Hello Brave Listeners-

I thought I'd post an entry to promote the Video Game Voters Network and encourage you to sign up if you haven't already done so.

With the increasing proposals of state and federal level retail games regulation bills, this is exactly the kind of easy, relatively low impact, grass-roots mechanism that gamers need to at least make themselves heard to their local representatives.

Perhaps it's naive to look at the situation and wonder what's going on. The proponents of retail-level games legislation really don't care about the issues of First Amendment protections and speech. Nor are they genuinely concerned about the media effects debate. And it is apparent that they clearly aren't interested in a dialog with anyone on the developers' or publishers' side.

They merely find it convenient to bash on the game industry because it is an expedient way to shore up their family values cred -- to appear to be doing something to right a social ill without having to account for the hard solutions, such as funding education and addressing socioeconomic inequalities.

Our industry doesn't have a powerful lobby, like the film and music industries do, and as a whole, the gamer demographic doesn't tend to vote. But at least this is one way for all of us to do what we can.

To quote: "For over 30 years now, millions of Americans have played video and computer games, and this pastime has become an important part of American culture. Yet, as this entertainment medium grows it has also become a frequent target of criticism and legislation. The Video Game Voters Network working to protect the rights of Americans who play video games, and is first line of defense against legislative threats. The Network enables you to stay updated about issues and to voice your concerns to your elected officials.

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What's Really At Stake?
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Government regulation based on games' content will stifle creativity, and inadvertently cause game publishers to dilute content due to the threat of government action and fines. Game content is constitutionally protected, just like movies, books, and cable TV, so why should games be subject to a higher level of scrutiny? These legislative threats would create a double standard for this innovative medium.

Join Today, and Take A Stand - Protect Your Games!"

You can learn more about how you can help, and sign up by clicking the VGVN icon in the sidebar to the right. Or, you can just click on this link.

Onto less pressing matters: As most of you know, the Game Developers Conference 2006 is taking place this week. Steve and I would've loved to have attended. But, alas, we both have commitments to our paying jobs that precluded our presence at this year's GDC.

Also, for better or for worse, most of the guests we would have liked to talk to for our show are in attendance. Heck, most of them are presenting or running seminars... But never fear: it's looking like our next panel show will be recorded on April 7th, and probably editing and released by the next week (I promise not to keep you waiting too long.)

That show will be on The Changing Face of Gamers. According to the ESA's Top 10 Industry Facts, 75% of U.S. households play video or computer games; the average player is 30 years old and has been playing for almost 10 years; the average game buyer is 37 years old, and in 2005, 95% of PC game buyers and 84% of console game buyers were over the age of 18; 43% of all game players are women; in 2004, 19% of Americans over the age of 50 have played video games -- an increase of 9% from '99.

Now, numbers such as these are met with much skepticism from game developers and the enthusiast press alike because they are inclusive of the so-called casual games space -- people playing lightweight fare on mobile phones and the mainstream public playing Hearts on Yahoo Games. Even garnering criticism from certain circles in the enthusiast press. But in my view, the distinction is a nebulous one. And I am curious about the game industry's resistance to the adoption of their product among a wider audience.

Surveys such as the ESA's go a long way toward countering the mainstream perception of gamers as a monoculture of pubescent males. Which I think, can only be a good thing for the forward progress of the medium. Now, the unfortunate truth is that most of the people making games are a monoculture. I think that it is particularly important to foster the discussion of the growing diversity of game players among those making and selling games.

In that for 2005, the industry never had a better year for overall volume and sales, this past holiday season downgrading of many of the game publishers' analyst numbers--according to Michael Pachter of Wedbush-Morgan, due to console transition and sequel-itis--indicates that perhaps the industry should seek to broaden their markets by diversifying their product. The numbers show that the people are out there. But most game developers make titles for, and influenced by a very small cultural profile; they mostly make stuff for themselves.

Now, one of my friends (and erstwhile fatpixels radio co-producer) sent me this reply to a query about this show topic:

I saw John Cleese's one-man show last night, and when asked about why Monty Python was such a success, he said (huge paraphrasing) that it was because they had "no pressure, no demographics; we just tried to make each other laugh." I have heard other entertainers and artists echo this sort of sentiment -- that the best, the most enduring work comes when creators are working to please themselves. It is not surprising, then, that the gamers tend to focus their energies on games for the hardcore audience.

The trap for the gaming industry is that the contrapositive is also true -- the worst work comes when the creators are working to please others. If a game producer creates a game that he/she would not play, no matter what the market research might say, the result will in all likelihood be a crappy game. Crappy games do not grab new audiences, and the inability to make/sell fun games to a wider audience becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The real breakout "non-traditional" hit will need some "non-traditional" creative forces behind it. It will happen (though probably not without some more failures); it is just a question of whether an outsider or some segment of the "monoculture" takes that first risk.

Good points, all. And I agree that a fair share of original and personally inspired excellent work comes from creators who hold themselves to their own vision -- the rest of society catching up when and if they can. I'm not suggesting that developers engage in a practice of making games by focus group. We all know that never works.

But I do think that very few of them seek to create any works of "high stakes." John Cleese and the Pythoners weren't seeking to feed the uroboros of genre hell -- serpentine metaphors completely intended. Instead, they broke molds and defined a certain flavour of humour, for better or worse, for decades to come.

In other words, I don't have a problem with gamers making games for themselves, so long as that crowd occasionally reaches further than insert-your-flavor-of-orc-demon-cyborg-from-space-hell here, or a blonde elven archer in a chainmail bikini. And I wish that if game developers continue to insist on relying on genre standards, that they would at least try to do something interesting or original with them.

