An analysis of title screens: Metroid, Mario, and... Spec Ops: The Line

Title screens are obsolete in today's gaming industry. They're a holdover from the days of arcades, when the screen had to show something even when no one was playing it. Today, games could easily cut straight to the main menu. But in reverence to their roots, virtually every modern video game still has the classic title screen, with the game logo in big letters and "PRESS START" beneath it, replacing the "INSERT COIN" of yore.

And it's kind of beautiful. Why do we need title screens in 2014? They serve no practical purpose. I guess they just look cool. They're gaming's equivalent of the title page at the beginning of a novel--unnecessary, but a time-honored tradition.

When you think of your favorite games, even ones you haven't played in years, you can likely conjure up the image of the title screen in your head. They usually play with iconic, mood-setting music in the background, and when they sit idle for a few seconds often go to "demo mode" or "attract mode," where they show video of gameplay or a cutscene introducing you to the storyline.

As games have progressed, they do new and wonderful things with their title screens. Let's take a gander at title screens over the years, beginning with my favorite series.

Metroid

The title screen for the original 1986 Metroid is most notable for its music. In an era when game soundtracks were all about upbeat, hummable melodies, Metroid was the first to go for dissonance. It sets a foreboding tone for the whole game, particularly interesting considering it was made by Nintendo, best known for family-friendly fun. If you wait long enough, though, the dissonant music evolves into a memorable tune. Metroid's title screen also gives you the only story information you ever get, aside from the game's instruction manual.

Super Metroid's title screen is a work of art. It begins with an intro. "1994" flashes across the screen, proudly displaying the year the game was made. Not many games do that. "NINTENDO"... "PRESENTS"... "METROID 3"... and then the main title screen with the huge SUPER METROID logo finally appears. The ominous music coalesces into a revised version of the creepy piano tune from the original Metroid title screen. How great is that! I enjoy that "METROID 3" appears before the title screen; Super Metroid is never referred to as "Metroid 3" apart from this little intro sequence. Something about it makes the intro more cinematic and epic to me.

And then there's the actual content of the title screen. We see what looks like a laboratory, with an infant Metroid encased in glass. It's the baby Metroid that Samus saved at the end of Metroid II! It's so tiny and harmless! But... there are dead bodies strewn across the lab floor. What happened here?! Like a great opening line in a novel, this title screen hooks you in to the story.

It gets even better. In the opening level of the game, you walk through the very room depicted in the title screen... but now the glass is shattered and the Metroid is nowhere to be seen. STORY SYNERGY!

Mario

Nintendo's sliiightly more popular franchise, Mario, also has an interesting history with title screens. From early on in the series, the title screens have presented the games as theatrical productions. Here's the opening of Super Mario Bros. 3:

This changes the dynamic of the entire franchise, implying that everything happening onscreen is actually a staged show for an audience. I guess that explains why Mario and Bowser are arch-nemises but then they go golfing and go-karting together the next day. The Paper Mario spinoff series would take the theater concept a step further and actually show the audience watching your gameplay.

When Nintendo finally took the leap to 3D with the Nintendo 64, it launched with the seminal Super Mario 64. The game didn't hesitate to introduce players to the third dimension immediately: the title screen consists of a giant three-dimensional Mario head that you could poke and prod to your heart's content, showcasing the new console's graphical capabilities.

This was mind-blowing in 1996.

Spec Ops: The Line

Fast forward to the twenty-first century. Modern games do all sorts of nifty things with their title screens. My favorite in recent memory is Yager Development's Spec Ops: The Line.

At first glance, Spec Ops is a generic dudebro military shooter like Call of Duty and Army of Two. But as I've written about here and people have talked about elsewhere, it's much, much more than that. The title screen captures it perfectly. On the surface it seems like a standard war-torn Middle Eastern background. But huh? The American flag is upside down! The title screen changes depending on how far into the story you are, and the music... is Jimi Hendrix's famous live performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner." In the late '60s it sparked huge controversy, seen as a twisted version of patriotism and a commentary on the Vietnam War. Spec Ops is in many ways a modern-day adaptation of the iconic Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, so the song fits the game on multiple levels.

