I would like to see a focus on better stories. I looked at the award winners. They were all dark, negative stories. What are we doing with our games? Where is it leading us? I remember the Star Trek series, especially the Next Generation. There were great stories in that series. There doesn’t seem to be any focus on inspirational, uplifting storylines to current games. This is not a good thing. There needs to be another level of creativity and the Unreal Engine team is the group that could lead us into a new era in games. Technology is for the service to humanity. It is neutral and can be use for good, or not. I would like the team to research how the next era of games could have more creative, innovative, and uplifting storylines.
It’s too lazy, too easy, just to keep blowing things up and killing people. Creating things of beauty is much harder. Where is the deep philosophy that was captured in the ancient tales and mythology, the hero’s journey, which was alway an inner journey of awakening. All the greatest literature had storylines of awakening to higher purposes and wisdom. Where could the inspiration take us if we focus on the next level of inspiration, beauty, and uplifting storylines that have a deep positive message about them?
To be sure, it will be more challenging than the current game scenarios. Much better writers will be needed to craft stories filled with wisdom and inner meaning. Build on stories of overcoming hatred and violence within ourselves and finding the beauty of inner awakening. Stories like the stories of the Buddha, or any of the great ancient cultures. Much research will be needed. Envision the culture a thousand years from now when we have overcome all our violence, hatred, and depravity. People with great wisdom and insight will be needed. Find those people. Launch new games that bring people together in wisdom and in heart. This is the next possibility for games for this century that can take us to a higher level of humanity.