Game Devs Burn Another House Down 47
Another year, and another session of the 'Game Developer's Rant'. Last year saw Warren Spector making some comments that were heavily talked about for months after the GDC had ended. This year, some more talented people got together to talk smack about the industry they work in. (Cussin' and afightin' behind the link, be warned.) From Alice's transcript: "The name of this conference is 'what's next'. This year they're gonna tell me, I'm going back to my desk, I'm going to know what to do, and it's going to be easy! Right? Iwata-san. Totally inspiring. Can't wait to see the Revolution happen. Went to see Will Wright. Love him! Love his process! So intimidated. But his stuff was so hard to think about. I lost some brain cells thinking about it, so I want to say thank you to ATI and the art institute for showing me what's next in games: hawt chix! ?"
Re:Review of the bold faced comments (Score:3, Insightful)
It may sound politically incorrect and a bit off topic but the Oscars aren't really a joke but rather the movie industries attempt to look open minded and accepting, for the most part. They'll take films with unpopular concepts and give them awards to prove to themselves that they're above the Joe Sixpack mentality. The terrible truth tho, is that the industry desires little more than sales.
In this way the can appear socially conscious and upwardly mobile while still ripping off the consumer.
Re:Review of the bold faced comments (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the point. If you want games that take the industry in new directions, rather than playing it safe, you need a forum that will generate public interest in those games. He's not saying he wants an Oscars for the sake of fellating the artists, he wants one so that new, challenging game concepts can get the same buzz that new, challenging movies get. So that it's profitable to make the game.
Before you say "but profit is all-important" consider the long view - in the long run, opening new horizons is important to profit - it opens up new markets. The first explorations into the new horizons may not get the attention they deserve without somebody to draw it.
Re:Interactive Story telling - we're not ready yet (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I hope once the technology that you've mentioned is conceived and matures that cutscenes won't be necessary at any point in a game. This is happening already--Half-Life 2 takes place entirely in first person, and it has some of the best storytelling I've ever seen in a video game, and it's a shooter. You really feel like you're a part of what's going on rather than watching the events go on from the omnipotent perspective commonly found in books and movies. I hope the entirely in-game method of storytelling is one that will spread throughout all story-based games--it's something that's unique to the medium, and should be embraced.
You should check out the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Elder Scrolls series if you're interested in emotion and open-endedness in your story-based RPGs.
Re:Review of the bold faced comments (Score:4, Insightful)
Religion? Nope...all about the sales.
Entertainment? Sex? Automobiles? Healthcare?
Nope...they all want sales too. In fact, as far as I can tell, that is pretty much the definition of 'an industry' a group of organizations that all sell similar stuff.
Of course Hollywood, and Bollywood, and Silicon Valley and every other place wants to sell crap. That is why they are in business.