The making of (insert game name here)

A new feature has started, slowly but surely, creeping into many games, one way or another. It’s a feature I for one am pleased to see. One that I hope continues to expand within the gaming industry until it becomes the norm. Where games are ranked on its quality and are criticised for missing it out.

The feature I am dancing around is the ‘extra’ or ‘special’ features that some games now choose to include. Often in the form of making of videos or screenshot galleries, these additional features are becoming an ever increasing presence in our video games. Some games have these within a sub menu, others such as Heavenly Sword and Uncharted as unlockables and with others they are available to download, Mass Effect and Halo for example. The case I wish to make here is that these features should not only become a standard fare among new releases, but they should also be of substantially higher quality than they are now.
 
One of the factors films released on DVD or Blu-Ray are now criticised or praised on is there abundance and quality of their supplements. Some have been of very high quality and I believe add to the whole experience of the film. Black Hawk Down contains 2.5 hours of ‘making of’ featurettes, while Pan’s Labyrinth has a wide and enjoyable variety of different extras. These are not now exclusive to films either, many DVD boxed sets have extras, ranging from the standard deleted scenes and bloopers, to more moving documentaries such as the one featured in ‘Band of Brothers’. Watching a lot of these is a highly enjoyable experience and is a feature I believe can be used to enhance the quality of our video games.

As mentioned, I believe we can see the seeds for this already being planted. Recent games, within the disk, have included mini-documentaries, screenshots, trailers for forthcoming games etc. A lot of these have been good fun, they help show you the processes by which the characters were developed, how they have evolved since creation; as well as behind the scenes footage of the people you would normally see for a second or two as the credits flash by.

The problem with many of these is that they are short, and they feel it. They often feature the quickest of tours or the shortest of interviews and are often over within four minutes or so. We have gotten to the point now where longer features can feature on the games main disk as well as being in the resolution appropriate for that console. If that is not possible the inclusion of a second disk is perfectly practicable, and one many films employ. There have been longer features, available for download are some for Halo and Mass Effect. However they remain a feature that you have to go out and look for. These features should be advertised on the games box, with numbers available from the outset and others available to unlock through in-game progress.

These features are already included within some games. However usually within limited collector’s editions sets, that contains fancy box art and action figures or other such novelties. Such is the case of Gears of War (although without the action figure I might add). Many of these extras though could easily be standard within the games main release, with additional exclusive features for limited edition sets, for the dedicated fan.

There are those that argue that this could put extra pressures on the development of a game and contribute to a sub-par release of the game itself. It’s understandable, as tight deadlines are a strong and constant feature within game development, even if it doesn’t always seem so. However many of these features can easily be incorporated within the standard development process. A downloadable feature of Lair, for example, followed the team to a zoo as they searched for sound effects, an interesting, albeit short feature.

Films, TV programs, documentary releases as well as CD releases all contain such features I have mentioned. So why not games? It is becoming an ever increasing industry, and the inclusion of these features would further aid adoption to the mainstream. I would, for example, like to know more of the research process that was undertaken for Dead Rising, an overview of the previous Elder Scrolls games for those who were only introduced to the series at Oblivion. Who could argue against such features in Call of Duty 4, a feature length film could be made of their experiences in its creation, exploring the real-life locations, weapon tests etc. I for one would find that fascinating, to have to hand, on disk.