Open-Ended Gameplay began with GTA?
A nice little piece on destruction in games: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/06/05/pass-bearman.php

I agree with most of the article. But I did take exception to ONE little segment:

"Since Grand Theft Auto pioneered non-linearity and exploration as a new
standard of game play, one mark of distinction for a well-made game is whether
the world is fun without playing the missions, and in Spider-Man 2, the
opportunity for leisurely vertiginous swinging through the vastness of New York
was achievement enough. "

[The Rampant Coyote takes time to don his "Curmudgeony Old Fart" hat]

Grand Theft Auto pioneered WHAT? Maybe it was pioneering in that it more firmly put it on the mainstream gamer's radar (but that was really only GTA3 --- the first two GTA games weren't NEARLY the cultural landmarks of the third in the series). But pioneering non-linearity and exploration???

HELLO???

Exploration is a focus of nearly every RPG out there. And non-linearity? Well, lessee... there's the great-grandaddy of Space Exploration And Trading Games, Elite, originally released on a British computer that few of us in the U.S. ever even SAW, and had to rely on ports to our then-shiny-and-new Commodore 64s and whatnot. Which has been revisited by EVERY space-combat-and-trading game ever since, including the more recent offerings X: Beyond the Frontier, X2, and X3, and Freelancer, and Wing Commander Privateer I and II, and...

And the old Ultima games gave you a plot to follow (like the GTA games do), but pretty much dumped you in the world and let you do your thing. Oh, and how about the Elder Scrolls series? How's THAT for open-ended, non-linear, exploration-based gameplay? Morrowind maybe came out around the same time as GTA3, but it's the THIRD in a series that dates back to the early 90's, fellas.

And while not quite as open-ended as the GTA series, lets not forget Mario 64, with heavily exploration-oriented gameplay. Wander around and find things to do to get stars.

Okay - Credit Where Credit Is Due, GTA did do some pretty cool things and can be credited with introducing non-linear, open-ended, exploration-based gameplay to many of the "mass-market" core console gamers. That sort of gameplay has never been common in consoles (it's a pain in the butt to QA, for one thing!), and they took a risk to embrace it like they did. They definitely deserve some kudos.

But videogaming as a serious consumer industry has been around for longer than some of today's journalists have been ALIVE, and has a rich history behind it. It's okay to laud games that have really stood out, but please remember that almost every time, they have reached such lofty heights because they stood on the shoulders of giants.

[Okay, now the Rampant Coyote can take off his hat again, so he can become a Young Fart]

Labels: Mainstream Games, retro

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 10:28 PM (Permalink)