I’ve been in the industry for 12 years The last thing I would like to say to the and am profoundly and nastily cynical as ESA regarding is this: Please get over the next developer, but you achieve a The return to sanity. Los Angeles; I have. That is all. neat and thought-provoking balance between enthusiasm and reality. The Escapist team arrived home from E3 Those who are interested in news and To The Editor: Just a quick note to say well into the morning hours of Saturday, reviews from the largest, most widely thank you - I hope and trust you receive -Kim after a long, sleepless night of air travel. attended gaming industry conference in many of these, because you deserve Many are still recuperating. Some are the world can find write-ups and them. I really enjoy your magazine; it’s In Respose to “Whither Sony” from ailing from the excesses of one too many impressions from The Escapist staff at well-written, intelligent and thoughtful. The Escapist Lounge: If you look at long LA nights; others from what is The Escapist Lounge. We’ll also be Even when - perhaps especially when - I the historical pattern of how many cycles being called “The E3 Virus.” This editor bringing you our special Escape From don’t think I’m especially interested in it takes between a console makers entry suspects the two afflictions may be one E3 Issue of The Escapist next week the theme, I always find something to to market and their eventual squeezing in the same. (after we all return from doing just that), make me go “ooh, I didn’t know that / out, its typically 3. Atari had the 2600, but for this week we’re proud to present didn’t think of it that way.” the 5200 and the 7800 (or something) I have two things - no - three things to a selection of our favorite articles from say to the ESA regarding E3 2006. The issues past. first: When you announce that there will be food, please, for the love of God, make So heat up a cup of soup, curl up in a sure that there will actually be food. warm blanket and catch up on some fantastic pieces of videogame journalism Second, E3 2006 had to be the best you may have missed the first time presentation of games, consoles and around. game industry spokespeople it has ever been my pleasure to behold. I am now Cheers, positively bubbling over with excitement about what the years to come will bring to our shared pastime - on all platforms. To the ESA I say “Thank you.” before bowing out in the wake of on intoxicants? That’s really my foremost In Response to “At Night, the Ice Nintendo. had the Genesis, the concern, here. Weasels Come” from The Escapist Saturn and the before being Lounge: Could you hint at the Guitar squeezed out. Now its Sony’s turn, the -Philip Hero guys that some people would like PS3 will be their last console. Nintendo to have it on another console. I would has been the sole exception to this In Response to “Warhammer Online like to try it out but I’m not going to buy pattern. or, ‘Do I expect Too Much’ “ from a PS3 and all my money is going to the The Escapist Lounge: Its painfully and DS so I don’t have any spare -Patrick evident that this is your first look at the cash to buy a PS2... game. I suggest you go read up on it In Response to “Wii and We: Wee!” (even at this early stage information -Suyi from The Escapist Lounge: Thanks for abounds) and then try and say that it the write-up, Russ. Hearing the generally isn’t looking innovative. good news from your mouth puts to rest many of my worries concerning the Wii. -Dumyr

Looking at those pictures, with all their I really appreciate this review. It seems fancy lights and shimmering stage-walls, fairly objective, other than a few biases I am amazed at how much money goes (“I wanted to see what the follow up to into creating things like “The Imperator’s failed development was”), Expwiirience,” as you dub it, as well as but a good baseline opinion from a non- E3 in general, and, really, any type of Warhammer fan. human gathering involving more than, say, six people. Where do people put all -Morskittar this money, such that I myself never seem able to find it, steal it, and spend it “ is the Antichrist.” The scene: a bar at a gaming convention in the late 1980s. The speaker: an executive at the computer game company who today, no doubt, would prefer to remain anonymous.

