There was a time when the storyline of a video game was fairly simple, if not completely absent. The pixelated world that served as the backdrop for the game was in dire need of a hero. That hero was you. So, armed with your trusty sword/axe/bionic arm/blaster, you saw to the killin’ of the monsters and/or cybernetic demons in question.
It was a much simpler time for music as well. We demanded nothing more from our songs than a story about a relationship gone wrong, a relationship gone right, or some middle of the road political message that would play in the midwest. Oh sure, there were exceptions in the case of video games and music. But for the most part, true narrative was not present or even wanted by the masses.
Behold, the modern age, in all of its overwrought glory. No longer do we simply slay pixelated enemies. Our avatar now has complex emotions, maybe even an honest-to-god moral dilemma in dealing with the events layed out before him. We are now expected to make choices, to weigh the options of one path or the other. Will our avatar survive? Will ethics win out over ease of play? Games like Deus Ex raised the question, “Do I need to kill my enemy to win?” So you were given a moral dilemma, to kill or disable. To murder, or perserve life and increase your risk. The narrative of modern games demand these sorts of moral choices. Games have developed into art, and the best art challenges the viewer to look beyond a pretty picture and find something deeper.
Music has also managed to expand its narrative. Nine Inch Nails Year Zero breaks the 4th wall and allows the listener to participate in viral events, both live and web-based, that delve further into this pre-apocalyptic story about a mysterious alien(?) force prepared to stop humanity from falling further into waste and depravity. Another steller example of modern narrative in music is Coheed and Cambria’s albums, which tell an epic Sci Fi/Fantasy story that spans multiple albums and comic books, recounting the events of the lead characters, Coheed and Cambria, and their progeny. But influencing the events of this story is the character of the writer, who in turn is being manipulated by a posessed 10-speed bicycle who is hellbent(heh) on convincing the writer to change critical plot-points of the saga. So there is actually a story within a story. Now that’s post-modern. Of course, the concept album is nothing new in music, but its rebirth in the modern age is apparent thanks to artists like Trent Reznor and Coheed and Cambria.
Popular entertainment, whether it is a video game, an album, or a movie, has come a long way. Ye shall know when the end has come. It will come in the form of a concept album/movie/video game/book series that manages to keep us so enthralled, we forget to eat.
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