Random: “No Russian,” no problem

Apparently, this video was made almost entirely from in-game action running on the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, but it was recorded at different camera angles and cut up to look real, real classy. First of all, I can’t believe how monumentally superior the PC version looks in comparison to the 360…makes me want to upgrade my PC and play me some pretty games. But more important than my expensive desires are my respected opinions, and I think that this machinima fellow Michael Barnes deserves a job at Infinity Ward. He certainly made a more entertaining “No Russian” than the IW guys could manage. Whether that has anything to do with the current techniques of first-person-stories is a conversation for another time.

Author: Cody

Tags: , , , ,

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 Random

4 Comments to Random: “No Russian,” no problem

  • Ryan says:
    March 10, 2010 at 6:44 PM

    It’s the difference between an “authorial” story (one which has an author who controls all of the elements of the narrative) and an interactive narrative. That is, this video uses the technique of editing (a conscious decision by the editor, or author if you will, to decide how things are going to look and the pace of the scene) to convey a certain feeling of immediacy and danger, whereas in the actual game it’s much harder to do since you can’t account for all of the player’s actions. Even a game as heavily scripted as MW2 can’t convey the same things, at least not as well, and definitely not in the same manner.

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    • Cody says:
      March 10, 2010 at 9:26 PM

      Thanks, Sherlock, I couldn’t discern that difference on my own. But seriously, the preconception that traditional or “authorial” stories will always be better or more artistically justified than interactive stories is non-sense. Sure, they are at this point in time, but video games haven’t really experimented with a great range of presentations yet. I have complete faith that interactive, first-person stories will some day be just as effective as traditional stories, if not more so.

      And seriously, was that little film lesson supposed to be a joke or something?

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      • Ryan says:
        March 11, 2010 at 11:46 AM

        No.

        It was an analysis whose goal was to describe why you found that video more entertaining. Had you expressed prior knowledge about the techniques involved and how they work, then I probably wouldn’t have brought it up. The comment also was not specifically directed at you, but anybody who happened to read it, but was not aware of those things. It was also an attempt to spark the (very interesting) conversation about “the current techniques of first-person-stories.” Also, I hope you didn’t get the feeling that I was saying that traditional stories were in anyway inherently superior to interactive ones. I was simply noting the differences.

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        • Cody says:
          March 11, 2010 at 12:40 PM

          Well, perhaps I’ll write a feature on this topic sometime and we can discuss it then.

          But really, read your writing and tell me you’re not a teacher. It’s time to accept your fate Mr. H. Maybe if you’re nice to the principle you won’t have to run detention for the week.

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