Like a lot of people of my generation I have been rather reticent about electronic technology, while my friends got excited about early PCs I was a bit more concerned about what they actually did, rather than the exaggerated promise that excited those early adopters. Twelve years ago I made a big show of referring to computers as “Instruments of the Devil” and I was dismissive of the information available on the World Wide Web. Then I got my first computer, a second hand 486 and it allowed me to discuss self-sufficiency with others of a like mind. Over the years I have upgraded and replaced the home PC a few times and now I think that I have a pretty good handle on computers and this internet thingy. The information potential of the web is still over rated, mainly because there is no quality control or veracity testing of the ever burgeoning content, but it can certainly be a boon to those of us who want more interaction with people than their personal circumstances would otherwise allow. I see a similar parallel when it comes to Gaming, I was dismissive at first, even hostile, and I could see that what exited people was the potential for the medium. All I could see was unconvincing graphics and very shallow narratives, the character avatars were crude, lacking convincing expression or a realistic presence. Since we joined the gaming set at Christmas I have played a quite a few different games and not just the ones that have been bought for the children. I spoke earlier about Heavy Rain and Grand Theft Auto I have waxed lyrical about Red Dead Redemption to friends and family and I have suggested that I am excited about the upcoming release of L A Noire at the Sandpit, well now as the release of the game is only thirteen days away its almost like it waiting for Christmas to come when I was a child. I seem to have caught that same enthusiasm for the potential of the medium that I have so resisted up until now.
I had this sort of grand resolve to keep this enthusiasm too myself but when I saw the piece in today’s Age beating the patriotic drum about the fact that LA Noire has been made by Team Bondi and they are an Australian crew:
Best of all, it was built right here in Australia.
Two police detectives burst into a filthy apartment. A woman is cowering on the floor amid upturned furniture as a group of hired thugs search every drawer and cupboard. A fist fight ensues, the heavies are dispatched and the officers are left to question the traumatised victim.
How do they start questioning her? How will they know if she’s telling the truth? Well, that’s your problem. You are the cop and this is a whole new type of video game.
LA Noire is the latest offering from Rockstar Games, the notorious publisher of Grand Theft Auto and last year’s brilliant western shooter, Red Dead Redemption. The action takes place in the seamy, crime-sodden LA of the late 40s; the familiar hunting ground of Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy and Dashiell Hammett – all huge influences on the game’s director, Brendan McNamara. The player takes on the role of rookie detective Cole Phelps as he investigates a series of kidnaps and murders, studying crime scenes, talking to witnesses and interrogating suspects. Gamers are able to choose the tone of each Q& A session, playing nice and going in gently, or challenging every word the subject utters. Vitally, progress is made by watching characters as they stutter and squirm, judging whether they’re lying or terrified; it’s not killing people, it’s reading them.The realism of these virtual humans is incredible. In one scene the gamer has to question an actor who has been drugged, shoved in the back of a car and wheeled down an embankment in a thwarted murder attempt. Her eyes dart about, she shifts uncomfortably, her brows furrow in agitation – she’s hiding something. These aren’t the gross caricatures of facial expressions we’re used to in video games, they are subtle and natural. Later, the gamer talks to a weasely prop house owner who has been caught running a seedy casting coach. He snarls his way through the session, but after a few threats he wilts, his expression droops. At times, it is almost photographic.
What LA Noire represents is a new era for interactive entertainment. Over the past 30 years, games have been based around challenging the player’s hand-eye co-ordination – the ability to react quickly with a controller. But in LA Noire, the main skill is emotional perception, being able to judge body language and facial “tells” – the little nervous tics that betray liars. These are the same skills we use in real life and that allow us to engage with characters in TV and movie dramas. Suddenly then, games are a universal medium.
) As much as I love RDR I was a little disappointed about the rather strange decision to kill off John Marsden for no apparent reason that I could detect, unless it was just to suggest that the US government is innately corrupt. The last part of the game where you play as Jack Marsden is just not up to the standard of the first two thirds of the game. Sorry that is a small digression, lets get back to LA Noire shall we? Check out how they have managed to capture those all important facial expressions:
