And one more kind of motion picture storytelling...

Sometime around Fall of last year, I decided I want to add another rule to my "150 Films in 2013" goal:

- Completing a narrative video game counts as one film.

I've loved video games since I first played Space Invaders at my cousin's house in New York back in 1981. But above all, my first and greatest creative love has been visual storytelling, and particularly motion picture storytelling. I mean "motion picture" in the most literal sense here: images that move and tell a story, not just narrative fiction films, but documentaries, television, animation of all kinds - and video games.

And just as with comics before them (and as with movies before comics), video games have truly come of age as a medium and as an artform. And just like "comics," "video games" has become a term that no longer accurately describes so much of the work - and so much of the best work - in the medium. “Maus” and “Watchmen” have moments of comic relief, but neither of them are trying to provide the kind of bite-size amusement of “Garfield” or “The Wizard of Id.” Even some of the work that is being produced in the same way (even on the same page) as “Garfield” like “Calvin and Hobbes” or “Doonesbury” has more on its mind that just amusing you.

The same thing is happening with games - you can’t get a high score on “Journey” and you can’t play multi-player deathmatch in “Dear Esther.” What’s happened to the medium, as with comics, is not that its core has been replaced - Marvel Comics ain’t going nowhere and nor are “Candy Crush.” “Call of Duty” or the brothers Mario - nor should they. What’s happening is an expansion, diversification and deepening of what the medium can do, what it can be creatively.

I love that diversity, I love the ability of each individual medium to go in as many different directions as possible. I love the way that different mediums interact and influence each other and the way that mediums evolve over time. I love the way that each medium can be used to do things that no other medium can.

I’m going to be completely subjective in what I decide is worthy of counting towards my annual film quota, but my focus will be on games that tell interesting stories in interesting ways. I loved “Luigi’s Mansion” and “Fire Emblem” this year and am glad I played them, but they’re not games that are trying to do anything new or different with their narrative. Games that certainly would make the list would be “The Last of Us.” “The Walking Dead,” “Puppeteer,” "Shadow of the Colossus" and “Gone Home” and “Thomas Was Alone.” I look forward to playing and writing about games like these that are telling great stories and exploring and honing the ways that their players experience them.

Enough posting for today, bring on the films / games / shows!