The four students who pioneered the Experimental Gameplay Project at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center (where I got my master's degree) have written an article for Gamasutra of best practices and lessons learned. You should read it.

The Experimental Gameplay Project is active again, by the way, with the same faculty advisor and four new students each making one prototype per week. You can see their products for yourself on their site.

Elevator quote: "It's the closest I've ever come to a text adventure on a console."

This game comes to us from Quantic Dream, whom some of you may remember as the developer that brought us the just-ahead-of-its-time Omicron: The Nomad Soul, a 3d living-world game for PC that predated GTA3 and featured David Bowie's wife as a playable character. Understanding the pedigree, you start to see the family resemblence. Indigo Prophecy (website) allows the player to control several different main characters (although without Omicron's unique premise that made this a part of the story). Basically, Indigo Prophecy unfolds like a movie, and you get to control the main character in each scene.

Unlike almost every other "cinematic" game I can think of, this one shines, and it is because the story is actually good. If you have an interest in storytelling in games, you need to play this. There is simply nothing else quite like it, especially in the console world. As a game designer, however, Indigo Prophecy most impressed me by finding a way to turn a 5 minute conversation into real gameplay. Perhaps there is hope for Metal Gear Solid yet, if only somebody would translate this into Japanese.

Check out this article from Game Revolution. Using data from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics it shows that contrary to the current media hoopla over the epidemic of youth violence,
recent data shows that "... the offending rates for 14-17 year-olds reached the lowest levels ever recorded.” The data is only available up to 2003, but at least herein lies some hard facts with which you can confront those who find your choice of entertainment "distasteful."

In case you hadn't heard the latest news, Jack Thompson, industry critic and all around spokesperson for crazy people everywhere, had ponied up $10g to the favorite charity of Paul Eibeler to have someone make his game where you get to (presumably) live his fantasy and rampage through the game industry killing those who work in it.

Long story short (just go read their posts on it): Someone made the game, Jack deemed it "insufficient," but Penny-Arcade is going to donate the money in Thompson's name since he won't make good on his own promise.

This is why I love those guys.

Issue 30 of pop-feminist periodical Bitch Magazine is on stands right now, and the topic is games. I had the chance to peruse the issue today, and it's probably worth skimming if you get the chance. Like most coverage of games and gaming by people from outside the gamer community, you've probably read this all before. Accolades for Ms. Pac-Man and The Sims, calls for more women in the industry, etc.

For a deeper perspective on these issues, you really should check out Sheri Graner Ray's Gender Inclusive Game Design.

The Independent Games Festival has extended the deadline and lowered the entrance fees for the mod portion of the contest. The new deadline is now November 1, and the entrance fee is now just $25. If you're a modder for Half-Life 2, Doom 3, NeverWinter Nights, or Unreal Tournament 2004 you can take a shot at the $2500 prize for each game, but get cracking, because you're sure have even more competition!

So, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California AB 1179 which prohibits retailers from selling violent games to minors. If you haven't read about all the uproar over this, here's a a good place to start.

One thing I've always wondered is why games don't use the same ratings system as movies. What's wrong with G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17? People have had decades to be trained into recognizing that system and I've never fully understood why the ESRB system has to be so esoteric. Part of the reason why these bills keep getting passed (even though they often get struck down in federal court) is because of the "confusing" nature of video game content and ratings that "confuse" parents. It's an easy step for advocates of these measures to make a leap from parents being "confused" to their children being "manipulated" by game marketing. Disregarding that specious rhetorical device, I have no doubt that marketers ARE doing their best to "manipulate" as many people as a possible into wanting their game--minor or adult. That's sort of how advertising works--you pull on people's strings in order to get them to toss you money they'd be much off better saving. Capitalism and all that rot.

Could the argument that "ratings systems don't work" be short-circuited by shifting to a ratings system people are already familiar with (I'm intentionally overlooking the huge technical hurdles of such a switch)? Or is there some real benefits to the ESRB system or serious problems with applying movie ratings to video games that I'm overlooking?

