Reality Panic

As soon as I saw the first mention of JFK Reloaded, I just knew there was going to be an uproar/outcry over it (even from within game-friendly circles). It has inspired a ton of discussion around the web, in places like Slashdot and the IGDA’s own game design forum. Of course, this comes as no surprise to most.

I must say that I was impressed that one of the journalists actually downloaded and played JFK Reloaded before writing about it - adding much needed nuance to his commentary. And, as a game designer and academic involved in the more serious side of games, Gonzalo Frasca had some insightful points regarding its value as a learning tool, its accuracy as a simulation and, most importantly, whether it should be called a game.

To some extent, it is the term game (implying fun, playfulness, toys, etc) in relation to such a sensitive topic that just seems to piss people off. Would the reaction have been so strong if it was called an “interactive documentary” or a “simulated historical reenactment”, or something along those lines? As game-like applications and game-based technology continue to enter into more serious domains, to what extent does the term game hold things back?

Sidestepping the question of tastefulness, I do believe that JFK Reloaded helps to prove the power of the interactive digital medium referred to as “games”. And, I am impressed that someone who really had something to express (whatever the agenda) did so using the medium of “games”.

As some suggest, is this the future of news/reporting? If so, what’s next?

(FWIW, these statements should be taken with the full realization that JFK Reloaded is not a mainstream commercial game that you can find on the store shelf. For reasons that are both good and bad, the actual game industry wouldn’t touch applications like this with a ten foot pole…)

Damn, what is it with us game industry folks. We just can’t turn away…

OK, so up late again, doing more research, reading, etc, on the whole quality of life issue. Found a great site talking about the the “competitive advantages” of companies with strong/positive workplace practices. Nice. Also, here’s a good list of books on work-life balance.

Regarding unionization, I’d like to quickly clarify on my statements made below. First, these statements are based on my personal opinions and observations and do not necessarily reflect that of the IGDA. As noted, the role of a professional association is vastly different from that of a union, and it is not the IGDA’s (or my) place to condemn or condone unions.

In fact, we’re looking into inviting a union/collective-bargaining expert or scholar to attend the QoL Summit at GDC.

Anyway, thought I’d just clarify things a bit.

I have to laugh at myself a little since it’s almost 2am and I’m doing research on overtime pay, work/life balance, unionization and labor law… Given the complete frenzy over the ea_spouse post (which I’m guessing every game developer on the planet has read), I just had to do more research on union pros/cons, etc.

The IGDA’s Quality of Life white paper got a lot of attention when it came out early this year. Interestingly enough, we heard several stories about how developers just stopped working the day the paper came out, reading it with coworkers and feeling like they were not alone, and that all the crap they deal with was out in the open and off their chest (ironically, one of those stories came from developers at EA’s Maxis ;) Anyway.

The IGDA is not a union and can never “become” one. The IGDA is a professional association and serves a different role (professional development and industry promotion) than what a union would (fighting over working conditions). But, we do get a lot of questions along the lines of whether the IGDA will serve as a union, or if the industry should unionize.

Clearly, the status quo is unsustainable and change is required. But, I don’t think unionization is the answer. For starters, the industry is too geographically dispersed. But, more importantly, there’s still too much innovation (in terms of tech, tools, process, job roles, etc) to fit well within the often very standardized approaches of a union. Some view unionization as a stifler of creativity/innovation. Nevermind the fact that union membership and influence has been in decline over the past several decades.

(Interesting side note, often the unionization of just one or two major companies in an industry is sufficient to set de facto union-like conditions at all companies. So, one approach might be to just have EA unionize, with the working conditions in the entire game industry being impacted. I’d see this company specific approach more feasible that an industry-wide effort…)

From researching, it is interesting to see info on the reasons against forming a union, the decline of unions, movements on the right not to join a union, etc…

And, the swell up now is so great that mainstream news outlets are picking up the story, and there’s news of a class action lawsuit against EA. It’s only going to get worse if we don’t work towards change.

The sad irony is that both the humane and economic benefits of striving for a high quality of life are far greater than the current approach to things. More on this later…

I could go on, but I’m getting tired, and my wife is going to kill me in the morning!

(Expect to see more from the IGDA on this issue soon, not least of which will be a Quality of Life Summit at GDC.)

It was kinda odd to be staying at a hotel in Montreal. I guess I was just too lazy to fight the traffic into downtown for the two days of the recent Montreal Game Summit. Given I live in the suburbs, and that I was going to be crazy busy, why bother wasting the time to drive home? Despite the wise strategy, I still barely managed to catch any sleep (ah, training for GDC). Anyway.

By all counts, the Summit was a great success, with the Alliance NumeriQC (the organizers/hosts) boasting that their reg numbers surpassed 550 - while they were only hoping to hit a max of 400. Well done! While the large community of pro game developers in Montreal certainly helped, the key was the great content. It was truly encouraging to see the extent by which they got developers involved (via forming an advisory committee) and focusing the sessions on relevant and meaningful topics. Plus, they worked hard at bringing in outside speakers, with over half of the lectures presented by non-Montrealers.

I gave a lecture on the ever popular topic of licensed IP versus original games, advocating for a more balanced approach to what we’re seeing today… Also, I moderated the closing panel with all the local studio execs. That was fun :) With the cooperation of a 400+ strong audience, I grilled the execs on issues such as quality of life and production practices, technology vs design, reliance on licenses and sequels, etc, etc. Yet, beyond the stimulating discussion, it was significant to just have them up on the stage at the same time… I applaud their bravery.

Overall, it was a great summit, and a sign of even greater things to come!

(Check out Noel Llopis’ Summit report (it’s much more thorough then mine).)

Here are some photos from the Summit (people listed left-to-right):

Gilles Bertrand (Alliance NumeriQC) kicks off the Summit.

With a flurry of graphs and charts, Ray Muzyka discussed the keys to success for BioWare (ie, focus on quality products and a quality workplace) as the opening keynote.

In the (shamefully small) expo area, a developer raps to A2M’s Get On Da Mic

An interesting slide from Patrice Desilets “stream of consciousness” style lecture…

Martin Tremblay (Ubisoft) welcomes the VIP crowd at the VIP cocktail reception. Jean-Pierre Faucher (Alliance NumeriQC) claps in the background.

Microsofties: Mario?, Mark Relph and Mario Rodriguez.

Yannis Mallat (Ubisoft) is delirious from the lack of sleep (crunching on the next Prince of Persia game), Gregoire Gobbi (Ubisoft) simply decides to sleep while standing…

David Lipes (Wave Generation) and Sylvie Brunet (Alliance NumeriQC) enjoying the developer party hosted by the IGDA’s local chapter.

Martine Quesnel (Microids), Vander Caballero (EA), Elspeth Tory (Microids) and Heather Kelley (Ubisoft) at the party. Vander made it very clear that he “had to be in the middle of all these women”…

Martin Tremblay, Martin Carrier (Ubisoft), Chantal Cloutier (Discreet) and Jean-Pierre Faucher were “stuck” at the party well past 2am.

Ex-Montrealer, Michel Bastien (Bungie) showed off some Halo2 action, which he helped to produce.

Dominique Roussy (A2M) and Samuel Gatte (ex-Microids) chilling at the post-Summit cocktail at the digitally hip Society for Arts & Technology.

Chris Crowell (Ubisoft) takes in a lesson on characters/story by Lee Sheldon (Anti-Linear Logic).

Later that same day… Bill Van Buren (Valve) shows off his animation muscles during a Softimage usergroup meeting.