14/04/2016 videoGaiden

Our past is one long love affair with games.

That has reached a peak with the digital age.

Today, the planet is covered by video gamers.

The numbers are massively massive

and impressively impressive.

I'm Robert Florence.

And I am Ryan Macleod.

Together, we're going on a video gaming journey.

BOTH: We're on a journey!

From here...

..to here.

Through a variety of rooms.

Some of which contain other people.

Watch us attempt and fail to answer one question...

..what is the future of gaming?

When we were young, about 70 years ago,

when we were about three foot tall and bright purple like a bell-end,

people were always telling us stark visions of the future.

Most people thought vicars would be robots by now

and a guy in my street said his uncle was eaten by pixels.

CHURCH BELL TOLLS

Yeah. And we were told that games like Night Trap

represented the future of video gaming.

THEY SNIGGER Take a look.

Released in 1992, Night Trap was a sci-fi horror interactive movie.

Alien monsters were out to steal the blood from some young women.

Your job was to trap these monsters

before any more atrocious acting could take place.

It seemed like the future, but it was terrible.

Way to go, Control, I knew you could do it!

But what is the future of video gaming?

To take a look at the past and the present,

and try to build a picture of tomorrow

like we're using some kind of flat, temporal Lego,

we sat down and had a chat with British gaming legend Ian...

-Ian...?

-Sorry.

Ian Livingstone.

I just call him Ian.

Ian Livingstone has been involved in the games industry since the 1970s.

He became a household name for many

with the Fighting Fantasy series of game books.

These are books in which the reader became the hero,

it wasn't a linear narrative where you may or may not...

These are which you made the choices,

so at the end of each paragraph,

you made a choice - turn left, turn right -

and every time you played, it was different,

so these titles like Deathtrap Dungeon, The Forest Of Doom,

were huge international bestsellers.

They sold 80 million copies worldwide.

-I think we read those books back in the day...

-Mm-hm.

..bought them with our pocket money, you wrote them,

-I think we're all looking really, really good.

-But you're nippers.

No, I think, in general, we're all looking pretty good.

I think there's too many young people on the BBC these days anyway.

I think this is more like it should be. We should present Top Gear.

That lens! We should be the presenters of Top Gear.

We could dae that. I cannae drive.

Ian went down the digital path

when he joined a company adapting one of his books into a video game.

That company became Eidos, famous for, amongst other things,

Tomb Raider.

You've been prominent on the scene for so long.

-What would be your advice...

-That's a bit rude, Rob.

It's been a long time. We're old as well.

Are you saying I'm old?

You've got an overview of the whole thing -

the past, the present, the future.

What's your overview of the whole thing right now?

It's an incredibly large industry,

100 billion a year in software sales alone,

so that is very enticing for everybody,

there's no surprise that there are 1,900 games studios in the UK.

Of course, many of them are micro-studios,

one or two people working remotely,

but hoping to make the next big thing.

When you are doing a show like this...

I was just looking for a camera there.

Can I have a camera?

When you're doing a show like this for the BBC,

it's always very formulaic,

always a formula to these things,

so we have to ask you about the past and the present and the future

of video games.

Do you not think it's strange,

talking about the present of video games,

because do you not think that video games...

we always have an eye almost five or ten years down the line?

Do you not think we're always kind of focusing on the future

when we're talking about video games?

Everyone's trying to invent the next big thing

and technology drives innovation

in video games like no other entertainment industry,

so ten years forward is going to mean

even more incredible opportunities,

of blending technology in the games,

so games is going to be more pervasive,

so you'll be able to play them remotely on any device,

everything is going to be connected, life is going to become a game.

I think that's fantastic!

So we've got VR coming quite soon

and there's going to be new technological opportunities

for games to become a massive platform,

but it won't be just in games,

it'll be in entertainment, in documentaries,

stepping into worlds that you might not otherwise have done,

whether it's climbing Everest or going to a wedding that you missed

and joining in.

So, yeah, everyone's future-gazing

and I think the UK's already at the front of that gazing

and...one of our best industries,

which is appreciated and loved around the world.

-BOTH: Ian Livingstone, thank you.

-Thank you.

You know, Robert,

a lot of people are saying that VR, that's "virtual real",

is the future of video gaming.

In their desperation to grab the next big thing in video games,

people are actually ordering these things

without even having tried them.

Yeah, idiots, aren't they? HE CLEARS THROAT

Now, it's extremely unlikely that I personally

will ever have enough money to own one of these things.