Do we need title screens in 2014? No. Do we want them? I couldn't live without their logo-filled goodness. What do you think is the role of the title screen in modern gaming? What title screens are particularly memorable to you?

Dubai, Jimi Hendrix, and late to the Spec Ops: The Line party

Everything I'd like to say in a traditional review of first-time German studio Yager Development's Spec Ops: The Line has been written elsewhere. The game came out last June, so I'm a bit late to the cult-following party. Suffice to say it's one of the best games I've played in years.

If you haven't played The Line yet, the best way to experience it is by not reading anything about it beforehand. So please stop reading this. Just go play it.

If you've already played it, you've likely already read the great analysis by Tom Bissell and the in-depth spoiler-filled interview with the game's designers at Polygon. You've probably also watched the two-part video analysis of the game by the folks at Extra Credits.

So here are just a few things I thought I'd add, things I haven't seen many people talk about or just things I felt particularly strongly about. I'll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible.

Dubai

Dubai as the setting. Too many military shooters are set in ambiguous Middle Eastern non-countries. Spec Ops: The Line specifically chooses Dubai as its locale, and takes full advantage of its cityscape and geopolitical importance. Dubai is different than any other major Middle Eastern city, a Western-style spectacle of a manufactured metropolis. The city becomes a character of its own in The Line.

Three trends in gaming: 2012

Well, 2012 is finally over and done with, and quite a lot happened.  To be honest, I didn't play that many new video games in 2012 (you'll see that pop up later), so I figured a more important article I could actually write about would be a brief analysis of three trends in the larger "gaming community". Here they are, in no particular order:

Feminism in gaming finally gets some news, or "Why I don't want to identify as a gamer"

Gaming and gamer culture in the past have been particularly patriarchal, and despite a few important improvements remains strongly in thrall to the straight white male demographic.  Incidentally, I am a part of this demographic, and in addition haven't really done serious research into these topics, so MASSIVE DISCLAIMER, I can't really speak for any of this other than my perspective.  However, they were definitely big news in the gaming community this year, which should be a good sign.  Anita Sarkeesian and Tropes vs Women  caused a firestorm of controversy basically by existing, and showed everyone who had forgotten just how disgusting "gaming culture" truly is.  Ditto for some of the backlash towards Jennifer Hepler, a writer at BioWare, whose opinions on the state of gaming were for the most part attacked not for their validity, but because of her gender (yes, yes, there were several valid critiques, but they were exceptions to the rule).

The idea that lauched a thousand hateful comments

On the gaming side of things, the big problem seems to be trailers.  The truly skeevy new Tomb Raider trailer, and the information released by the developers.  Apparently, you make female characters more interesting by shrinking their chest size and putting all those extra pixels into making sexual assault (nice try, PR department, nobody bought it) an integral part of character development.  Lovely.  And of course, who could forget the Hitman: Absolution trailer with the infamous naughty nunsploitation?

So, after all that bad news, there are glimmers of hope on the horizon.  For one, the mainstream press has actually been on the ball in expressing condemnation of this blatant asshattery.  If nothing else, the fact that these things are recognized as problems by the establishment is a good thing, and hopefully the article in a years' time will be more positive.  We can all be better.

Global Gaming Spotlight - Spec Ops: The Line (Germany)

With each post in this mini-feature, I highlight a game from a different country around the world. Keep in mind these aren't necessarily the best or most popular games from each nation, but simply a fitting representative.

Spec Ops: The Line - Yager Development, 2012

Germany has a tenuous history with video games. Despite being the most populous country in Europe and an economic powerhouse, they simply haven't developed many games. Board games, yes, but not video games. And much like their board games, German video games tend to fall into the niche (or Nietzsche?) of hardcore strategy--not very accessible to mainstream gamers.

