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Is Using Cut-Scenes Lazy? Maybe, Maybe Not

A common element of successful video games is the use of cut-scenes, which are cinematic sequences that progress with story without playable elements. There is a question of whether games need these cut-scenes, and if they do, when is the line drawn on the amount they are used.

All over youtube there are videos of all the cut-scenes of video games compiled together, without any of the gameplay in between. One specifically that seemed intriguing was of the immensely popular Gears of War. After watch the Gears of War video, which was a decent amount of cut scene footage, I realized that the cut-scenes are there to aid in completing the story, and that they are not there to tell an entire story themselves. Without the game-play between the cut-scenes, everything going on was confusing and certain events transpired without the view really knowing because the only action of certain situations was via gameplay not cut scenes.


One major idea to consider is whether you'd care as much about the characters with only cut-scenes;
I would argue that most people would say that you wouldn’t. Grinding through gameplay allows for customization, creation, and connection of and with the character you are controlling, which ultimately leads to generating that "I" feeling when discussing a game. When watching just cut-scenes, it's just like any other movie, which for me personally is not usually a situation where I feel connected to characters.

Brandon Jacobs is a writer that focuses on video games and their mechanics. A controversial argument he makes is that the use of cut-scenes in video games displays laziness. When looking at Jacobs's argument, I feel as though what he explains is may be true, but usually isn't.

With a majority of video games, I disagree with Jacobs that using cut-scenes is lazy. Cut scenes usually contain character development and dialogue that can be vital to a games progression but would appear awkward or boring to have to push buttons through. Certain role-playing games that make you choose every piece of dialogue throughout the game makes the story-line feel dragged on and can become extremely tedious because lots of dialogue is practically pointless. However, if the entire game is dominated by cut-scenes, then I could understand Jacobs's argument that the creators were lazy, but I have not experienced a game like that before.

Next I will discuss the first half of the Telltales: The Walking Dead and how non-playable impact the narrative within that game. Talk soon.

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