The highest-grossing video game in its opening weekend, Grand Theft Auto IV, has taken everything fans loved about the first three games and added more -- yes -- story. IV follows charming hero, immigrant Nico Bellic, through Liberty City, deemed one of the best story worlds created for a video game. What seems to make IV's "story mode" so strong isn't simply the witty dialogue between characters -- it is the character web.
With a film, you're asking the audience to sit through about 2 hours, so you need a strong opposition. TV series have even more complicated character webs to sustain up to 24 hours of television each season.
But with a video game such as Grand Theft Auto, the creators know their fans will be spending at least 30 hours just to beat the story mode -- and they want them to return to the game even after beating it. This game's popularity may partially be due to the stealing, the shooting, the killing, sure. But what keeps players coming back day after day are the friends and dates Nico must appease, and the hierarchy of opponents he must defeat. On a final note, one aspect of the "story mode" I enjoy about this game is that Nico is often able to make a choice between blindly following mission orders, and doing what is right, all the while balancing potential consequences.
With a film, you're asking the audience to sit through about 2 hours, so you need a strong opposition. TV series have even more complicated character webs to sustain up to 24 hours of television each season.
But with a video game such as Grand Theft Auto, the creators know their fans will be spending at least 30 hours just to beat the story mode -- and they want them to return to the game even after beating it. This game's popularity may partially be due to the stealing, the shooting, the killing, sure. But what keeps players coming back day after day are the friends and dates Nico must appease, and the hierarchy of opponents he must defeat. On a final note, one aspect of the "story mode" I enjoy about this game is that Nico is often able to make a choice between blindly following mission orders, and doing what is right, all the while balancing potential consequences.