Company News Did you cry when Aeris died?

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: BioWare

<a href=http://www.bioware.com>Bioware</a> talks about the <a href=http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/myturn/?id=16837>emotional connection</a> factor in this <a href=http://biz.gamedaily.com>Game Daily</a> article:
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<blockquote>When we created Baldur's Gate we were determined to connect emotionally with our fans using characters measuring sixteen pixels tall; fast-forward ten+ years and with games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, we're now developing realistic and incredibly compelling characters in full high-definition. We believe the games industry is poised to truly take advantage of the opportunities that advancing technology affords. Based on our industry's increasing ability to emotionally connect with our fans, we fully expect that video games will establish themselves as a true art form.
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At BioWare we've made it our mission to develop the best story-driven games in the world, and we've spent the last 15 years honing our craft as we strive to deliver the most compelling entertainment possible. We've always enjoyed hearing the many debates about the value of gaming and the disagreement as to whether games could truly be called an art form. We've personally seen a number of games that have touched and inspired us - some that our teams have developed, and others developed by groups like Square Enix, Blizzard, Bungie, Nintendo, Capcom, Konami and others. Many gamers tell stories of the strong emotions they've felt at various times during the Final Fantasy series (Final Fantasy VII being one particularly poignant example), as well as Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Zelda, Deus Ex, Halo, Starcraft and Warcraft.</blockquote>Halo? HALO? No, seriously?
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[kingcomrade]

That part in Zelda where you catch the faeries with a butterfly net and stuff them in a bottle in order to consume them later for their raw energy was particularly moving.

 

[Elwro]

KC should be ashamed of himself.

edit: I mean, he cited Halo a zillion times as an example of everything - and there you go, the developers got the message.

 

[whitemithrandir]

I dunno. Halo multiplayer can get real emotional, especially when I'm playing against faggoty ass 12 year olds.

 

[Hellraiser]

But it's teh emnotionalz when mastar cheef headshootz ppl wit hiz 1337 skillz!

Oh and obviously we need HD to show off emotions and shit it's not like we could do that with better animation or witting along with voice acting...

 

[thesheeep]

Serious Sam always was very emotional...

 

[Bluebottle]

I don't know about you, but the death of Aries evoked an emotional response in me.











Sexual arousal counts as an emotion, doesn't it?

 

[SlavemasterT]

Halo? HALO? No, seriously?

Hey, I thought it was kind of emotionally-moving at the end of Halo 2 when you have to leave without Cortana; maybe not moving (or coherent?) enough for me remember why it was you were even doing so, but enough for me to kinda remember thinking "aw, crap, we're leaving the computer-lady behind..."

 

[Fallout_Fan_VII]

Halo? HALO? No, seriously?

Well, there was that time (not too long ago, actually) where a Gamestop employee actual told me:

Oblivion was good, but Halo is my favorite RPG

Some of you (who frequent NMA) may have seen my alter eqo post this over there.

And, yes, that is still the stupidest thing I've ever heard in a game store (and I've heard ALOT of stupid things in those places).

To quote my brother: "It's a game, and you play a role, so it's a Role Playing Game. " (Yes, he used to actually stick his tongue out at this point).

 

[Walkin' Dude]

I cried when Fallout died.

 

[JoeDirt]

Not when Aeris died, but I definitely did tear up when Celes tried to commit suicide after Cid died in Final Fantasy 6. I was in sixth grade, btw.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

Not when Aeris died, but I definitely did tear up when Celes tried to commit suicide after Cid died in Final Fantasy 6. I was in sixth grade, btw.

I kept Cid alive.

 

[JoeDirt]

Yah I found that out later, on my second playthrough I think. Either way, Cid dying should be the 'canon' outcome... so sad, he couldn't get enough fishies.

 

[yns88]

I never really felt much emotion with the Aeris thing, but Chrono Trigger certainly takes the mark for inducing the greatest emotional reaction from me. Particular moments as Frog's memories or the fall of Zeal really built up an emotional reaction, and made the game world seem very 'real'.

This is actually why I believe console RPGs have merit, or at least used to. Though the plot is extremely linear, it allows the makers to really create a good storytelling environment.

However, I have to disagree with BioWare's statements. I personally enjoy their games, but I haven't played a single Bioware game that elicited any emotional response from me. Maybe it's because they're getting all their storytelling inspiration from Halo :wink:

 

[fastpunk]

The first time I played Halo was very emotional! Experiencing the horrible game mechanics, the nonexistent story and the childish people who are playing it online just hit a nerve and gave birth to an emotion, pure and powerful. That was a raw emotional moment right there baby!

 

[thesheeep]

Ahh.. now I remember.

(I will be talking about Lufia - if you don't know it... well, bad luck)

I was quite small, too, back then, but I was really... emotionally touched when Dekan sacrificed himself to help the main character and his girlfriend...

