As a result of the upcoming project brief 4, a constant theme that comes up time and time again is ‘institutions’.
According to Google, an institution is:
“an organization founded for a religious, educational, professional, or social purpose.“
By that definition, an institution that has had an impact on my life is the game manufacturing organization known as – Naughty Dog.
Naughty Dog – which is a subsidiary company of Sony, has produced some of the most well-known titles on the long line of Playstation consoles. From as far back as the original Playstation, all the way up to the recent Playstation 4, Naughty Dog has been a long-time contributor to the Playstation’s success. Their most famous titles include:
- Crash Bandicoot
- Jak and Daxter
- Uncharted
- The Last of Us
More recently, Naughty Dog has been an institution that has be constantly incorporating deep narratives into their games. When juxtaposed with their earlier titles such as Crash Bandicoot – which is more directed towards a younger audience, their is a notable difference between the depth of the narratives.
Some of you may not even realize the depth of narrative that Naughty Dog – or gaming in a broader sense, has achieved. For a long time, people looked towards novels and film to get a good story. Many people would look at video games as a childish medium of storytelling. To prove this statement wrong, have a look at a cinematic scene within Naughty Dog’s – The Last of Us, to see the power of storytelling within gaming.
*** SPOILERS: DO NOT WATCH IF YOU PLAN ON PLAYING THE GAME ***
A quick summary of The Last of Us for those who are not familiar with the game. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a fungal virus is spreading and turning those who get infected into zombies (they’re not zombies in the traditional sense however). In the game, we follow Joel – a survivor, and Ellie – the only person to be immune to this virus. Unlike Joel, Ellie was born and raised during this post-apocalyptic scenario.