-Yep, 100%.

-But there will be some rich children out there

who want to know if these things are any good.

So I think I should probably have a shot of one.

You should probably come with me

and make sure I don't fall out of this reality.

All right.

So, Ryan, how many years have you been alive now?

-Uh...

-For your sins.

-..38 years.

38 years of life!

-In this reality.

-In this reality.

And I tell you what - I'm sick of it, Robert.

I'm sick of this reality,

so I'm going to go and visit another reality.

Ryan, put on that headset and get yourself into...

I'm going to assume that in this other reality

I'm also short-sighted, so I'm going to keep my glasses on.

-Good idea.

-Right enough.

-I'm in another reality.

-Good idea.

I think that's my phone there.

I've not got any texts in this reality either.

Look behind you - I've heard that's impressive when you do that.

Look, they've got cables in this reality! Amazing.

Aw, there's nae toilet!

You might have noticed that the way Ryan is behaving now

is very similar to somebody using cocaine.

Very, very self-involved.

Please take yourself, me and all the readers out there into this...

OK, goodbye, Glasgow.

Here...we...

How does it feel?

Ryan, how does it feel?!

Playing Eve: Valkyrie in VR is somehow dreamlike,

yet completely solid.

This incredible world called outer space

feels like it has the same effect on one's body

as falling into a skip full of graphics.

I feel excitement, both in the experience I'm currently having

and with the contemplation of what other thrills

this technology can bring us!

Exterminate!

-There's enemies coming, Robert.

-Enemy?

What do you mean there's enemies coming?

-Is that an enemy?

-Channel 4?

I think I'm too far away, I need to fly in.

Would you describe this experience as visceral?

I'm really trying to concentrate, I'm in the middle of a space battle.

Really annoying when somebody's inside another reality

-when you're trying to speak to them.

-I heard the word "annoying" there.

I think that's quite unfair,

-because I'm in a battle for the universe here.

-Ryan!

-What?

-You're getting too involved in that reality...

-Wow, look at that.

How does it feel different from Glasgow and from Earth?

From the human world?

-How does it...? Ryan!

-You're ruining it!

-Sorry.

Ah, I've just remembered I'm crap at games.

Are you also crap at games in that universe?

I don't think it's a game in this reality, I think it's real life,

so I'm also crap at real life in this universe.

-Uh, Ryan is...

-Hang on.

Ryan is currently in...

You'd better not be talking to the camera.

-Sh! Quiet!

-The Gatling gun's dead hard to use.

Ryan, gonnae quieten doon?

What a noisy reality that is.

He's completely lost within the experience at this point.

I've been trying to communicate with him,

but I think you can see immersiveness in action here.

It was at this moment I began experiencing unusual

and frightening sensations.

I can best describe them as primal.

It seems that this new technology has sucked me

into this violent and mesmerising third dimension.

Ryan Macleod the pacifist is now completely gone.

I'm fully immersed in... a digital bloodlust.

And it's in 3D!

How much is it?! I don't care!

I'm getting one!

No, hang on, where am I?

-Yeah, I think he's died. Ryan, you've only died.

-I died.

-Wait a minute.

-My body's round the wrong way.

-You've only died...

-My body's round the wrong way.

You've only died in the virtual reality.

-You've only died in the...

-I cannae see you.

-Listen, it's...

-I cannae see you.

It's only a virtual death, it's all right.

Your real death is still waiting for you in the real world.

Hey, listen, you've just seen...

It's almost like a child being born for the first time.

-Would you like to just slip them off now?

-No!

You'll see, you're back in the real world.

-Gently, gently...

-NO!

-Gently, gently.

-Aw, f...

-There he goes, he's back. He's back.

-How many years have I got left?

How many years? Ryan now has to adjust back to the real world.

I don't want to be in this reality, Robert.

Did you...? Were my ma and da still alive in that reality?

I didnae see them.

Aw, naw, I've just had a thought.

Maybe they were the enemy fighters, I might have killed them.

All this talk about virtual worlds has got me

thinking about storytelling,

because, my friends, what is storytelling

if not a journey into other worlds?

Cannae believe I actually just said that there.

TRAIN WHISTLE

Have you noticed how nothing of any real significance

happens in these bits of the show?

We're just talking about what comes next all the time,

what's that about? We should try and enjoy this moment in our story.

Live in the moment, as they say.

You're right, yeah.

