school. I love how this game is presented and how the mechanics work and the story is because its original and unique.

FILM

Films are a great source to gather ideas, environments, characters and stories from, especially since they are usually released to the public and they are very popular and well-known. A video game can change the way a film is initially seen as multiple aspects can be tweeked and changed in order to make the film game more interesting such as adding in free roaming which will give the player more freedom to explore the environment.

Coraline

Coraline was a very unique film, where different techniques were used to get the watchers attention so they get hooked into the story and the film itself. The art-style used is very unique and cartoon-like, which gives this horror/ mystery/ strategy vibe, which would be perfect for a game. It would allow the player to use there imagination and theories to figure out the mystery in order to actually escape and save your parents, which also brings the emotional side into the story and it creates hype when the player progresses through the game as they are one step closer to actually saving their parents and making everything right. As you can see, the game recreates the image of the environments used in the film which visually almost looks the same. The game initially follows the same steps in the film which is good because the person playing the game will most likely know what to expect which will put you ahead of the game, where you know where to go and what will happen.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 

Wallace and Gromit has a very unique style considering that the characters and environment is mostly made from materials like clay. This is an old type of style which gives the movie an interesting vibe which I personally find very nice. The story coming from "The Curse of The Were-Rabbit" is pretty much the same projected into the game but with multiple twists. For example, the character can freely roam around cities and explore which I think is a great characteristic for the game as it allows the player to find out new things and not seem so trapped into the story giving them freedom. The film had so many unique aspects that were presented within the game such as machines that sucked the were rabbits up and the were rabbits themselves. 

TELEVISION

Television series are a good source to create video games from, this is mainly because they are based around certain genres such as comedy, action, mystery etc.  It's also effective because we play and connect with characters that are effectively used in the game which is most likely going to make the player want to interact with individual characters.

South Park

South Park has a comedic sense of a story where comedy and imagination is focused on rather than the story itself. The game has a new story where Cartmen, Kyle, Stan and Kenny are a big part within the game but they are split up into different sides and the character that you are in the game is a custom character that you have created which puts pressure onto the player to choose the team that would give off the best beneficial needs. I love this game because of the originality and just how it's related to South Park as it gives us references from episodes we've seen in the TV series.



This is a picture from South Park: The stick of truth and as you can see, it looks exactly like the TV series. It also follows things from the TV series and I love how this game is presented overall.