While older folks simply remember video games as strange objectives for tiny block creatures, anyone who has played a video game since the Nintendo Entertainment System can better understand their power to create compelling stories. The August 2006 issue of Game Developer has two excellent discussions about effective storytelling. The first article is "The Power of Pacing" by David Sirlin. It touches an important question for all writers: Is it better to open with your best material or sprinkle it throughout the story?

While we'd all love to create powerful stories that resonate with readers on every page, as people we have deadlines to meet. David's question is an important one but it is one that I see uniquely echoed throughout the gaming community. In "Game Creation and Careers", a book that features interviews from over 150 of the videogame creating aristocracy, this topic is mentioned over and over again. Sid Meier (creator of the Civilization games) says:

"A game has to have a great first 15 minutes."

And this just makes sense - when was the last time you picked up a book, read a few pages, and set it down only to never read it again? Your first 15 minutes must plaster your reader to their seat or you have failed.

In the same Game Developer issue there is an interview with Riley Cooper, creator of the new Tomb Raider game. He matches sids words above but in respect to the game as a whole:

"There are two factors which affect how much fun people have while playing your game [or reading your story!]: the frequency in which they can have exciting and memorable moments and the infrequency with which they are genuinely stuck and have to decide whether to keep trying."

Back again to the "Power of Pacing" article - it goes one step further and looks at the sales numbers as well. They give examples of Grand Theft Auto and God of War as games with interesting hooks that give the player reason to keep playing. In Grand Theft Auto's case it is the realization that the player is in absolute control of their actions. With God of War it is a mixture of unique setting, storytelling, and fun gameplay. An example David uses where a game failed the 15 minute rule, and went on to low sales was the acclaimed Xbox, PS2, and PC title Psychonauts. The first ten minutes are spent listening to dialogue. (Though Psychonauts later sections are among the finest that gaming storytelling and character design has ever seen.)

What is most interesting about this comparison is that Psychonauts went on to win many "Game of the Year" awards. It was regarded among the finest platformer games ever created - but even with all these medals and accolades it couldn't pull the average Joe in. While Psychonauts is one of my favorite games ever made it is clear that this 15 minutes rule caused it to go from a potential "classic" to a cult classic. And that is just a damn shame...

Note #1:
If you are even vaguely interested in compelling character design I recommend checking out THIS POST where I link to a speech by Psychonauts creator Time Schafer. It is packed with A+ info.

Note #2:
Would you like a free subscription to Game Developer Magazine? Click here!

-Josh