The Value of a Good Writer
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They fail because they don't deliver on power of the medium. At its core, our medium is interactive.While using BioShock as an example, the author underwrites the issues the game had with binary choices.
So what's the interactive form of a statement?
A question.
Videogames are a fantastic medium for raising questions. They allow the audience to delve into and explore the questions presented to them in a way that no other medium does. Videogames enable the player to discover their own answers to questions that are not only mechanical, but ethical, moral or philosophical as well.
A binary choice is a choice between two extremes. Do you want to be Mahatma Gandhi or the lovechild of Satan and Hitler? Do you want to save the world or blow it up for all eternity? Do you want to get laid or not (always a stupid question)?
HUMANS SIMPLY DON'T INTERACT THIS WAY! In case you didn't get the emphasis on that previous sentence, please take a moment to go into a quiet room and shout it as loud as you can. Done? Good, now maybe you've got it.
Let's look at Bioshock again. The player is faced with a choice of saving a group of innocent abused school girls or killing them and sucking out their precious vital fluids. This isn't a choice. There is no moral question here. One choice is right, explicitly, and one is wrong. FAIL.
Now let's look at Mass Effect. In Mass Effect you've got two meters: the (I'm a git) meter and the (I'm a prissy goody-two-shoes) meter. Every time you interact with anyone your actions will raise one of these meters. It is definitively better to never take the middle road. You should always go balls out and either say (I'm a Jerk) or (I'm not a Jerk) every time. FAIL.
