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[iffi]

I don't think I've cried at any game I've played, and I don't remember crying at any movie, at least not in recent memory, though it's come close sometimes. I don't think it's absurd for people to get emotional at certain games, though.

I think that the OP's statement that "there is not one game on earth that can make you cry" has already been sufficiently disproven by counterexample. Sure, there may not be any game that has made you cry, but that doesn't mean no game can make anybody cry.

Edit: In other words,

People have varying levels of emotion, so there's no real scale on what will make a person cry. Something that will make one person cry might not even phase someone else.

[s0]

I've never cried because of a game. Come to think of it, I've never cried because of any fictional story or event.

[Ethan718]

I don't understand the question.

Can a game make a person cry? I guess, considering people have reportedly cried while playing them.

Why have they not yet done so? But... but... I just said that they could   You're not listening to me!

Is it possible that we could come up with a better question? Like a similar, related question that could help us as game developers/story writers?

[dspencer]

Why is there always a bandwagon for M3 being a sad game? Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't cry from media.

Well, seeing as I'm the only one who posted about it (except for a response to this post) I don't think it's always a bandwagon? But I mean, I tried to explain why I thought I was able to connect with Mother 3 - because it was so close to home. I could actually relate to what happened in the game.

I guess i'm sortof speaking from a perspective of weather you *cry* isn't important, but if you can feel happy or sad for the characters, as opposed to yourself for playing the game. I don't really cry at games, or movies, or books, but it doesn't stop me from empathizing with the characters within.

[tergem]

Portal... with the companion cube.

On the other hand I cried during Cast Away when ever Wilson was lost. So I guess I get more attached to physical objects rather than people.

[SundownKid]

Son of a...! I completely forgot Mother 3. I also forgot to mention Valkyria Chronicles. And Baten Kaitos Origins. So, mostly jRPGs and the like. I felt absolutely nothing about destroying the Companion Cube besides being pissed off at GlaDOS and slightly amused.

Why is there always a bandwagon for M3 being a sad game? Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't cry from media.

It's not necessarily a sad game but some parts are really emotional.

I define crying as making me tear up, not "wailing" or sobbing all over the place. I haven't done that since I was a little kid. Maybe it's because of a lesser suspension of disbelief.

[salade]

Can someone please explain how "making people cry" is some sort of benchmark? It's kind of a consumerist quality to media - Soaps are great at making people cry. Great for making money, but games hardly need any help financially.

[Ethan718]

Can someone please explain how "making people cry" is some sort of benchmark? It's kind of a consumerist quality to media - Soaps are great at making people cry. Great for making money, but games hardly need any help financially.

I agree- it's not like there's hierarchy for emotions. 

[Pineapple]

I also read somewhere that Jason's Passage made a well-know game designer cry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/magazine/15videogames-t.html?_r=2

Two years ago, almost no one had heard of Jason Rohrer. Then he made Passage, a brief but powerful meditation on mortality that created a stir even before it caused Clint Hocking, the creative director at Ubisoft, the world’s fourth-largest game company, to shed tears. Hocking used Passage to publicly indict his colleagues at last year’s conference. “Why can’t we make a game that . . . means something?” Hocking asked. “A game that matters?”

[Kurai]

Not a digital game, but Brenda Brathwaite's Train made a lot of people cry.

[antymattar]

Curly's death

If you weren't my boss I would be angry. I hadn't played that ending yet!...

[SundownKid]

I think you have it wrong. Her death is actually what happens if you do nothing (which is what I did), and you have to bring the rope in order to save her. That is the only way you can reach the true ending of Running Hell. Maybe you did it by accident? Regardless, basically nothing happens if she dies so you're safe.

Please try to stay civil, I don't want to see the thread ending in bitter tears

Can someone please explain how "making people cry" is some sort of benchmark? It's kind of a consumerist quality to media - Soaps are great at making people cry. Great for making money, but games hardly need any help financially.

I think that it's an uncommon emotion in games as opposed to other media. You could say that games spark other emotions such as anger, but this might be simply out of frustration. The ludonarrative dissonance kind of prevents the same type of emotional attachment that would cause such a reaction. Of course, there is also melodrama, which should probably be avoided. But, in general, my view is that the less extraneous game-like elements there are, the more potential the game has to be emotionally affecting because your mind is focused on the world.

[antymattar]

Oh...Phew. I thought that she REALLY dies. That would've been sad. 

[SundownKid]

Dude, you totally defeated the purpose of the spoiler tags! And, she DOES die, it's just not the canon ending! 

[antymattar]

I read all the way to the She d and decided to leave it be. Also,
When the heck are you actually going to check the website? 

[X3N]

If anything, game makers should strive to make their games more like music. Not paintings, or film, or books, or movies. The joy of playing and experiencing music surpasses all of these.
Most games I've played have felt to me like badly constructed songs, with repetitive notes and predictable, uninspiring phrases.
Instead of asking "can" - why not try to make a game that achieves your goal - however arbitrary it is. Pushing our skills in practice yields results, this discussion won't answer anything directly.

[Player 3]

Rule number one: A person will cry if a game is that terrible.
Must I explain this any more?

[Tumetsu]

Fire Emblem 7 (Blazing Sword) (GBA) made me cry when I played it several years ago, and it still makes my eyes water when I more recently pick it up again. It's because it attaches you so completely to the characters that the game's events tug relentlessly at your emotional strings.

I dare you to play that game without experiencing any emotional effect.

Can't believe I forgot this. I don't remember if I actually cried but I really felt sorry for some characters and equally happy how their lives went after the game etc. Definitely my favorite game in this respect.

And yes, Mother 3 has also some emotional elements. Other most powerful ones were Baten Kaitos 1&2. I'm sure there are few more but I can't remember.

Oh yes, Pokemon Pinnball made me cry as a child because it was so hard :D

[Mipe]

Oh, hey, guys. Radiant Historia for DS. Some touching moments.

[Adamski]

I don't think Ive ever cried at a game. I did shout at Pokémon white yesterday