In praise of videogame weirdness, from Myst to Minecraft

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-cont...st-610x343.jpgThat Myst’s creators bothered to make up a pretend language is worth celebrating.

Remember the weird language used by the D’ni people in the Myst series? It was a thing of beauty, and added an interesting layer to the game. Those are not the main reasons why I liked it, though. What I really liked was knowing that the developers had bothered to create it, and had done so with a depth and commitment that frankly made them heroic. But I am a sucker for that sort of thing. I’m the kid who reckoned the best thing about the Star Wars films was the languages. Heck, they even needed subtitles. Swoon! So naturally I imagine the Myst guys had a similar mindset to me and loved the challenge of making up their language as well.Sure, there are other games with made-up languages in them. Jade Empire on Xbox had one. Even – if my ancient memory can be relied upon – the Ultima series had monsters and gargoyles talking a gibberish dialect. Of course, games that pull this trick don’t usually require the player to actually learn these languages (although it can help). The reason I think they’re there is to create a distance between those who understand them and those who can’t – namely, you.When you play a game, you’re so immersed in the world that it’s hard for any element to seem weird. It takes minutes to get used to the game physics, the abilities of the character or vehicle you control, and the effects you can wreak upon those around you. It’s possible to become very comfortable with a game world very quickly. And that’s a good thing. But sometimes you just need to say to the player, “These guys over here are just not like you. They’re not meant to be understood. Not by you right now, at least. That’s why they talk like that.”So I love weird languages in games, and I say this as someone who’s spent a vast amount of time playing games that use nothing but the impenetrable and baffling language of Japanese. But it’s not just weird languages. It’s weirdness in games itself. And it has always been with us. I need only say two words: Jeff Minter.

http://www.edge-online.com/features/...-to-minecraft/