Much of this is a product of the German government's constant censorship of violence in games. It doesn't help that a significant chunk of gaming is dedicated to killing Germans. In recent years, Frankfurt studio Crytek has emerged as the highest-profile developer in Germany, but their games Far Cry and Crysis are more notable for their technological advancement than their actual gameplay.

Then this year, rookie Berlin studio Yager Development released Spec Ops: The Line. The developer doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page. On the surface, Spec Ops looks like yet another generic military shooter game. But it proved to be a deeper experience than meets the eye: A conventional story about U.S. soldiers in Dubai turns into a Heart of Darkness-influenced critique of modern military gaming. 

I've already dedicated a whole blog post to its storytelling. Despite poor sales, Yager's work has become a cult hit. It'll be interesting to see what comes next.

Videogame Storytelling and Plot Twists: Why We Love Plot Twists

German studio Yager Development’s new title Spec Ops: The Line has been making waves throughout the games industry. At first glance, it seems like a generic military shooter… but it gets trippy. It’s loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and sends players a message different from the standard “shoot things, you’re awesome, bro.” In stark contrast to most military shooters on the market today, Spec Ops actually makes players (gasp!) feel bad about killing hundreds of people.

Spec Ops: The Line

Why has this change of direction resonated with so many people? In the past decade as videogame storytelling has become slightly more adequate, plot twists have been an important tool for making the player reevaluate their role in the story. Look at any high-profile “arty” success over the past couple years: BioShock, Portal, Braid… they all feature prominent plot twists.

This is because games are still mostly about empowering players. Game mechanics define games, so it’s in developers’ best interest to give the player more abilities and give them more power within the mechanic as the storyline progresses. Most games feature a very linear narrative of “start out weak, get stronger, fight boss, get stronger, fight a stronger boss, repeat.” Sometimes, a game like Metroid will take away all the player’s powers near the beginning of the game, and then the plot revolves entirely around getting powers back.

This comes from the way we as an industry conceive of games. For the most part, the game mechanic is the first idea, and the story evolves around that mechanic. It’s a smart way to create a fitting storyline, but it’s also limiting. Story depends on gameplay, and never vice versa.

Dear Esther

We’re at the unfortunate stage where a “good story with subpar gameplay” is unacceptable, but “great gameplay with mediocre story” is a game we still embrace. Because of this, there’s no motivation for most developers to work on creating better stories–just worry about the gameplay and the story doesn’t matter! Of course, I firmly believe gameplay is integral to our medium, but we’ll never get to “great games with great stories” until we can conquer this fear of deep plotlines.

Because of games’ focus on mechanics and empowering players, games like Portal andBioShock stand out when they throw a wrench in that empowerment. Players want to feel competent and in control, and when we learn otherwise, we’re shocked. Encounters with characters like GLaDOS and Andrew Ryan make us rethink our role in the game world, and that affects us emotionally. Or look at a series like Half-Life; its story draws us in largely because the enigmatic G-Man reveals that even from the beginning of the game, we’re not in control.

But does this mean games HAVE to be this way to make an emotional impact on us? What about a game where the player never gains power in the first place?

The Stanley Parable

We can look at recent cult hits like The Stanley Parable and Dear Esther as titles where the player never has power, and never has the ability to gain any more. It’s great to see a few titles like this emerge, but of course, they’re still refined to low-budget independent productions. Will we ever see mainstream AAA titles do this?

Going one step further, I’d like to see a game where the player actually ends the game with LESS power than they began with. Perhaps, like Spec Ops, it begins as a cliché military shooter. You have to assassinate some foreign leader in a third-world country. But then some sort of natural disaster derails all your plans. Not an evil genius who the player can then take revenge on. Just a flood or a storm, and the player must simply survive. Without the guns they had before, without the superhuman physical abilities. Going from G.I. Joe to a refugee. When will we see that game?

Would players be unsatisfied to see a game where they end weaker than they began? If anything, this weakening would work to refine the game’s core mechanics, since players couldn’t rely on any superfluous power-ups or add-ons to their abilities.

It’s just a shame that game mechanics force video game storylines into rigidly uniform structures of increasing power. I hope one day we can see it in reverse.