The confirmed guest panelists on that show currently include Katie Salen, co-editor of The Rules of Play, and The Game Design Reader, and Heather Chaplin, co-author of SmartBomb. I'm trying to confirm a couple more panelists from the hard numbers and analysis side of things. Hopefully, I will be able to let you know who those people are, soon.

In the meanwhile, I have put out an all-call to my game developer friends to send me an email about how they got into the industry. Steve and I would like to record a show where we read these letters to you all. If you happen to be a game developer, please feel free to send in an email of your own to fatpixelsradio@gmail.com.

Also, I will be guest hosting on the Videogame News Radio podcast this upcoming weekend (April 2, 2006.) If you haven't heard of the show, in their own words, "This ain't your normal gaming show. A truck driver, a brick layer, and an ex-cook talking video games. The working person's gaming show." They have a decidedly different tone than fatpixels, but Kevin Baird and crew run one of the most honest gaming podcasts out there. Check it out.

On that note, I'd like to mention several other excellent game podcasts out there who's hosts and producers I have corresponded with: The ChatterBox Video Game Radio Show, the Gaming Steve Podcast, and the 4ColorRebellion podcast. Check out their shows. All of them are labors of love. And although they don't quite need as much promotion, please check out the PCGamer Podcast and the 1UP Radio Podcasts. (Much thanks, again, to Dan Morris of PC Gamer and Sam Kennedy of 1up.com for participating in our Games Journalism panel discussion.)

-Tom

Better late than never... I finally got around to editing the second half of the Games Journalism panel. In this episode, we are joined by guest host, Kyle Orland of Video Game Media Watch. Thanks to Kyle for his expert moderating of the panel, and for sharing his time and expertise to record our pre-show.

Here is a list of some of the resources and sites referenced in the show:

Kyle Orland's great article, It's Our Fault Videogames Aren't Considered Art. (Be sure to read the comments thread. There are some excellent, well-reasoned responses.)
1UP.com
1UP.com podcast
Sam Kennedy's blog entry on participating in the show
Dan Hsu's blog entry on Editorial Integrity
Dan Hsu's Peter Moore interview originally printed in EGM, and reposted on 1UP
Computer Gaming World
Matthew Sakey's Culture Clash column
Ankama Studios' free Flash-based MMORPG, Dofus. (To our French audience, je m'excuse.)
About.com's English lyrics for La Marseilles.
Vic Lucas' website for The Electric Playground
Electronic Gaming Monthly
EGM's collected Afterthoughts articles on 1UP
The Escapist
Gamasutra article, Difficulty and the Interstitial Gamer.
GameDaily BIZ's article, 7 Bad Mistakes that Good Game Journalists Make
GameDaily's Media Coverage page
Game Informer
The Gamer's Quarter
International Game Journalists Association
Joystiq
Joystiq's posting on Dofus
Kieron Gillen's Workblog posting on Games Journalism
Kotaku
The L.A. Times' recent reviews of film critic, Kenneth Turan
Official Playstation Magazine
PC Gamer
PC Gamer Podcast
Slashdot games
SlashDot Games reader comments on The Gamer's Quarter
Jordan Mechner entry on Wikipedia
Cahiers du Cinema entry on Wikipedia
W.H. Auden's Rules for Critics on the Wandering Ways blog page.
Sontag & Kael. An engaging, witty, and beautifully written critique on the process of critique by Craig Seligman.
Wizard Magazine
Esquire Magazine
David Jaffe's Modblog page
Hideo Kojima's HIDEOBLOG

I was going to write a 1,000-word critique on the game play experience of Tetris. But instead, I'll post some quick thoughts.

And already, it starts: I have received about a dozen alarmed reader emails expressing some concern over our comments on pithy, 100-word capsule reviews and numerical ratings of games. In case you weren't listening to the show, please allow me to restate: Kyle, Steve and I are not suggesting that all numerical scores be abolished outright. We merely want to see a broader range of how the press talks about games. We acknowledge that to many players, reviews serve a valuable purpose.

But while not everyone wants to read a wordy critique to help them decide whether or not they'd like to rent or purchase a game, it might help to validate the inherent worth of playing video and computer games if those who enjoy them were able to talk about their experiences in a way that might be appreciated by a non-gaming audience. Or even a hardcore gaming audience, though I suspect they are not the ones who need convincing...

I am finding that it is increasingly difficult to come to an experience with any freshness at all. Before anyone sees a movie, reads a novel, or plays a game, they've probably been exposed to much of the content through previews, news, or reviews already. At least in games, it is impossible to spoil the play experience simply by talking about it. Even if you read a cheat guide or FAQ, you still have to play the game to get the full experience. So that's at least one advantage we have over other media.

On games that are critical darlings that don't get the sales numbers: if I see a game that has something unique and good to offer, I put my money and time where my principles are. I buy that game and play it. There are lots of great games that didn't get the audience they deserved. Like Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil, Eternal Darkness, Rez, and Ico. My bet is, if your run-of-the-mill gamer would give any of these a try, they would not only enjoy them, but love them.

-Tom

More topic, less rambling! In Part Two of our February 3rd panel discussion on Games Journalism, we're joined by the always entertaining and informative Dan Morris of PC Gamer, along with Sam Kennedy of 1up.com, Vic Lucas of G4TV, Julianne Greer of The Escapist, and Matt Williamson of The Gamer's Quarter. (c) 2005-2006 Tom Kim, Inc.