The New Evil Empire

I've always been fascinated by the gamer community's tendency (need?) to personify games companies, its quickness to vilify what it sees as the "bad" guy (those who prioritize profits, natch), and its preoccupation with the personas of various individuals in our field (even journos)!

Of course, it's understandable -- in an entertainment technology biz, the focus is on the products and rarely on the folks behind them. I'm always interested in those folks, and anyone who enjoys team sports knows what happens when a passionate, focused audience plays favorites. It's impassioned, polarizing and just plain fun.

As his public profile has increased at a rate congruent to Activision's coffers, the publisher's chairman, Bobby Kotick, has fast taken his spot dead center of the gamer community's crosshairs. The frequency with which he throws around words like "exploit," "pessimism" and "raise prices" don't earn him any fans, nor do his aggressive biz tactics. So has he earned all the hatred, or is the man just doing his job for his investors -- and a great one at that?

I took a look at the issue for my column this month in Kotaku, hitting up industry insiders, analysts and his own employees to analyze the anti-ATVI sentiment from all sides. Give it a read! And if you dig it, kindly Digg it?

Bonus material: Another excellent parody song from our friends at IdleThumbs, "inspired by the teachings of Kotick." Brought to you by the mind of Chris Remo, who you might recall also brightened our lives with the "Senior Super Douche"-inspired "Stop Doing Interviews," also Activision-oriented.

PS: Big ups to Twitter follower Vahn16 for the Kurtz comparison -- "Love @leighalexander's Kotick article, but is anyone else having flashbacks to Heart of Darkness? 'He's a great man!' but few have met him."

PPS: Also big ups to The_Game_Boy for making reference to division-winning Yankees and their ol' figurehead -- "@leighalexander @pkollar It isn't a bad thing that gaming now has its George Steinbrenner."

(Follow me on Twitter so I can quote you one day, too!)

Conflict, Resolution

"For a story to occur, it has to keep proceeding... challenge is about preventing you from continuing in the game... Story and challenge work against each other. No matter how hard you work on a game, if you've got a story in the traditional way, and you've got challenge elements like we traditionally use them, they work against each other."

-- Jonathan Blow

"All right: so what if the player's challenge and the protagonist's challenge are not the same thing? Or what if the function of the challenge is something other than doling out quantities of story? Is there a way in which challenge can make a story more powerful or more significant rather than less?"

-- Emily Short, "Analysis: Challenge, Game Design Conflicts, Storytelling"

"Motion Controller"*

*Motion Controller, Sony says in its press release, is a tentative name for the orb-topped, glowy camera-sensing wand it just confirmed will release in Spring 2010. Yay, finally a release date! But no name?

Hey, let's be fair, though. Much of the time, new hardware has tentative or prototypical names -- remember the Nintendo "Revolution?" Remember the collective choke of horror, fascination and good old third grade jeering when we first heard the word "Wii"?

And is it truly likely Microsoft will introduce "Project Natal" to the mainstream consumer audience on retail shelves with a name like that? Yeah, no. I mean, it rhymes with a tennis player, even though it looks like it should be pronounced like something pertaining to gestating infants. Would it be so bad if we called it "Camera Solution" or something until it got its retail name?

Still, we in the press have been looking for something to call the glowy-wand-orb-thing besides "Motion Controller," and we wonder how Sony will name and market the thing when the time comes. Therefore, I decided to consult my friends on Twitter (become one of them!) to see if we couldn't give Sony some helpful suggestions -- and of course, some friendly teasing. Here are some. Leave more good/funny ideas in the comments!


BreenyMack@leighalexander wonder wand, shit sticks, red balls of fury, project fatal.. Just to name a few
39 minutes ago from UberTwitter in reply to leighalexander

dangermartian@leighalexander I think sony should call it the "Partytime Funwand," just to connect to the casual/vibrator market.
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to leighalexander

simmies@leighalexander Sony Expressence Dowel
about 2 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

stocdred@leighalexander Sonomotion, MotionMe, AirPlay, SimuMotion, WaveWand, SpaceSphere, BallSack, Copernicus, Project Not-tal, Hullabaloo
about 2 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

unangbangkay@leighalexander DualWand
about 2 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

dfjones@leighalexander the P-mote? E-motion? Ps waggle? Project rushjob?
about 2 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to leighalexander

julio_cesar@leighalexander I think it´s called "Wand"
about 2 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

