I just got through reading "Black or White: Morality in Games" (henceforth referred to as "the article") and it really made me think. No, not about my own moral choices, but about how moral choices in video games could take gaming to a whole new level. Again no, I'm not trying to say that games should only contain morally acceptable situations and only reward gamers who choose the morally acceptable decision in a game. That would be dry as hell, like the aforementioned article said that morality issues in games has become.

I've never really played a game where morality has really mattered, and if I did, it couldn't have been done very well as I can't remember any game I've played ever changing because I stole someone's wallet, or shot them in the head…but then again I don't normally play any games on anything newer than the Super Nintendo. (Although the last "current" system I actually played with any regularity was the PlayStation 2) That said, I'm not very sure how morality has been treated in newer games, and can only comment on what I read in that article. I do however know all about morality in older games, as I play quite a few of them.

Morality in older games was non-existent. There were no morality issues, as most of the time you were the good guy fighting bad guys. Who is going to defend Bowser's right to kidnap princesses, or Robotnik's right to abduct and perform illegal experiments upon little forest creatures? Nobody in their right mind would say that either Mario or Sonic are doing amoral things. Would you? These are just two examples, but I'm not aware of any early games that don't follow the good vs. evil model. Hell, even Dungeon Keeper for the PC follows such a model, but inverted.

The article mentions BioShock, Mass Effect, infamous, and Fable II; none of which I have played. It goes on to say that while these games include moral choices, they seldom have an actual effect on actual game play. This, to me, is pretty boring. Why have gamers make moral choices, and then have little to nothing happen if you make poor moral choices? The article also states that most games nowadays are just your average FPS, shoot all the zombies; and it is starting to get a tad bit stale. While I agree with this, "shoot all the bad guys" isn't a bad formula, just a tried and true one. The market has been flooded with just these types of titles, and few of them actually stand out.

The article goes on the state that a complex moral system is probably not right for every game, but more moral choices that actually affect the progression of the game would be a good thing. I think this could turn into some pretty interesting games. Think about it this way.

Imagine if you were presented with a wallet on the ground in a hypothetical game, and had a few options.

Option one: You take the wallet and go along with the rest of the game.

Option two: You take the money and throw the wallet in the trash.

Option three: You take the wallet to a police station and turn it in.

Then, later in the game, events happen depending on what you did. If you took the wallet, you could be caught with it, and get in trouble; if you just took the money, later in the game you could meet the person whose wallet it was and a critical part of the game could be drastically changed by his not having his money; or if you turn it in, the aforementioned critical part could be a lot easier because the person has his money.

This is just a very general example, and should not be dissected, as this exact situation in a game is probably not going to happen; but it is effective in illustrating my point.

This could usher in a whole new type of game, as the end of a game could be quite different for you than it is for me. The game could branch off in a multitude of different directions, and arrive at vastly different conclusions. There is a practical limit to this however. This limit takes me back to my "On carts vs. disks" blog. To include a moral system that actually has an effect on the game requires more game to be developed. Where then are we to store all of this game, if DVD's are steadily becoming too small for games? Blu-ray disks will provide a solution, but only for a time. This type of game reinforces the idea that we need a new storage medium for games, and I think that storage medium will be flash memory, or a close derivative.

But I digress. Morality in video games is a great idea. I like the idea of having a different experience in a game from that of my friend, just because of the choices I make. I could see the next GTA (or GTA clone) having multiple different conclusions, such as becoming a cop, or becoming a drug lord. You could even be an undercover cop pretending to be a drug lord. It could be very interesting indeed. I look forward to seeing where game developers take the concept of morality in games.