Ryan, I hate the moment.

Sorry.

Whoosh.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

Tragic ancient lands lying in ruins, somehow linked by bonfires.

A field of white flowers turn blood red

even without the aid of nanomachines.

A plumber skipping across asteroids to save a Princess.

When video games get story right, they are amazing.

I've always wondered whether books have similar plots to video games.

I've never read a book before.

I really loved The Last Of Us on the Sony home-console PlayStation device.

HE SCOFFS

It's set in a zombie apocalypse.

-Zombies!

-We sold a book about zombies once.

Biggest mistake of my life.

Oh, yeah. We had you all in.

Had to take them off the shelves.

I told them where they could find their zombie books.

HMV, along with their Banksys and their Charlie Brookers.

Video games.

It's the interactivity in this extremely dangerous world

that helps lend weight to the peril of the characters,

makes you feel along with them. It's really...

Feelings!

Oh, mother!

Extremely complex techniques of storytelling

can be employed by video games.

Take, for example, Chrono Trigger.

It spans across many different characters and timelines

and connects everything beautifully.

It's something that other mediums would really struggle to accomplish.

Hey, now, see here, Khrushchev,

we don't actually sell your Captain Comic Book mugs here.

Hey!

You see, to tell an incredibly complex and deep story,

a video game doesn't even need to use words.

You can play through the entirety of Dark Souls

not even paying attention and it will still seep into you.

Every aspect of that world is so precisely composed.

You could play it in Japanese

and you'd still be completely immersed in it.

That's not to say that the words aren't also...

I like Pac-Man.

My parents are divorced, do you sell Lord Of The Rings?

I think that everyone should be allowed to do whatever they want.

That's not to say that the words aren't also wonderful.

Dark Souls is an artistic masterpiece

and it could only exist as a video game.

If only I'd read a book!

It's 2016, and more so than ever

the land of video games is packed

with people who want to tell you stories.

In particular, indie games are story-rich.

When married properly with the game mechanics,

these experiences are unforgettable and joyous.

Play video games,

they will tell you stories in ways that nothing else can.

CRYING IN PAIN

People who read books are very strange.

Indie game designers are like my rock stars, Robert.

I love those guys. They're very clever.

I think they could all use a good fucking wash.

Well, rock stars don't wash.

Have you ever smelled Adele?

Asmell, more like.

That's a good... Asmell.

Anyway.

How do those indie guys do what they do?

Yeah, maybe if we get a better understanding of how these

social outcasts actually make these games, it will help us

see where the future of gaming is heading.

We had a sit-down and a chat with the brilliant and brainy academic

Dr Romana Ramzan - check this footage out.

Dr Ramzan is a lecturer and researcher in video-game design

at Glasgow Caledonian University.

My focus is specifically in user-centred design

and that brings in a lot of psychology into how players think,

what players might do, how they might behave.

It's the importance of the user in the design process

and it's throughout the entire design life cycle

and development life cycle. It is by going out and speaking

to these people, finding out what their needs are.

What is it that they're craving, that they're wanting,

and how can you actually address that in a fun, innovative way.

Academically, you're leading these new designers forward

into the future.

It must be exciting but it must also be quite difficult as well

to constantly be rethinking how things are done,

because as things change,

surely the way you have to deal with what you do changes as well.

Absolutely. You're constantly learning as you go along

and it's trying to keep ahead of the developments

and then bringing them into your teaching,

so that students are actually equipped...

by the time that they graduate, they are equipped with the latest

know-how on how to deal with the challenges

that are presented to them.

So at the moment, the biggest problem, I guess, facing designers

and developers is how do you compete for people's attention.

The markets, especially mobile-phone games, the markets are saturated

with so many different products, so how do you stand out from the crowd?

I haven't discovered the answer to that yet, but when I do,

I'm sure I'll have a number-one hit myself.

Design is a hugely important thing.

I mean, the design of these chairs, for example.

These are way too low, these chairs, for trying to do

a quite serious interview on a BBC TV programme,

and I can only apologise for the position that we are sitting in.

-In this segment.

-We are fully grown men.

In ten years' time, when I will be - God willing - dead and buried,

where do you see game design?

I think psychology is going to play a bigger part in what we do.

The focus is certainly embedded at the moment in our curriculum

but I think it's going to be even stronger in the future.

Design will be dictated a lot by what people do, how they behave,

how they act, things that they see in their day-to-day life,

and I think it will be dictated and driven by players.

