Whenever a game so impresses and enthralls me, I like to spend some quality time determining why. What mystic formula or feature made the game so different from its contemporaries or anti-derivatives. After pondering these questions (and others like why did this game have to come out right before PAX - now I want to stay home and play), I think I have found what makes this game great and unique.
These guys are running a Live-Action Massively Multiplayer Game. Kind of a cool concept. More like a hack and slash then an actual RPG, since there’s little to no RP involved. Just kill people and collect their life coins!
A quick news rundown of the week. Games Based On Movies: IMDB has a category that you can check out and stay abreast. Jack Thompson is (finally) getting sued. Exclamation Warriors lets you yell at your DS while you play a River City Ransom-like game. Multiboxing in MMOs for fun and profit: play your favorite MMO on 5 or more computers. Also, E3 IS HERE! We’re not there, because it’s invitation-only and we’re not invited. But we’ll tell you about it anyway! Lastly but not leastly, this weekend we went to the most amazing RPG-Themed birthday ever, and we’ll tell you about it.
We dedicate this show to the memory of Mr Wizard, rest in peace. Blog like it’s the end of the world: Today was this day, where you blog like the world is under Zombie attack. This sparks a long discussion about games and the degree of player control allowed/given by the games themselves. Collaborative storytelling is as old as storytelling itself, so we take a look at various forms of it, including some of the conventions like user-driven rule enforcement. We come up with some examples of ‘live action’ gaming, like environments or amusement parks that set up scenarios you could play in. Imagine playing a reality game set in a broken down amusement park in the Halflife 2 setting. I also found the new 4400 ad campaign, where they set up some ‘in world’ or ‘in-lore’ blogs where they are studying plot elements of the shows universe. Very well done. Lastly we chat a bit about creating systems where your players are assigned random abilities vs. letting them choose their strengths and weaknesses.
Gama-sister-site gamecareerguide.com has started a history of video games as it pertains to game design. It is a very enjoyable read (++ for Coleco, Car Wars, and Go picture for the header) that covers board games, RPGs, and the rise of early consoles up until the home computer.
This is a first installment of many to come, but a must-read for any console or tabletop gaming history fan.