There is a very good article this month in The Atalantic Monthly about the “creative underachievement” of the video game industry. Unfortunately, you have to be a print subscriber to read it.
The article profiles Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern, and their project, Façade—an attempt at an interative storytelling experience with “meaning.” The description of the challenges they faced and the opportunities they see could easily have been written about Cecropia and The Act.
Will Wright’s upcoming game, Spore, is also glowingly previewed, and Will Wright is heavily quoted. Excerpt:
“Interactive design is a really large box, and we’ve really only explored one little tiny corner of that box.”
Perhaps some day The Atlantic will get with the new millenium and provide some way to read their content online. Perhaps you might (as I did) accept the risk that the mailman will think you are a flaming liberal and subscribe.
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