How video games turn players into storytellers

The way we tell stories
has naturally changed

since Aristotle defined the rules
of tragedy about 2500 years ago.

According to him,

the role of storytelling is to mimic life
and make us feel emotions,

and that's exactly what storytelling,

as we know it,

has done very well since then.

But there is a dimension of life

that storytelling could
never really reproduce.

It is the notion of choices.

Choices are a very
important part of our lives.

We as individuals are defined
by the choices we make.

Some of our decisions can have
very significant consequences

and totally change
the courses of our lives.

But in a play, a novel or a film,

the writer makes all the decisions
in advance for the characters,

and as the audience,

we can only watch passively,

the consequences of his decisions.

As a storyteller,

I've always been fascinated
with the idea of recreating

this notion of choices in fiction.

My dream was to put the audience
in the shoes of the main protagonists,

let them make their own decisions,

and by doing so,

let them tell their own stories.

Finding a way to achieve this is what
I did in the past 20 years of my life.

Today I would like to introduce you
to this new way of telling stories,

a way that has interactivity at its heart.

Rather than exposing the theory behind it,

which could have been kind of abstract
and probably a little bit boring,

I thought it would be a great opportunity
to do a little experiment.

I would like you,

the people here at TED,

to tell your own story.

So I came with an interactive scene
that we are going to play together.

I've asked Vicky --

Hello, Vicky --

to control the main character for us,

and your role --

you the audience --

will be to make the choices.

So Vicky and I don't know
what's going to happen

because it will all be based
on your decisions.

So this scene comes from our next game
called, "Detroit: Become Human,"

and we are in the near future,

where technology made possible
the creation of androids

that look exactly like human beings.

So we are in the shoes
of this character called Connor,

who is an android,

and he can do very fancy things
with coins as you can see.

He has this blue triangle on this chest,

as all androids do,

and now Vicky is in control
of this character.

She can walk around,

she can go anywhere,

she can look around,

she can interact with her environment,

and now she can tell
her own stories by making choices.

So here we have our first choice.

There is a fish on the ground;

what should we do?

Should we save it or should we leave it?

Remember we are under time pressure,

so we'd better be fast.

What should we do?

(Audience) Save it.

DG: OK, let's save the fish.

(Fish splashes)

Here we go.

OK, we have an android who likes animals.

OK, let's move on.

Remember we have a hostage situation.

(Game): Woman: Please, please,
you've got to save my little girl.

Wait, you're sending an android?

Officer: All right,
mam, you need to go.

Woman: You can't do that.

Why aren't you sending a real person?

DG: OK, she's naturally [unhappy.]

Her daughter's been
taken hostage by an android,

and of course she's in a state of shock.

OK, now we can continue
to explore this apartment.

We see all the SWAT forces in place,

but we need to find
this Captain Alan first.

That's the first thing we need to do.

So again, we can go anywhere.

Vicky's still in control of the character.

Let's see --

oh, I think this is Captain Allen
who's on the phone.

(Game) Connor: Captain Allen,
my name is Connor.

I'm the android sent by CyberLife.

Captain Allen: Let's fire
at everything that moves.

It already shot down two of my men.

We could easily get it,

but they're on the edge of the balcony.

It if falls, she falls.

DG: OK, now we need to decide
what we want to ask the captain.

What should be our choice?

Deviant' s name, deviant's
behavior, emotional shock?

(Game) Connor: Has it experienced
an emotional shock recently?

Captain Allen: I haven't got a clue.

Does it matter?

Connor: I need information
to determine the best approach.

DG: OK, a second choice.

Maybe we can learn something.

What should we choose?

(Audience) Behavior.

DG: OK, deviant behavior.

(Game) Connor: Do you know if it's been
behaving strangely before this?

Captain Allen: Listen ...

saving that kid is all that matters.

DG: OK, we are not going to learn
anything from this guy.

I mean, we need to do something.

OK, let's try to go back in the lobby.

Oh, wait, there's room over there
on your right, Vicky, I think,

maybe there's something we can learn here.

Oh, there's a tablet.

Let's have a look.

(Game) Girl: This is Daniel,
the coolest android in the world.

Say, "Hi" Daniel.

Daniel: Hello!

Girl: You're my bestie,

we'll always be together!

DG: That was just one way
of playing the scenes,

but there are many other
ways of playing it

depending on the choices you make.

We could have seen many different actions,

many different consequences,

many different outcomes.

So that gives you an idea of what
my work is about as an interactive writer.

Where a linear writer needs to deal
with time and space,

as an interactive writer,

I need to deal with time,
space and possibilities.

I have to manage massive tree structures

where each branch
is a new variation of the story.

I need to think about all
the possibilities in a given scene

and try to imagine
everything that can happen.

I need to deal with thousands
and thousands of variables,

conditions and possibilites.

As a consequence, where a film script
is about 100 pages,

an interactive script like this
is between 4,000 and 5,000 pages.

So that gives you an idea
of what this work is about

but I think in the end,

the experience is very unique

because it is the result
of the collaboration

between a writer creating
this narrative landscape

and the player making his own decisions,

telling his own story

and becoming the co-writer

but also the co-actor
and the co-director of the story.

Interactive storytelling is a revolution
in the way we tell stories.

With the emergence of new platforms
like interactive television,

virtual reality and video games,

it can become a new form of entertainment

and maybe even a new form of art.

I am convinced that in the coming years
we will see more and more moving

and meaningful interactive experiences
created by a new generation of talents.

This is a medium
waiting for its Orson Welles

or its Stanley Kubrick,

and I have no doubt
that they will soon emerge

and be recognized as such.

I believe that interactive storytelling

can be what cinema
was in the 20th century,

an art that deeply changes its time.

Thank you.

(Applause)

Chris Anderson: I've got
one question for you.

I mean, that is something --

wow.

How worried should we be about this?

It seems like it's one thing to watch
"Silence of the Lambs,"

and completely another thing
to be Hannibal Lecter in that movie.

Are there hidden risks here
that we haven't thought about enough?

DG: Oh, you know, we spend a lot of time
thinking about what we do.

We try to be very responsible.

We feel this responsibility.

I mean, in this game you're never
in control of the bad guys

or doing the bad things.

You're in control of these androids
discovering the world with different eyes.

So we are reponsible.

You need to be careful

because like any medium
you can do stupid things with it,

but I think you can also
do beautiful things,

and that's what we also try to achieve.

CA: So, I'm going to guess there's
some sick things being tried

somewhere on the dark web

that use this kind of technique,

but where you are, you know,
personally killing people --

doing other terrible things --

DC: There are many very violent games.

I mean, the problem with violence
is when it's gratuitous --

when it's just for the sake of violence;

when it glorifies violence.

That's something that makes me
uncomfortable.

When it's in the context of a story,

when it's about telling something --

and something that can be beautiful
because violence is also a part of life,

when you use it the way a storyteller
would use it as a device,

I'm fine with it.

But there are limitations
and creators need to be responsible.

That's so important, especially
in the times that we live.

CA: Well, thank you David.

Whether good or bad,
that's certainly amazing.

Thank you so much.

(Applause)