03 October 2012
Posted in Video Games

A keynote speech by Steve Ince for the 11th International Conference on Entertainment Computing 2012 in Bremen

Whenever I prepare for an event of this nature I’m reminded of the huge diversity of gaming in particular and computer related entertainment in general. It’s bewildering in its range and scope and simply keeping abreast of the constant assault of news and developments is somewhat daunting.

But this broad scope also gives such incredible creative freedom to those of us who want to explore new ways of delivering entertainment to a worldwide audience. This talk, then, is me scratching the surface of writing for games and how the whole idea of entertainment can affect how writers approach the task.

Entertainment

David Cage, the creative mind behind the game, Heavy Rain, recently said this about players: ‘I am not interested in giving them “fun”, I want to give them meaning.’ Many of us might think that one of the main points of games is that they should be fun, but I understand why Cage would make a statement like that. The word ‘fun’ has a certain amount of baggage that could trivialise the emphasis of the product. Super Mario is fun, for instance, and Cage may feel he needs to distance his games from this kind of association. If we substitute ‘fun’ with ‘entertainment’, surely Cage would want his games to be meaningful and entertaining? If they are not, why would we want to play them? And if we want games to be entertainment, we must see them as such throughout the development process.

25 March 2012
Posted in Video Games

By Gail Renard

In his recent Budget statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered good news with tax breaks for TV, animation and video game production, that should mean more work for British writers. The new tax credit scheme is a way of keeping creative talent in Britain and can only mean more work for writers.

In recent years, many TV, animation and video game productions have moved abroad at great cost to our industries and national identity. These new breaks should make working in Britain competitive and attractive.

Many groups have worked hard for this change and the Guild have also played their part with constant lobbying and excellent, concise papers which politicians have welcomed.

A special mention goes to Jayne Kirkham, Children’s Committee Chair; Andy Walsh, who oversees video games at the Guild and also members of the Television Committee for their tireless work in lobbying for these tax breaks. We got them.

Gail Renard is chair of the Guild's TV Committee

07 December 2011
Posted in Video Games

On 28 October a panel of professional games writers gathered at BAFTA to discuss narrative in video games development. The panelists included; Writers' Guild member Rhianna Pratchett (Heavenly Sword, the Overlord series, Mirror’s Edge), Jim Swallow (Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Killzone 2) and Ed Stern (Brink, The Enemy Territory games). The event was chaired by Writers' Guild member Andrew Walsh (X3:Reunion, Prince of Persia, and Medieval II: Total War). Listen to this podcast to hear the full conversation unfold. (Please note, this podcasts contains language that is unsuitable for a younger audience).

Writing for Games: Panel Debate by BAFTA

28 February 2009
Posted in Video Games

Rhianna Pratchett talks about her influences, her working process and the evolution of games writing

What was the first game you loved?

It was a puzzle game called Head Over Heels on the Amstrad. You played these two cute little dog-like creatures. Mr Head could jump and float, whilst Mr Heels’ skill was being able to run very fast. They could move around separately, or Head could sit on top of Heels and they could move around together – Master-Blaster style! I remember playing it for hours and hours, transfixed by my black and green Amstrad graphics. The puzzle worlds they moved around in were massive and very complex. I had to draw maps of the levels in the end (which I think was half the fun) as this was way before the days of in-game maps. I think I only ever managed to conquer one of the worlds. But it felt like such an achievement!

How did you get started in games writing?

I trained as a journalist and went from freelancing to a full-time staff position on the UK games magazine PC Zone. I spent a couple of years there and also wrote about games and gaming for other publications like The Guardian and The Sunday Times. I decided to return to the pyjama-based life of freelancing about six years ago. As luck would have it a games company I knew were looking for a story editor and asked if I was interested because they knew I was a fan of their games. After that I started picking up bits and pieces of work, until I got my first big game which was Sony’s Heavenly Sword on the PS3.

What are your main influences?

I have a healthy interest in most media. My bookshelves are usually heaving and I have a DVD collection that would put the average Blockbusters to shame. I actually have no discipline when it comes to buying DVDs. Especially horror. It’s a disease, it really is. I’ve got to stop laying down good money for any old horror movie in the hope that it’ll turn out to be the next Descent. As far as specifics go, I’m a big fan of Joss Whedon and Neil Marshall, or anything with Sigourney Weaver in. I think Ellen Ripley made a big impression on me as a young girl. I’ve always found that asking myself: “What would Ripley do?” solves a lot of life’s problems! 

How early do you normally get involved in a game’s life? 

It can really vary from project to project. A lot of developers only get writers in when something has gone wrong and they only have a short time to solve it. Which is hardly ideal. For my larger projects, I tend to get involve anything from eight months to a year-and-a-half before the game hits the shops. What’s the process after that? It’s basically working out the narrative needs of the game versus the timeframe and budget in which you have to achieve them. Narrative will have its own pre-production phase where a lot of time is spent working out the overall story arc and how that fits into the gameplay, environments and levels. Quite often I’ll be involved in a game where many of the levels will have already been designed before I’ve been brought onboard. It’s like trying to write a movie around an existing set. There will often be meetings with the other teams involved in the project, particular audio and level design. Then there’s character creation, bio writing, bible writing, voice casting etc. And that maybe before I’ve even finish the script! In fact the script is often the last thing to get locked down.