Whilst I cannot remember the article nor the author or website responsible, I remember reading a very interesting piece of text regarding storytelling within the medium of video-gaming. Whilst at first I didn't really agree with the author's point of view in that video-games could potentially tell a better story than a book or a movie, I have recently began to change my mind with the likes of the Walking Dead, Deus Ex (both the original and new Human Revolution) and Knights of the Old Republic crossing my paths. So, I am curious as to what people's opinions are. Do you think video-gaming is a good medium for storytelling, the best medium perhaps or would you rather just have some awesome gameplay - saving storytelling for movies and books?

There is no "best" medium, only different mediums which use different techniques. But yeah, video games are certainly just as legit storytelling mediums as music, movies, and books.

Well, everyone has a "best" everything in terms of opinions.

story is one of the most important parts of a game, if it gives you an amazing epic on rails (my least favorite kind), a huge story with many different choices and endings (the best kind, imo) or a game like TES that gives you the means to craft your own story, story is a major concern when buying a game. as for my opinion on story-telling in games...games have a much greater potential to tell a story, i think, because it puts you in the character's shoes, sometiems it even gives you full reign over the character in the setting, although it is harder to get the full potential out of a game as a story-telling device.

Meh, sure why not? A game can tell a good story.

Well, some people may have favorites (I don't), but that's different than a best.

What anyone thinks of this idea is irrelevant. The facts are sound. An interactive story-telling experience forces you to commit more to memory than a passive one. Thus, the game told the story better. Obviously this is assuming that we're talking about comparing the best world respectively. Some things just simply cannot be understood unless you've gone through it mentally. Doesn't necessarily matter if it's real or not either. Though the more things in your pre-knowledge you can tie something to the stronger the experience again.

Memory is the only factor in a good story? How does that even make sense? I can remember terrible movies sometimes better than decent ones. That makes them better stories?

Historically speaking this topic started with interactive fiction, especially the guys at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infocom. That was when people started to think about telling stories in games.

It's hard for a game to be as deep as a book just because there is not as much linguistic content. But a game like Bioshock, I mean come on, that will hit you harder than most movies.

Games can be excellent story telling mediums. Of course, it takes a dedicated, hard working, and skilled team to pull that off... just like a movie or a book.
Games have the advantage that the player is more directly invested in the story as they control their character(s) and what happens to them has a direct effect on their experience. In addition, (good) games can be played for a much longer time than a movie is watched, leading to further emotional investment.
For example, the ending of Half Life 2: Episode 2 hit me much harder than most any movie, not just because it was well done, but also because I had gone with the characters for tens of hours through multiple games.

I keep going back to Minesweeper for the story.

It was okay, but the main character wasnt so likeable. And the ending if you choose the "good" path was very predictable. I thought Tetris was better. That one scene where that one guy dies brought a tear to my eye...

In all seriousness, I think games can tell great stories. There are plenty of games out there that are simply story driven, and it works.

The question is how good are you using the medium to tell a story. If it is the same as a book or a movie, if I can't interact with it then you are not using it.

A good story in a game does not automatically equals to a good game story, it is often a movie story that comes in a game.

I believe, new techniques should be invented for games which you can't learn from narrativist theories only covering movies and books.

This is a good read on how game and narrative relate to each other.
http://www.raphkoster.com/2012/01/20/narrative-is-not-a-game-mechanic/
(I do not say I agree or disagree with the writer, but it is a good read. I am examining it for a few days trying to understand the ramifications, I don't think I had yet. Anyone having an insight wants to help me?)

I agree with this completely, to the point that some video games more than just "games." I think we should relabel certain video "games" like TES and Assassin's Creed as something else and keep things like COD and Mario as video games.

Planescape: Torment and Fallout: New Vegas want you to read them...

The impact of choices in games is their greatest strength as a storytelling medium, if you ask me. It can be euphoric (or hurt bad) to see the consequence of your actions, because you KNOW that you could have acted differently. My experience with films and TV is more a toe-curling, 'no! don't do that, Jesse from Breaking Bad!!!', or respect and awe at the cool thing a character has done (e.g. that poster scene in Shawshank Redemption). Games make YOU feel responsible, and that can be a very strong narrative tool. The very best movies, TV and books can get you into that mindset, but it's easier for games to achieve.

That's why it's sad that many games - even RPGs - seem to err away from real choices and consequences, going for a more linear narrative with illusory bits where you occasionally get to make a dialogue choice that doesn't really change anything. Perhaps people have gotten used to seeing all a game has to offer on a single playthrough, but in living up to this expectation we sacrifice one of the major strengths of games as a narrative medium. For a linear story I'd still much rather watch a good movie.

I've never once encountered a game-breaking glitch in my copy of Dante's Commedia nor do I have dorito crumbs all over my collection of Leonardo's drawings. Video-games were never meant to act as a substitute for actual literature or music. They're games. You ever notice that in Mass Effect 3 you have to sit around playing with numbers, saving at certain check-points, and run around arbitrarily killing aliens between cut-scenes that are supposed to reveal a semblance of a plot? Yeah, that's not a medium for story-telling. It's a medium for ADHD.

To read a piece of literature like Meditations, you have to actually sit down and...read it lol.

Just because storytelling doesn't work as well in all games doesn't mean it can't work at all. Zombie movies, novels and comics books are nice and all, but those media can never deliver a similar experience to Telltale's The Walking Dead, or the emergent storytelling of DayZ.

I'm sure it can work fine, but then where does that leave the game? I mean, if you have a medium where you're sitting around scratching your bum and at the same time upping your stats all around a framework of what is supposed to be a plot, then what does that really say about that medium as opposed to mediums which purpose lies in the plot?

I cannot tell you the last time I felt emotionally invested in any sort of story than recently with The Walking Dead game. Though some might argue with it being more of an interactive story than an actual game because of the large lacking of actual gameplay, but I still love it either way.

Though for games that aren't on rail and are like TES and Fallout series I think it would be much harder to use it as a storytelling medium because it's simply really hard to keep the player emotionally invested for 100 hours straight with like dozens of different possibilities. Either the writers work themselves to death or it would take at least five years to make such a game imo. I mean, I certainly didn't play a game like New Vegas for the story, sure it was enjoyable but I was mostly there for the role-playing experience and gameplay.

Videogames have, for too long, suffered from a misconception that they are the sole domain of nerds and geeks. However, anyone with an ounce of creativity and two brain cells to rub together can see that they are a hugely effective marriage of several different art forms and entertainment. The potential has always been there and is now being realised. Best medium for storytelling? Subjectively debatable. But its undeniable that they are a good medium for that.