Gamers and Cameras

After listening to tutorials on Adobe Premiere for 4 hours and counting, I can't help thinking about film and editing. In game design terms, these don't really have a lot of use outside of things like cutscenes or other similar narrative segments, as often cameras are accused of interfering with players and often just being frustrating in general. However cameras themselves are very relevant, being the window through which the player experiences the game.

I'm not sure where specifically in time games went from stationary cameras to the free-roaming, player-following entities they are now (presumably around the time 3D games became popular), but I can't help but wonder whether untethering the camera from the environment and connecting it to the player character instead was really a good idea.

I mean, it seems to make sense, right? Have the camera follow the character around, so you see the same things they can see and experience the world in the first person, exploring and fighting right in the middle of things. It's a simple enough conclusion to come to, and works fine most of the time aside from the occasional graphical glitch where the camera gets hung up on things, but that can be fixed as technology marches on.

However, I feel like there are a lot of cinematic opportunities that are missed by chaining the camera to the player and only breaking that link when the player does not have direct control of events limits a lot of opportunities for better gameplay and cinematic experience.

Let's take something simple like Super Mario on the NES. While the camera technically follows the player, it's still zoomed way out into a wide shot that reveals much of the environment in both directions. This creates a strategic effect, making the player evaluate what's ahead while simultaneously dealing with what is immediately around him such as enemies or blocks. If the camera were closer, it would be unfair to the player, forcing them to make leaps of faith and even memorize the locations of narrow platforms or enemies that they would normally be able to see coming much earlier.

I'm not suggesting that close camera needs to go out completely, of course, as there are whole genres that rely on the limited scope of a close camera to amplify their gameplay, such as horror or shooter games. However, I think it's important for game designers to remember that the player is not dumb, and doesn't need the camera stapled to their character's head to know where they are or to be immersed in the environment.