Feature: 'Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames'

In today's Gamasutra feature, we reproduce the first chapter of Charles River Media's 'Game Writing: Narrative Skills For Videogames,' and follow it up with a review of the book's entirety by Gamasutra regular Brad Kane. Author Chris Bateman, in his 'Introduction to Game Narrative' chapter, explains why formal definitions of narration are crucial to a developer's success: "What is game narrative? It’s a question that developers, writers, reviewers, and publishers have been trying to answer for years with only limited success. Like many other things in this still-young industry, narrative is an area where definitions are still being stretched, formulated, and tried on for size. It is crucial, however, to formalize a definition of game narrative before attempting to create one. Otherwise, you’re trying to hit a moving target with an entire development team waiting for you to make the perfect shot, with a limited chance of success." You can now read the full excerpt on the subject, including Brad Kane's subsequent review on 'Game Writing' and its multi-author structure (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).