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What comes first: the question, or the answer? Most people would readily agree that the question invariably precludes the answer, but there is one form of storytelling that has tilted this seemingly logical conclusion on its side: serialization. Serialization has permeated virtually every storytelling medium in existence, from radio plays, books, comics, television shows, even movies, and in the last several years, video game developers have begun using this technique to help market their games, to varying degrees of success.
Serialization is a simple storytelling concept that is probably better known as the cliffhanger. It relies on a simple presumption about human nature: if people are asked a question, they always want to know the answer. To exploit this, each installment of a serialized story generally begins by answering questions posed in the previous episode, and then asking new questions as it reaches its conclusion. The result is that the audience is left with a feeling of irresolution, and eagerly awaits the next installment to satisfy that feeling.
While serialization trends come and go, in the past few years they have become a very mainstream form of storytelling. The stand-alone episodic television content of the early nineties and the reality shows of the late nineties have recently given way to complex, serialized narratives that thread their way across an entire season. Movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars follow this format as well. Comic books the world over have been using this strategy for decades, and continue to do so. So it should come as no surprise that video games are following suit, and this is extremely relevant to us RPGamers, as our chosen videogame sub-genre is the most adept at this form of storytelling.
RPGs are naturally good at telling stories, and to top it off, the level-based mechanics allow for gameplay data to be transferred easily between installments, letting the player pick up right where he left off. Few other genres provide the level of character advancement present in RPGs, which makes it the ideal format for serialized videogames.
You've probably seen it happening already: Xenosaga and .hack are the most obvious, but there are others as well, such as Digital Devil Saga or Kingdom Hearts. So far these releases have been limited, but they're on the verge of skyrocketing: some notable RPG serializations on the horizon include Mass Effect and Too Human, both of which are set to be released as trilogies.
This form of storytelling is desirable both from an artistic and a marketing standpoint. The writers are given far more time to tell their story, while the series is set to provide the publisher with many times more cash flow than a single, stand-alone title. Once the engine is developed for the game, far less work needs to go into each additional title, meaning that each subsequent entry provides for a larger profit. And this, of course, infuriates gamers to no end.
One of the biggest arguments I've heard against either of the .hack series is that it simply costs too much to get into. Videogames are an expensive hobby, and not everyone is willing to pay full price to play the same basic game with an updated story. There is validity in this argument from a consumer standpoint, but marketers likely see it a little differently. They want your money, and they will try to take as much of it as they can. However, another road has presented itself at the dawn of this new console generation, and it seems very likely that game developers will soon learn to milk it for all its worth.
Serialized storytelling naturally lends itself to downloadable content, and could very well lead to videogame series that are as lengthy as popular television shows. This form is even more marketable than packaging and releasing new games, as it forgoes any manufacturing costs and provides the material directly to the paying consumer. With a single initial game, developers could conceivably release new 6-hour story segments every two months over downloadable services such as Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network for as long as it takes to tell the story. Should they hit on successful characters and settings the way popular anime and television shows have, the series could be virtually limitless, with thousands of gamers shelling out $15 or $20 every couple of months to play the latest segment.
In fact, it seems that one notable game may already be taking this route. Penny Arcade Adventures, an action-RPG based on the popular webcomic, is set to be released in monthly installments over an as-of-yet undetermined downloadable content vendor, and it seems likely that other games will follow suit. It's not really a matter of if, but rather of when these games will begin appearing.
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