ABSTRACT
The popular conception of videogames is that they are audiovisual spectacles. Certainly, as we have seen, the format of game reviews and the special attention that they pay to graphics and sound help solidify this sense as does the prevalence of marketing and advertising materials that foreground the graphical prowess of specific games or the capabilities of the hardware platforms (see PSW magazine’s September 2007 discussion of the next-gen power of the PS3, for instance). It comes as something of a surprise to non-acolytes, then, to encounter games such as Final Fantasy, The Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger or even The Legend of Zelda. While each of these titles has its own unique and well-developed aesthetic in terms of graphics and sound and while each makes use of controls, inputs and outputs in distinctive and sometimes innovative ways, what is perhaps most striking about each of these titles is the sheer amount of text they present. Line upon line of dialogue come together to form truly epic scripts. Importantly, in each of these games and series, and countless other besides, few if any of these lines of dialogue are spoken aloud. For all the talk of interactive movies that the games industry and commentators enjoy indulging in, a great many videogames and, in particular, Role-Playing Games (RPGs) diverge significantly from the cinematic aesthetic. Throughout the first nine instalments, every line of the dialogue in the Final Fantasy series was rendered on screen as white text in a blue box which is overlaid onto the richly drawn backgrounds and characters and which is underscored by an elaborate soundtrack (see Morris and Hartas 2004a, for more on RPGs). It is worth recalling the criticisms that videogame play is inferior to reading and the implication that play and reading are incompatible either because the pleasures of gaming are visceral and centre on audiovisual sensory bombardment or because one activity simply replaces the other with gaming dominating in young people’s lives. As Smith notes:
Dialogue in Final Fantasy VII is read, not spoken. During game play, the player hits a key, and a character’s lines appear on the screen (with the speaker’s name). Dialogue lines usually appear when two characters are physically close to each other, and a conversation occurs with multiple key presses, each bringing up a character’s single utterance. Occasionally the player is given the opportunity to choose between two possible verbal responses, but usually key presses are simply used to make sure the dialogue appears as quickly or slowly as the player desires.