With finals over and a break between quarters last week, I slept, at last, but more importantly I got in some deeply satisfying game time. Satisfying in, you know, that way. Amongst the games conquered were Shadow of the Colossus, Indigo Prophecy, and Thief: Deadly Shadows.

I guess the Euros call IndigoProphecy "Fahrenheit." Here they apparently thought there'd be too much confusion with that whole 451 book. For those that don't know, books are what people used to read before there were blogs.

SoC shows that the save-the-princess metaphor never gets old as long as there's a mystifying and unique setting in which to place it. I readily admit to being an unapologetic worshipper of all things Ico-related, so in an effort to avoid any further fanboy-gushing over this title, I'll just leave the technicalities of my enjoyment aside. After the final bits of the game washed away in a graceful arc of an awe-inspiring denouement, I sat in silent contemplation for some time attempting to wrestle with a sudden fixation on the game's characters and my attachment to them.

You know what I mean. You want to and do feel for some characters in some games. You bond with them and identify with their struggles. It's just a sign of good storytelling. So I found myself wondering, what if I were Wanda trying to resurrect my prince? Would I have felt the same pull? That same, indefatigable determination to succeed at all costs? I didn't just want to see various colossi, explore and conquer them--I wanted to save Wanda. I can't really recall ever identifying with a female lead in a game in quite the same way. The potential of gaming as the only true interactive media to pull us into the hero's world is unparalleled. I dare say it's even more powerful than *gasp* D&D. I can't really say whether or not I could identify with a female lead in the same way I could with a male as I'm not at all certain the opportunity has really presented itself. Lara Croft (or Tits McGee to her friends) doesn't count. Neither do certain members of the Raccoon City Police or foolhardy young blondes who find themselves in Silent Hill. I'm talkin' about a chick who has to save her helpless man; who has to go on an epic quest of unfathomable hardship in order to bring him back from the brink. I've had some girls tell me they have no problem identifying with a hero, regardless of his virtual gender, but that it's ruined once he falls off the wagon into his male stereotype of macho-loner-womanizer or brooding-emotionally-unavailable-loner, or when the women he's involved with or trying to save dissolves into a helpless mess of fear. So what have I overlooked? Are there heroines like I've mentioned out there or are we just as stuck as movies and television in the male-hero, woman-victim paradigm?

The submissions are in, and it's time for judging to begin in one of my favorite indie-gaming events of the year. Anybody who wants to can go to the site, download the game interpreters, and vote on their favorites.

Anyone with an interest in games that convey compelling stories should at least take the time to check some of these out.

Do it already.

[Full Disclosure: I am a game designer for Electronic Arts, which co-developed and published Marvel Nemesis. However, I do not work at the same studio, or even in the same country as anyone on the development team. I do not know anyone who worked on the development team. I have no special insider knowledge of any of the designers' intentions. These are all my personal reactions to purchasing and playing the game at home, and the opinions are no-one's but mine.]

What happens when a developer known for its action RPGs teams up with a developer known for its sports titles to produce their first fighting game? The answer would seem to be, "not much."

Nihilistic, who brought us Vampire: the Masquerade: Redemption*, joined forces with Electronic Arts (specifically EA Canada, in Vancouver) and a Marvel character license to create an excruciatingly underwhelming fighting game. Now, I loves me some fighting games, and I loves me some superheroes, so I really, really wanted to love Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, but sometimes you just have to face up to the fact that the game just doesn't give a good sense of being a superhero, or of being a fighter. I played through all of Story Mode, and a couple of versus battles, just to make sure. Marvel Nemesis is not without a few cool ideas, including one I'd never seen in a fighting game before which I will now demand future fighting games either include or have a good reason why not.

When you make games for a living, sometimes you play games for fun, and sometimes you play games for research. If you're not playing Marvel Nemesis for research, there really isn't much point to it, I'm afraid. This game shows a lot of signs of being forced out the door before it was ready, which is a fairly common trait of the first game in a new genre for a developer. I'm going to step through my impressions of the game: what didn't work, what did work, and what I'd like to see expanded upon and improved if EA or Nihilistic ever tries to do another fighter in a similar mold (which I wouldn't be opposed to, honestly).