WilloughbyJ@leighalexander Sony's Colorful Magic Wand
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

chrominance@leighalexander Singstar Twist n' Shout Microphone (but seriously, they should put a mic in that thing--take that, Lips!)
about 3 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

tech_gaming@leighalexander Would PS3D be too cheesy?
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

nilcypher@leighalexander I desperately want Sony to call it something overwrought like 'omni-rod' or 'uni-scepter'
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

Jensonb@leighalexander they ahould call it Six Axe Eyes
about 3 hours ago from Twittelator

MrWasteland@leighalexander The Unblue Ocean Strategy
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander Audience Broadening Initiative #37B
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific

tech_gaming@leighalexander Something to go with Playstation Eye. I'm thinking EyeMotion, EyeSee, or just Eye-Aye-I
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

LBJeffries@leighalexander The amazing WANDO!
about 3 hours ago from web

WarofArt@leighalexander Metoomote
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

MikeCK88@leighalexander The PS3mote?
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry

timseppala@leighalexander Playstation Pie in the Sky
about 3 hours ago from mobile web

8bithack@leighalexander Playstation Knob.
about 3 hours ago from Seesmic in reply to leighalexander

thetrin@leighalexander Sony Ocean Motion Commotion Lotion
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander Sony Bone
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander SCE Controller Type 9 "Rudolph's Nose"
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific

Fox4649@leighalexander Ollivander's Hand-Held Sony Peripheral
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander The PlayStation 3 Autogamic Gesticulizer
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific

cptcarnage@leighalexander hmmm, StickAxis?
about 3 hours ago from UberTwitter in reply to leighalexander

Dlangar@leighalexander PS Wiggle #sonymotioncontroller
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

Sean2D2@leighalexander Magic balls. Wonder sticks. Stick and Ball. The Eyes of Sauron. Sorcerer's balls. Magic Wands. 4-D Controller. PSmote.
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

S_McNair@leighalexander Latan
about 3 hours ago from Tweed in reply to leighalexander

pantscommander@leighalexander Sonymote, Swaggle, Contrabulous Fraptraption, The "Pleasebuyme"
about 4 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

StupidDufus@leighalexander A name? How about "bandwagon" or "innovation." =P
about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

regretlesspanda@leighalexander Single Schlock
about 4 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

The_B@leighalexander PS3se Wii-lease Me?
about 4 hours ago from Seesmic in reply to leighalexander

galenblade@leighalexander The Sony Metoo.
about 4 hours ago from web

tyrone_hawk@leighalexander PSMotion?
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

tylerstyle@leighalexander "Bulbi", your new companion for magical worlds. For the more seasoned gamer, call 'em "Orb".
about 4 hours ago from Snowl

A Pricey Cup Of Joe

Starbucks Coffee is like, four bucks or something like that, insane considering how relatively cheap coffee itself is as a commodity (and considering how Starbucks tastes like crap -- Dunkin' Donuts for life).

But if we're talking expensive coffee, the priciest is the one served up with the now-infamous 'Hot Coffee' scandal with which Take-Two found itself saddled when a mod unlocked some hidden no-no content. Years of media hype, legal battles and other consequences of the incident's spectre followed.

It was expensive. Really expensive, and that's just adding up the costs we can materially quantify. I took a look at the cost of Hot Coffee in an editorial at Gamasutra today -- and found the real costs go way beyond the monetary.

And they go way beyond Take-Two. The entire industry paid for that one little mini-game, when you think about it. Agree?

Let's Wear Things

I've already pointed out how much I like Meat Bun's T-shirts. I've been loving their newer ones, the DX Line, and getting a lot of wear out of the ones I've got, so I thought I'd indulge in some long-overdue pimpage.

Honestly, being a "G4/X\3|2" isn't something I tend to like to advertise in the traditional sense. Yes, I do, in fact, still own the launch-day FFVII shirt I got as a preorder gift from some retailer or other, but I'm a little embarrassed wearing that out in public. My Assassin's Creed 2 shirt was a cozy wear for the long flight home from E3, but I'm not wearing it out to the bar either.

