In 1972, the famous video game Pong was released and quickly became the first popular arcade game. A simple ping pong based game with archaic graphic design and controls. Thirty-nine years later, we've moved from Pong to elaborate, Hollywood-style, narrative-driven games like Call of Duty or Metal Gear Solid. Video games have evolved from just being a game to what some see as a new narrative medium capable of telling a story in a unique way that is completely different from cinema and literature. Now, Pong did not include any narrative, unlike other early video games. Mario Bros. tells the story of an Italian plumber who must travel across a magical kingdom to defeat a dragon-like turtle who has captured his love, the princess. A very superficial fairy tale that only serves as a backdrop for the video game icon. The classic game Space Invaders tells its story through the title and gameplay alone. There are invaders from outer space that need to be stopped, and that's exactly the game. The narrative just gives you the framework for the game. (Juul n.pag.) That was the basic use of narration in a video game. Current games like the Final Fantasy series and The Legend of Zelda prioritize and even sell around their stories. The Final Fantasy series takes place in the form of turn-based role-playing games with an emphasis on story and characters. Play and completion are encouraged by engaging and reaching the end of the narrative. The Legend of Zelda games move away from linear storytelling and utilize more open-world gameplay. This basically means that the player is able to explore a lot at their leisure and continue the story whenever they want. Since it is now established that video games of yesterday and today tell at least some form of story, what... .. middle of paper ...... the objectives, the choice of player, engagement, involved storytelling, exploratory worlds and entertaining gameplay are the lifeline of a new narrative. Ultimately, a game should be fun and inspire the player to experience and explore this new narrative medium. Works Cited Bissell, Thomas. Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter. New York: Pantheon Books, 2010. Print. Kent, Steven. The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon - The story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001. Print. Ebert, Roger. “Video games can never be art.” Chicago Sun-Times. April 16, 2010. The web. February 18, 2011. < http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html>Juul, Jesper. “A brief note on games and narratives.” GameStudies. July 1, 2001. The web. February 18. 2011.