Theres a particularly horrifying revelation in store for anyone who delves into the Super Mario Bros. instruction manual. It has a story summary, and while its little more than a paragraph, it explains in some detail that Bowsers magic transformed the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into stones, plants and, disturbingly, bricks. Yes, the blocks that Mario gleefully smashes his way through to earn points are actually the people youve been trying to save, meaning youre guilty of gymnastic genocide. Not that youd know that just by playing the game, of course, as theres no attempt at explaining the plot whatsoever. Things couldnt be more different nowadays. Even Mario feels the need to explain in some detail why Bowsers kidnapped Princess Peach this week, and most modern games wouldnt be caught dead without a story. After all, we live in a world where people are, right now, seriously discussing a Tetris movie. Everyone loves a good story, but its hard to play through a game and not feel that what youre hearing is a little familiar - or cliché-riddled derivative fluff, depending on how harsh youre feeling. Games have the potential to open up new ways of storytelling and explore properly interactive narrative, but first they need to unshackle themselves from the same old ideas weve been seeing since the 1980s. Gaming is full of hackneyed plot devices that need chucking onto the scrap heap, but there are a few that crop up time and time again.
