Square: Game storytelling can surpass film

Star Ocean: The Last Hope producer Yoshinori Yamagishi has told CVG that games as storytelling media are still far from their full potential.

"As opposed to films, books and TV, as a medium it is more of a challenge to produce a game in order to tell a story," he said.

"In TV, film and theatre, the creator has control over how he gives the story to the viewer - it's easier to control the emotions and feelings expected from the viewer.

"But in [a game developer's] case we always have to think about how players might react to each depiction of a character or storyline, and that's the part we can't predict. Nevertheless we have to make these predictions to a certain degree, and incorporate this into our work. So it's more of a challenge.

"But if we manage to get over this hurdle, then I regard videogames as a greater medium to provide people with deep emotional and exciting experiences."

There's a full interview here.