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[PATV] Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - Extra Credits Season 1, Ep. 21: Narrative Mechanics

DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
in The Penny Arcade Hub
image[PATV] Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - Extra Credits Season 1, Ep. 21: Narrative Mechanics

This week, we look at a classic arcade game to show how games can express an idea using only their mechanics.

Read the full story here

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Posts

  • brunoaisbrunoais Registered User regular
    Nice thing you grabbed to talk about. And to think that an 80's game would have soo much story....

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  • IjnekIjnek Registered User new member
    This episode reminded me about that one chuck episode :3 S02E05

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  • Josh K.Josh K. Registered User regular
    Tremendously impressive. Thank you.

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  • kingcethkingceth Registered User regular
    The "Many for the Few" thing was all of Mass Effect. You had to make those decisions constantly. I played the second game 9 times in preparation for the third one, wanting to see what decisions would play out in ME3. Needless to say, Mass Effect 3 blew it and assigned number values to those incredibly difficult decision. Except for Mordin. Damn Mordin...

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  • mblairmblair Registered User regular
    You know what game designers could use as inspiration for narrative mechanics? Tom and Jerry cartoons. Think about it, Tom and Jerry never say a word for decades and yet we get a very detailed idea of their characters through things like the sound effects, how they react to being hit, how they react to danger, the music, the list goes on. Want more proof? Here's another question: how are Tom and Jerry cartoons similar to Metriod other M? Answer: they were both ruined when the creative team decided to give them a voice and dropped the ball.

    PyrrhaHaroldZoid
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  • LeenchLeench Registered User
    Awesome point. And I learned a little more about me, because of how I've always played that game.

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  • HaroldZoidHaroldZoid Registered User new member
    Loved this, but you guys completely ignored one aspect of the game, the planes. They're basically like the UFO's from Space Invaders, harmless enemies that give you bonus points. but in this context, they present another choice. Do you destroy the planes out of aggression, despite the impracticality, or do you save your missiles for the sake of defense?

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