Why Don't More Games End In Song?
If you have managed to play through and finish Portal this year, you were likely privy to what may be one of the best gaming surprises of the year. Portal ended not with any grand finale or narrative epilogue, but a simple and elegant song. The Jonathon Coulton penned song "Still Alive" closes the Portal experience in a way that I don't recall seeing before in a video game.
Recently, CVG sat down with the songwriter himself to speak with him about his experience working with Valve and to ask him why don't more games end in song?
"We know how to tell stories in movies, but we're still learning how to do it in games. And that's why this marriage of song and game succeeds: by the end of the game you've developed a relationship with a very complicated character. So when she starts singing, it feels almost natural."
Read all about Coulton's experience in the full interview at CVG below.
Portal: Thank You For The Music [CVG]
[via: QJ.net]
TexCub
Posted to on 30 December 2007
· Comments (4)
Other stuff like this: jonathon coulton, portal, song, still alive, the orange box, valve
Portal was a great innovative puzzle game, had alot of fun with it and it had a nice (but short) story.
Gotta love that companion cube
Btw, the cake is a lie...
I remember at the end of MDK, the quirky shoot-em-up game from Shiny Entertainment featuring such weapons as "the tinyest nuclear bomb in the world", we were treated to a punk rock version of the French folk song "Non, Non Rien N'a Change".
It was kinda catchy and definitely fit in with the game's random humor.
p.s--That there Jonathon Coulton's a cutie
I think the magnificent music video by the crew of VG Cats deserves anoter mention here. Go find it, it fits the song perfectly. THough I must say: absolutely blown away!