That Schell Game
Monday, February 22, 2010 at 08:40AMThere seems to be a bit of furor over that talk that Jesse Schell gave. I think it's much ado about nothing. Let me explain:
I saw a chart a ways back that looked something like this: (if you remember where this is from, let me know so I can link it...)
The implication being that there are all kinds of games out in that "unknown" area, and that in order to expand our art, we need to be exploring out into that unknown area. In general, I agree with this observation.
Mr. Schell's contention is that a fairly large slice of that pie consists of "Social Network Games", and another fairly large slice consists of "Making Games From Real World Things." And I agree, and await the future he describes with both eagerness and trepidation.
The general internet reaction, however, has been "ZOMG WOW. I don't want to make evil Big Brother games! Facebook evil! What happened to my beloved games!"
However: To me, a similar chart could be drawn up that looks like this:
Now imagine that only the right half of that chart had been "discovered", and you are a writer. All of a sudden someone comes along shouting, "We have no idea what the potential of books is yet! But I think you could collect a bunch of recipes and put them together in a 'Cooking Book', and sell these for millions!"
Well, yes, that's true. Does that mean that you should stop writing novels and start compiling cookbooks? Of course not!
Likewise: I joined the game industry primarily to craft escapist experiences. Are there other uses for games? Sure! Will my grocery store points card get more use if a talented game designer crafts a game around it instead of just a raw, boring point accumulation? Sure! But where I am, and where that is, are not really the same place.
As an aside: Everyone who has all these Big Brother fears from that talk... Well, you already have a grocery store points card, don't you? And you get bonus points for buying the off-brand cream corn, don't you? The future is now!
Reader Comments (3)
Hey! It's a post!
Unfortunately, the link is down, so a lot of the references were lost on me. Still, nice to see some life here and I'm glad you're blogging again! :D
Link fixed. ;) Thanks!
Game for me is a interest. Game design is one of the way to enjoy this interest. For me, the 'undiscovered ' part is the most interesting part that is really attractive me. If there is something definitely 'positive ' for the game design market and everybody suggest you to do, then you will realize you are interested in money but not game design itself.
Further, a thing can be raised up to a domain, that is because there are a huge part of this thing we do not know, and we have no idea how much indeed we do not know. So game design industry is not a simple job, it is a creative and innovative activity.
In relation to the person who made the cookbooks, I guess he or she must be trade recording the way of himself to cook as the funniest thing for his life. So cheers!