Philips Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy - Manual (Page 195)

Trigger Happy
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tasks for the player to perform. Sega’s Dreamcast game
Shenmue, for example, looks absolutely gorgeous and
has a suitably epic story line, but the gameplay is
somewhat limited.
What we want in general from a videogame story is
not interactive narrative at all, but a sophisticated
illusion that gives us pleasure without responsibility.
Sure, it might be nice to feel like we really are
infiltrating a terrorist compound in Alaska, or going on
an exotic quest to find an archaeological artefact, and if
prescripted story scenes can enhance this feeling of
involvement, then they serve a useful purpose. If we
can further choose to do certain things, and so see
certain episodes of the story in a different order, then
fine—but we don’t want to have to make crucial
narrative decisions that might, in effect, spoil the story
for us. We want to have our cake and eat it too.
A great deal of cake, not to mention roast chicken,
salads and pizza piled high on hundreds of trestle
tables, was consumed at Sony’s 1999 E3 party, held in
the lots of Sony Pictures in Culver City. This is where
the throngs at the Los Angeles videogames fair went to
wind down one evening—at least, those lucky enough
to secure invitations. Before the stage was taken for a