Well, he reappeared later... today this reminds me of Jack Sparrow...

 

[obediah]

There was this star wars game for SNES I think it was. At the end of the first or second level you had to jump over some lava pits in a cave and fight a boss. I spent like 5 hours a day for a week trying to get past that and never did. It was by far the most emotional experience I've ever had in a video game. I cried, laughed maniacally, offered my soul to satan, cursed everyone involved with the game as well as their loved ones.

Second would be the ending of Torment. I didn't bawl that time, but it felt very profound. I finished at like 2:00 in the morning and went and lied down in bed and stared at the ceiling thinking about the game for the rest of the night.

 

[JarlFrank]

I almost cried when Annah died.

And the end of PST was the most emotional part of any RPG I've ever seen. And it held so much philosophical depth and all that stuff, it's uncomparable.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I cried in Zelda: OoT at the end because the princess turns back time so that all your accomplishments didn't happen and you forget everything. I remember holding the princess in my hands and going "don't forget me" and she probably didn't.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Haven't really had a game hit me emotionally very much at all. One instance was in Torment with that collector and his prostitute sister. That kind of felt rather sad. Another was in Torment (surprise, surprise!) in the Fortress of Regrets talking to the Paranoid Incarnation and convincing him you are one in the same. He seemed like he really had a reason for his "madness".

Of course another one wasn't exactly emotional but more like "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking vampires in this motherfucking crypt! Time to open a can of whupass!" when playing Shadows of Amn and my cleric who had all the anti-vampire stuff got kidnapped. Finally found a great use for the Slayer change though...

I also kind of felt bad for the Master when I broke the news that the super mutants were sterile. That must have really sucked....

 

[Dark Matter]

The first time I played Halo was very emotional! Experiencing the horrible game mechanics

You mean the same game mechanics that exist in every other FPS?

the nonexistent story

That's just a flat out lie.

 

[Müg]

The Longest Journey deserves mention, yet again. The ending was just so strange I couldn't cry, but I did have this feeling of emptiness and depression that April just didn't have a clear path in life at all, and had been utterly fucked over.

It was a singular experience, and I think anyone else who tried to pull off and ending like that would have failed.

 

[aries202]

I don't know about you, but the death of Aries evoked an emotional response in me. Sexual arousal counts as an emotion, doesn't it?

Hey, who you :shock: calling dead :D The rumours of my dead is greatly exagerated as certain writer once said. And who is this Aeris?? Obviously a character in a videogame, PS: Torment or KOTOR : Or maybe in God of War :

The good doctors at Bioware needs to get a reality check, I think. The piece at gamedaily.com was clearly a very long hidden advert for Mass Effect. They just used the praising of the emotional thingie in videogames to point to ME, saying: 'look, ma, we now can do a game as good asa movie, which can entice the player to the same emotional levels as movies can. Therefore video games should be considered art.' If you hop, skip, or go to NMA's forums, you will see that Brother None, did post a link to a nice article in the N.Y. Times disussing whether video games are art or not. There is a very fascinating discussion going over in that thread over at NMA.

From my point of view, video games can be art as well as they can't be art. It all depends on the videogame. I'd consider a game PS: Torment any day, and any second of the week or year, like I will consider King's Quest 4: The Perils of Rosella, art. I know people have cried over both PS: Torment as well as King's Quesr 4. There are some scenes in BG2 that really moves to great emotional depth, like the scene with the genie etc. in Athkathla (written by our resident Biowarian, D. Gaider, I believe?)

I'd also consider games like Syberia 1 and The Longest Journey (not Dreamfall) art since they'd explore uncharted waters, tells compelling moving touching stories and could be consideres great litarature. I don't why the good doctors :shock: think that Halo tells a great story, perhaps they were thinking of Halo 2 which I'm told has a somewhat decent story :

Even BG 1 stirred emotions in ME sometimes - and not only sexual ones, either .
Emotions ranging from sadness to disbelief to rage to mellowness and many more subtler emotions like that. Good writing does this, no matter if it is done in a book, a film, a tv-series, music --- or in a videogame....

 

[kingcomrade]

I cried in Zelda: OoT at the end because the princess turns back time so that all your accomplishments didn't happen and you forget everything. I remember holding the princess in my hands and going "don't forget me" and she probably didn't.

:D:D:D

That's just a flat out lie.

DONT LIE ABOUT HALO U NUBZ

Deionarra made me feel sad, especially because of the music.

 

[cuthbert]

I didn't cry when Aeris died but I was Shocked and saddened. It was an interesting character dynamic in which you end up caring for her, Aeris and Tifa both try to court you (in their own way) but it never gets malicious or overbearing with romantic subplot (ff8,ff9,ff10,) and always emphasized the friendship between them. So in actuality it was for like loosing a good friend (like in a good book or movie) and that hits you emotionally.