All this delicious talk about game design

and player experience has got me thinking about board games.

You ever played a board game, Ryan?

I'll tell you this much, Robert.

I've certainly been bored by a lot of games.

He's on fire the night! That's a good one.

I'll tell you something -

he's not going to be bored by this segment coming up.

-Put a tenner on it?

-No.

Whoosh!

-Wait.

-You want to oppose it?

So he's got two successes going in?

Aye, but he's only rolling one die.

Hello there.

Myself and the renowned British actor Richard Rankin are here playing

Star Wars: Rebellion inside a planetarium

because, hey, it's videoGaiden.

-Richard, welcome to the show.

-Thanks for having me.

You're very welcome, you're very welcome.

This is weird. It's kind of like an interview,

it's kind of like catching up with a friend

and it's also kind of like a review. I'm going here with him,

I'm going to resolve Fear, we'll keep them in line.

"Attempt on any system that contains a Death Star, Star Destroyer or Super Star Destroyer.

"If successful, gain one loyalty and two systems in this region."

To quickly explain how the game works, it's really all about leaders.

The Rebels have leaders, the Empire have leaders,

and you assign leaders to missions and to regions,

to move troops around, and the missions are really story-based.

This is the cool thing about it.

-Just two.

-Fuck!

-That's failed.

So if you will excuse my friend's language, we are currently playing

Star Wars: Rebellion. Richard, how are you feeling about this?

-What's your first impressions of playing this game?

-It's really good.

It's got all the elements you want in a big epic board game.

We have played loads of board games together

and loads of epic-scale board games.

This is one of the simplest ones I've played.

You can learn the rules in about 5-10 minutes.

It's structured really well. You pick it up really quickly.

It's done in such a way, and all good board games are,

where they might seem really complex and involved,

and indeed it is, but it's made in such a way

where you pick it up quite quickly and all you need to do

is play through a turn or two and you know where you are.

He gets two extra successes added on to his die roll,

-but he's only rolling one dice.

-How's he get that?

Because it's a special bonus. See that wee picture there?

That's his particular expertise.

One of the coolest things about this game is the fact that

I don't know where this Rebel base is.

Richard knows where it is. His troops are hidden

somewhere in the galaxy and I need to keep probing and moving around

the galaxy, a lot of conquest, trying to find this Rebel base.

How do you feel about this kind of hidden base mechanic, Richard?

I think it's so effective that I forgot where my base is.

-Well, you've got it on a card there.

-Oh.

See, he's got a card that he's got aside that has the Rebel base on it.

I can move in my Super Star Destroyers.

Pew, pew, pew!

And destroy the wonderful British actor Richard Rankin.

But we've been talking on the show, we've been talking on videoGaiden

in this episode about the future of game design,

and it's interesting that as we look into the future

and we've got things like VR and all these exciting things,

there's still a lot of people... Technology is just advancing.

There's still so many people turning back to cardboard and paper.

It's a beautiful thing. We had great nights.

It's just the best way to play a game.

I think this is the best format of gaming.

It's a bit of a dream game, isn't it?

This is the kind of board game I would have dreamed about

when I was a wee guy, where it's like, I can be the Empire and my mate

can be the Rebels and we can kind of play Star Wars on a table.

And this game will take you about, I think, about four hours

and it just tells a brilliant story.

This is the tricky thing about a board game like this,

you have to appeal to board-game fans and people that have played lots of board games.

I appreciate it because it has clever mechanics,

but it also is kind of effortless to play. Effortless to play.

But it doesnae...you know, it's not accessible

and feels kind of light and unsatisfying,

it's accessible and still has all the story

and the excitement and thrills and the decisions.

-Done.

-You're done?

-Yeah.

OK.

Of course, there are, remember, many,

many other board games available.

This isn't an advert for Star Wars: Rebellion,

but I think it's just a good example of a game that really

shows us where we are now in board games. It's great, isn't it?

It's a great time to be a Star Wars fan again, that's the other thing.

-Richard, when are you going to be in Star Wars?

-Obi-Wan?

-Look at this. That's why you grew the beard.

-Exactly.

Yeah, you could do that.

You look like a younger, better-actor Ewan McGregor.

Anyway, let's get back to the game. So, where were we?

-Where were we?

-You had just subjugated a system down there.

You know, despite us having went on this big journey

and despite us having already spent our fee for the show, I don't feel

like we've got any clear grasp yet of what the future of gaming may be.