But I totally love this particular "Fight Night" shirt -- yeah, it's a Street Fighter shirt, but it's so subtle that only fellow geeks can tell you're not simply super-fashionable. It always gets a ton of compliments when I wear it out and about, and it actually looks good on me, unlike XXL Unreal Tournament tees. If you've never checked out the new line, you totally should.

Also, I am promoting two items of clothing here, actually -- I'm not really sure why I got in the mail these high-tech specs from Gunnar Optiks, but hey, here we are, and I'm telling you about them because I feel guilty not having paid for 'em. They are apparently worn by professional musicians and people with names like "DJ Rocky Rock"?

I don't even wear prescription lenses, but my eyes really suffer from spending so much time a day on the laptop working. These are supposed to help prevent eyestrain. I guess I'll have to wear them daily for a while to see if there's really an effect or not, but they are comfortable and I think they look kinda cool.

Done shilling for now, I swear. Seriously, though, there are plenty of geek clothes out there, but when are we going to see more labels and retailers getting on board with geek fashion? Let's just pretend I am starting a "not brushing hair" trend, while we're at it.

And Your Bird Can Sing

"So I ask: must we appreciate The Beatles? Must we reminisce with the newly aged about their privileged lives as naive youthful radicals, and then later as greedy yuppie centrists, and then finally as truculent conservative majority? Must we give them their final thrill in the medium we popularized, and which they spent decades not only failing to understand, but also deriding as useless and insolent? Must we allow them to celebrate not through change, not through novelty, but through utter sameness?"

-- The always-provocative Ian Bogost, on The Beatles: Rock Band

Music Sweet Music

I don't listen to game music anymore. I used to, years ago -- owning a soundtrack to a game I really loved was a must. Certainly, as I've grown up, my musical tastes have changed quite a lot. You could also blame my career. Spending my whole days immersed in the art, business and culture of video games, I'm understandably less interested in seeking out yet more ways to work games into my everyday life. I'm at saturation!

But most people I know who are fans and followers of game music often express that they feel soundtracks have "changed," or fail to be as memorable as they once were. The themes we really love, recognize and identify with are for the most part from a prior era. I mean, there's "Still Alive." And "Somewhere Beyond The Sea" in BioShock stands out to me, but of course that song didn't originate with the game.

Website Original Sound Version exists for hardcore devotees of game scores, and they recently asked me to contribute some thoughts on video game music in an interview. I did my best to explain where I believe the perception of a character loss in game music comes from:

"With a few exceptions, most of our most beloved themes and tunes evolved out of an era where music was essentially used as background accompaniment for gameplay that was either very basic or very repetitive (think of trying to time your jumps to the beat in some sidescroller or another).

And of course, these games were not only repetitive but grueling, so you’d have one cartridge last you months, maybe even years, before you ever completed it or got tired of it. You’d end up hearing some of the same songs billions and billions of times, which means they were more likely to score some kind of permanence in your consciousness.

Games just are not made that way anymore, really. Now, tech being what it is, I think there’s this holistic approach to world-building, where every element is combined to immerse the player. Music’s become something that perhaps influences the impression or emotion of a scene, but I don’t think it’s intended to be noticed per se. The emphasis on realism means that music’s become more ambient – it’s designed to give the player a mood, but the player mustn’t notice that it’s happening. That – combined with the fact that we blow through these massive AAA titles in much briefer time periods somehow these days – means that game music leaves less of an impression than it used to, I think."

I think this is something of a misstep on the part of game development, though. When it comes to memory and emotion, it's always seemed to me that the visual sense is the least acute -- a beloved song or familiar scent can bring emotion and memory rushing back with an intensity that can't be matched by what the eyes see. The goal of creating a player's emotional attachment to a game would be much better served through distinct, memorable music themes.

Just think of the role "Still Alive" played in Portal's success and the endurance of its appeal -- there wouldn't have been cake without icing. And what would that seminal Final Fantasy VII moment have been without Aeris' theme? Recognizable music doesn't just build immersion, it builds loyalty. I'd wager a publisher could sell more sequels if they used the shorthand of common musical themes to jog players' memories of how much they loved the first one.

