It Takes Two

Matthew Sakey's current Game Over column on the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) webpage argues for deeper games. To make this happen, he says, we need the support of the gaming press. “The press would do well to take note of that trend and include more coverage of, and applause for, what's happening thematically in some games. This means longer reviews, deeper analysis, and more editorializing.” If the gaming press embarrasses itself, he says, it embarrasses the entire videogame medium, taking it down a notch, and the quality of games goes with it.

Not in response to this, The Second Life Herald runs an article about how an Extinct Native American Tribe Finds Second Wind in a virtual museum built using the Second Life engine. The headline is self explanatory, the story incredibly moving. All games are simulations of some sort, and this is should alert people about what videogames can do.

The New York Times story about how the Story Line is Changing for Game Makers and Their Movie Deals, covering the opposite end of the spectrum, tells us how games based on movie licenses need to be rushed to market, and how games based on children's movies usually have low-budgets as as well. The article, oddly, does not mention Bioware's very good Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which was based on a movie. Bioware is now working on one of its most exciting games yet. As detailed at Gamespot's approving Jade Empire Limited Edition Q&A, the game will include “a very interesting character modeled after the classic monk out of literature and films.” I think Matthew Sakey will see this as a step in the right direction.