I agree with you somewhat Gametime that some titles do not require an elaborate story to enjoy. But the age demographic in gaming is becoming older so it is vital that developers begin offering more substance to our gameplay. Enter from stage left...STORY. I'm 31 and have been gaming since 1981 with the Atari 2600. I enjoy some mindless fun, but have grown to enjoy a story driven title as well as great gameplay. +bubbles for your opinion though.

I think stories are important when it comes to games. Mindless fun is great too but its always nice to have something that helps capture your interest.

Even with beat'em'ups like SF4 and the MK series. I miss the good old thick manuals that you used to get with games that were chock full of info about the story and the characters backgrounds and what not.
Manuals seem to be so much thinner these days and not really worth looking at.

On another note though, in uni we've had lecturers blabber on about how the reception of computer games is pretty much the same as it was back in the days of old when fictional books were a new thing.

lol sorry, ill end my blabbering there

Sorry man, hate to break it to you, but Flower has a story, if you didn't see that, go play it again, if you still don't see it, you are stupid.
If you can't understand the story, go see wall-e. Its the same message.
Go green.

great story and great music that helps to move the story..

It's part of the reason I enjoyed DMC3 more then the previous versions since the story telling was more fleshed out. Although not everyone has the same level of tolerance for cut scenes, for example, I couldn't handle a 30 or 40 min cut scene every half or hour of gameplay (I know most games don't do that but some people can't handle shorter cut scenes especially if they occur frequently).

Really I see games as extended movies, A decent story will ensure that I have the motivation to finish it.

Have a bubble.

Don't forget about them.

I agree.Heavy Rain is going to be something special.
I know it's going to be my GOTY'09

Yeah, the GTA4 thins is slightly awkward. Its story is very good, and certainly the best in the series by a long way. But I can think of a handful of titles off the top of my head that are more interesting, enthralling and well-told. Planescape's the obvious one, though as a game it's very dated now. How about Pathologic, the bizarre Russian action-adventure-RPG-thing from a few years back, with its philosophical musings and inspired setting? Or the nuanced sub-plots of Vampire: Bloodlines' underground subcultures and astonishingly well-conveyed characters?

Dear Esther stands out for me. No one knows what it is. It's a Half-Life 2 mod that pushes the boundaries of what can be considered a "game", and how emotionally affecting the medium can be.