Did you say you got a fee?

You know, Ryan,

maybe we cannae conceptualise the future of video gaming.

Maybe, Ryan, we are way too damn old.

Right, le me stop you there.

It sounds to me like you're about to propose that we speak to

someone younger than us about the future of games.

No, I'm out.

I can't, I don't... I don't believe in the young. You...

Look, I'm out.

-I don't believe in it, I don't believe in the young.

-Ry...

-I don't believe in the young.

-Ry...

I don't believe in the young, OK?

-I don't...

-Ry...

Ry...!

When you're talking about the future of gaming,

here's the truth - it's not tech, it's not even us,

it's them, our kids.

Games are about the players

and our kids will be the ones doing the playing.

Hey, what's your favourite game?

-Minecraft!

-Minecraft!

If the gaming torch has been passed to our kids,

Minecraft is the game keeping that torch lit.

And one of the key figures in kids' passage through Minecraft

and through video games is Stampy, the YouTube megastar.

Thousands of children the world over hang on his every word.

What would you like for breakfast, Stampy?

Erm, can I have a cake, please?

Cake? Cake again?

All right, all right, Stampy, cake it is, cake it is.

So, you have a massive audience of kids out there, Stampy.

Do you feel a big responsibility there?

Yeah, and it's not even just in my videos as well,

it's because I feel like I am a role model to a lot of people,

which isn't something that I, you know,

really asked for, but it's kind of just happened.

So, you know, how I am at events or even just in public

or anything that I post on social media, like,

I'm very conscious about everything that I do.

But it's great, I feel like it's a chance to hopefully

make a bit of a positive difference.

When you did your first video of Minecraft,

what made you want to keep on doing videos?

When I made my first video... So that was my first-ever time

playing Minecraft. I'd heard that your first night in Minecraft

is kind of something quite memorable.

I wanted to record it and I ended up uploading it

and I immediately just got addicted to Minecraft

and just loved making videos.

And so since then I just haven't stopped.

Minecraft is a really special game.

Why do you love it and why do you think so many people love it

and so many children?

I think the amazing thing about Minecraft is that it can be

a different thing for different people.

It's basically a platform to play on rather than kind of being

told to play it in a specific way.

Some people might be builders, some people like mining

and the survival aspect -

it can kind of just be used for so many different things.

That's why it just appeals to so many different types of people.

What do you think this next generation is going to be like?

Because we've got kids who play the game, sure,

but also a big part of their gaming life is watching YouTubers,

watching Let's Play videos and stuff like that.

Are we going to see lots of kids growing up

wanting to become YouTubers, do you think?

Yeah, I think that definitely is the case

and I think that is already happening.

I think that the newer generations are kind of looking up to

people that have been doing YouTube for longer

and feeling like, "I want to be in that position."

So I think that a lot of people are getting smarter about how

websites like YouTube work, how to kind of play the system a bit

to try and be more successful.

Thanks, Stampy.

Thank you, bye!

Stampy, I wanted to talk to you a bit more personally.

I know you are in bed and I didn't want to do it face-to-face.

See, I don't think that the future of video gaming is going to be

anything to do with VR, everybody all trapped away in VR helmets

and all that, I think it's in community, friendship.

My wee lassie, she's had a difficult year to negotiate,

a lot of changes,

a lot of grown-up stuff to deal with,

and you, directly you,

have made it a lot easier,

being there with your regular videos, making her laugh,

sparking her imagination.

It's really made a difference, a massive difference.

When she's been here at my house, you've been here.

And when she's went to her lovely mum's house,

you've gone there with her.

And it's been a pleasure for us all to have you, you know?

Your craft, your compassion,

because it matters, what you do, what people like you do,

so here's to you, Stampy,

all the ones like you.

And you know what? Here's to video games

for tying us all together in one big family.

And here's to a beautiful future, whatever it holds.

You know, I blame Night Trap.

You always blame Night Trap.

How could we possibly visualise the future of video gaming

when we were stupid enough to believe all those false dawns that

we were sold in the past? We are relics, mate, we're relics.

What you're saying is it's time to pass the torch.

See, you're saying torch.

Nobody even uses torches these days.

The young team are all just using the light fae the screens

on their pagers.

The future will be... what it will be, I suppose.

My friends, we're all interested in the future,

for that is where we will spend the rest of our lives.

And remember, my friends, future events such as these will

affect you in the future.

Grrr!