In the Beginning...

Hello, my name is Will Jorgenson and I created this blog after having played one too many video games with poor narrative, characters or dialogue. Video games are an art form, and more and more people are recognizing this every day. Art augments culture and creates new ways of looking at complex issues, ideas or emotions. Being recognized as art means that games, and the people who make them, now have a responsibility to elevate the content and messages of these video games. Gone are the days of pure entertainment value and aimless enjoyment.

Think of any truly memorable game you've every played. The reason you remember it is because something about it resonated within you, be it the message, the characters or the visuals. Something about that game hit the mark for you and that is what art does. The Mona Lisa wasn't a fluke and The Shawshank Redemption didn't stumble upon its success. These were carefully crafted works, created by geniuses in their own right, and they were recognized by people as truly great. An exceptional video game is no different.

I'm passionate about games. I play a lot of them. I'm passionate about writing. I don't write as much as I should, mainly because I'm playing video games, but I do care about the craft. There are some games that make my chest tight and my ambition soar. There are others that make me cringe and wish I hadn't spent the money. Sometimes this has to do with the gameplay, but more often than not it has to do with the narrative. When I say this I don't just mean the story, I mean the story, the characters, the dialogue, the tension, the energy, the pacing, and all of that good stuff. That's the stuff that every good game narrative needs and it's when a player starts questioning the quality of these aspects that a writer has not done his/her job well enough.

What I will be doing in this blog is reviewing games. These may be older games or games that have just recently been released. But I won't be doing a general review, I will be looking specifically at the quality and significance of the game's narrative. Writing is (usually) an integral park to making a memorable game, even if that game doesn't have any characters or dialogue. I take issue with developers who feel the need to adhere to precedent and tack on a narrative or add cheesy, unnecessary dialogue. I'm here to unmask the perpetrators. I'm here to recognize the visionaries. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoy it!