Sat 31 May 2003
I’ve been catching up on some of my post-E3 web reading (ie, bookmarked links) pertaining to the Washington state “police violence ban” bill. And, I must say that it is listening to these people talk that incites me to be violent… Argh!
In this CNN transcript, Daphne White from Lion&Lamb described the goal of GTA as “…shooting them even when they are begging you not to, and that’s how you get points and that’s how you win.” Clearly, she knows what’s she’s talking about. It amazes me to no end, that NONE of these people ever play the games or really have any clue. In another CNN transcript, David Kushner (author of “Masters of Doom”), makes a really good point that such tactics are counter productive.
While the following EGB article plays up the progress of the games industry, fact is that anti-game legislation in on the rise (~15 bills in 2001, ~30 bills 2003). A local WA paper takes a rare balanced approach to the topic, despite including Dickerson’s line “like a porn film, violent video games do not have a plot� when asked if games were capable of expressing ideas.
Perhaps they should read some the academic papers from the recent Digital Arts and Culture conference in Australia. I’d say the reading of Resident Evil-Code Veronica X by Susana Pajares Tosca would be particularly telling.
Oh, and I’m not even going to touch this one…


June 4th, 2003 at 3:31 pm
I’ve seen several CNN articles of late that inaccurately describe gameplay to buttress both popular and dated assertions on gaming and the industry. The lack of fact-checking is a little alarming–it is especially so when it is CNN dropping the ball.
I recently ran into an article on CNN/Money which caught my eye. It is entitled “Hobbits, Hobbits Everywhere! Sauron reflects on the gaming industry’s struggles with innovation.” The article lightly touches on the proliferation of high-profile licensed properties and the growing percentage of sequel game titles. The writer assumes that these industry trends are stifling creativity and innovation in games.
See for yourself at http://money.cnn.com/commentary
His assumptions there bother me. I’m not sure why he thinks the game industry is struggling to be innovative. Is it right for him to view innovation only through experimentation in narrative techniques?
June 5th, 2003 at 12:35 am
Well, this is exactly what Warren Spector was covering. That is, even if you are developing a game based on a movie/book/etc, there are still plenty of ways to innovate and to create a great game. See his GDC lecture on it:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20030416/spector_01.shtml
However, Greg Costikyan as been quite vocal on the industry’s current over-dependance on licensed properties:
http://www.costik.com/weblog/2003_03_01_blogchive.html#90613444
I think both views are valid, and it is just a matter of finding a balance :)