3. Writing
It may have started out as a minor part of the game designing process, but writing has since become as integral to the process as anything else. And boy has it gotten great over the years. In just one generation, we've gotten genuinely good stories from games like
Grand Theft Auto IV, the
Mass Effect Trilogy,
Half-Life 2,Portal,
Portal 2,
Bioshock,
Red Dead Redemption,
L.A. Noire, and
Assassin's Creed, to name but a few. It's, frankly, quite amazing how fast the quality of writing has improved, and while most games still tell half-baked and cliche stories of global war and alien invasions, there are more games of quality writing than ever before. Writing in video games is a fascinating subject because, unlike books or films, it must take into account the actions of the player. As such, the best of the medium takes this fact into account and uses it to tell its stories in a way unique to video games. In a way, we players play a part in the authorship of video games, within the restriction set by the writers and developers of course. Half-Life 2 is an example of this, telling the story entirely from Gordon Freeman's (and your) eyes, never breaking immersion. Both Portal and Portal 2 do this as well. When characters talk, they are talking to you, adding a sense of intimacy impossible with other mediums. Best of all, writers are using games as a way to explore the nature of choice through player choice and divergent narrative paths, and in doing so, allow the player to explore an aspect of themselves. All the games I listed have themes and subtext, something I don't think games of any previous generations have achieved. It truly is a testament to the progress video games have made in such a short time, and the fantastic writers that have made it possible. Modern gaming is great because we have good writers telling us compelling stories, and without them, all the stories and series that I, and many others, have grown to love would not exist.