There are some games we continue discussing and adoring long after we've put the controller down, and music is one element that can give a title a lasting place in our hearts. I'd like to see less auditory wallpaper and more really good game songs, wouldn't you?

Until then, check out the full Original Sound Version interview, in which I name my favorite game soundtracks of all time. What are yours?

Is The First-Person The Most-Person?

The first-person perspective has come to prominence over the years as the shooter genre has fully come into its own on consoles -- in no small part, I think, because developers realized it was far easier to work with than the third-person (remember all those tricky camera issues cropping up in the last-gen?)

There also seems to be an impression that it's the most immersive. You can look around a game world as if with your own eyes, you can see your own hands and sometimes even more (see the otherwise-lamentable Alone in the Dark's neato inventory system).

But there's something to be said for being able to see your character, right?

Japanese RPGs, which rely on rich visuals and groups of intricate characters, are almost exclusively third-person -- if there's such a thing as a first-person JRPG, please enlighten me. Western RPGs, on the other hand, are in the large majority first-person. How strange to see such a divergent approach in what is effectively a comparable genre.

Personally, I enjoy games that use the perspective in creative ways. EA told me that the reason for all the reflective surfaces in Mirror's Edge is to allow the player to see Faith, an interesting nod to the importance of self-visualizatoin. And remember how meticulously some of us arranged portals in order to get a glimpse of Chell? In BioShock, I think the first-person perspective is ideal -- your character lacks a sense of self as a narrative necessity, and is simply hands, weapons. Not to mention the fact that Jack might look like his dad, thereby spoiling some things.

Anyhow, I bring it up because my colleague, Game Developer editor Brandon Sheffield, wrote an editorial at Gamasutra pointing out why it's somewhat misleading to assume that first-person games are automatically more immersive, and he discusses some of the actual barriers to immersion he feels they can create.

Do you have a preference? If so, why? If it depends on the genre, which types of games do you think are more suited to one perspective versus another? Vote in the sidebar poll too, willya?

Heroine

"I don't need games to have more female characters because I need to see myself reflected in them to enjoy them. One of the reasons I love games is because I get to be someone else. I feel very strongly that the ten-foot cow-man I get to be in World of Warcraft is as accurate an extension of my inner personality as any realistic avatar I've ever fretted over. And I don't need games to have more female characters because it's unjust or unfair if they don't. Games ought to be defining their own realities and making their own rules."

--Margaret Robertson, at Offworld

Bang Bang, Bang Bang

Sorry for the hiatus, SVGLers. I've not been feeling well, which tends to sap my motivation for blogging. I'll try to keep up!

Have you seen my Kotaku feature this month? It's a bit dear to my heart. You may have noticed a trend in my writing lately -- I asked you how many of you have hobbies and interests outside of games (only 12 percent of you said you have "many"!), and I've been interested in diversity in general -- how imaginitive we are, how well games support imagination, and how valuable the work of non-traditional developers is.

Essentially, I've been frustrated with the narrowness of our culture and the way we repeat the same conversations over and over; the way we point vigorously to the same handful of titles to prove we're making progress, the sameness of blockbuster games -- and most frustrating of all, the virulent unwillingness so much of the core gaming audience seems to possess toward change.

I've been frustrated with developers and publishers, too -- I have had enough Tolkien, Star Wars and comic book derivatives to last me my whole life. I see us living in an echo chamber, creating both products and a culture around those products that are of interest only to us, and that stand no chance of breaking out of the feedback loop of insularity that prevents games from getting the respect they deserve alongside other media. We're supposed to inherit the future, not remain a niche.

We need a freakin' life, guys. Sorry.

Anyway, this month I talked to some influential folks about what inspires their work -- the question at the core of the piece is whether creativity in games is dead or constrained beyond hope. If you missed it when it went up a couple days ago, check it out!

Then have at it, commenters -- I know there are some of you already itching to point out to me once again the breadth and richness of comic books. While you're at it, you could also make a long, long list of games that defy paradigms to show me how wrong I am. You could even get really righteous and defensive, if you want; this is an open forum, after all.

You could, but then you'd be missing the point.

But if you like the feature, gimme some Digg love, would you? I mean, it has Tim-freakin'-Schafer in it, and I want people to read what he had to say!