Why the holy-fire view of William M. Hawkins III, founder of ? Because (as this exec explained) EA meant to win in the computer game business not only by making good games, but by preventing competitors from making good games too - by actively interfering with their ability to do business. As one example, EA had filed a frivolous lawsuit against Origin. Forced into a costly out- of-court settlement, Origin execs asked Trip Hawkins why he had allowed the suit; he responded, “This is just business. This is the way we’re going to win.” Furthermore, EA was all about could be a case study for future MBA marketing. For Hawkins the question was students. never, “How good is this game?” It was always, “How can we sell this?” To high- Why did Origin sell? It was partly due - minded execs at Origin - makers of the brace yourself - to the price of floppy and Wing Commander series, the disks. high priests of the high end, who valued commitment to an artistic vision - this Changing the World attitude was sacrilege. Founded in 1983, Origin was a creature of the dawn. Garriott had already gotten Ultima designer and Origin co-founder rich in high school, from a game he Richard “Lord British” Garriott even coded in BASIC in his bedroom and sold worked an EA reference into Ultima VII in a ziplock bag. Founding Origin with (1992). Two high-profile nonplayer $70,000 in family money, he and his characters, Elizabeth and Abraham, brother Robert created a culture that perform seemingly helpful tasks for the prized creative vision and expansive, player - but E. and A. turn out to be thoroughly developed game settings. murderers in league with the player’s The company later took the slogan “We nemesis, the Guardian. The three items create worlds.” that power the Guardian’s evil generators are a cube, a sphere and a Origin project director Stephen Beeman tetrahedron - the former EA logo. recalls, “Origin’s cardinal virtue was its commitment to do whatever it took to This reference in Ultima VII proved ship the director’s vision. We had a prophetic. In 1991 Hawkins left EA to motto for it: ‘A game’s only late until it found the short-lived 3DO Company. The ships, but it sucks forever.’ If the game’s next year, 1992, Origin entered dire creative vision demanded a megabyte of financial straits and sold out to EA. Yet graphics, and the only way to load that Origin never sold its soul; rather, EA into memory was to write our own spent the next 12 years gradually and operating system -” (the dubious painfully devouring it. The sad story “voodoo memory” scheme Origin created in 1992 for Ultima VII: The Black Gate)

“- well, that’s what we did, and damn Commander had five core team the risk to the schedule or the members; Wing Commander II suddenly consequences to the budget, not to had 25. Star designer Chris Roberts, mention the programmers’ lives.” among others, drew a substantial salary. - a vision generally inspired by our love megabyte high-density floppy disks. In recent years, Electronic Arts has taken of film - then busted our asses to figure Origin games, in particular, required lots While Origin’s cash reserves were tapped heat for its sweatshop working out a way to pull that off. By contrast, of disks - often eight to ten disks that harder than ever, the Apple and conditions, but marathon crunches were companies like LucasArts or id started cost about 70 cents apiece. Cost of platforms collapsed, a fact of life at Origin long before the with an idea of what it was possible to goods became such an issue that while taking with them many small retailers. purchase. Project teams endorsed do, then crafted killer gameplay around Strike Commander was in development, Origin not only lost the sales of its Apple Beeman’s doctrine: “Sleep is for the that. When our creative vision turned out the team jokingly suggested shipping the and C64 back inventory, but it suddenly weak.” to be achievable in a reasonable time (as game pre-installed on its own 20MB hard had to eat bad debt from failed with Wing Commander I and II), we hit drive. (Strike shipped on eight floppies in companies in the channel. Worse, Producer Warren Spector worked at home runs. When the creative vision 1993, but CD-ROMs finally became Richard Garriott had chosen to develop Origin from 1989 to 1996. “I always felt turned out not to be achievable, commonplace in time for a later new projects first on the Apple platform we were genuinely trying to change the development dragged on until the next expanded edition.) Wing Commander rather than the technically inferior IBM world,” he says. “There was a feeling of year (or beyond), when improvements to was a huge, unanticipated success, and PC - “a horrific mistake,” he now says. creating something new, of being on the the hardware made it achievable.” the high cost of manufacturing it Retooling the pipeline would take six cutting edge; that was incredibly consumed all the company’s ready cash months. exciting. That, more than anything else, The problem was, creating worlds took a and more. drove people to do exceptional work.” lot of disk space. Normally in this situation - high short- In a single year Origin’s payroll term expenses, but higher long-term Employees treated each game as a Seventy Cents Times Eighty Zillion skyrocketed. Prior to Wing Commander potential - a company borrows money. learning experience. Richard Garriott By 1992, Origin faced a cash shortfall and Ultima VI, Origin games were But as bad luck would have it, at that made it a point of pride to start each caused by factors almost entirely outside created by a programmer or two, with time there was no money in Origin’s new Ultima entirely from scratch, with its control. some contract art and writing. Wing home state, Texas. The savings-and-loan not a line of code carried over from earlier games. Even the map editors and Origin was a publisher, which meant other tools were coded anew. manufacturing boxes and stocking them in the retail channel. In that primeval Beeman says, “We started with the pre-Myst era, computer games shipped vision of what we wanted the game to be not on CD-ROMs but on 3.5-inch, 1.44- industry had collapsed following a real- got bigger budgets! We were able to do estate bubble. With half the state’s more and cooler things than we’d been financial institutions unable to lend able to do before. In most ways, though, money, banks could ignore small EA gave us a lot of rope - enough to businesses in favor of big, safe hang ourselves, as it turned out!” corporations. Just a year or two later, this crisis passed, but Origin got caught Garriott: “We doubled the size of the at just the wrong time. company from 200 to 400 that first year. We went from 5-10 projects to 10-20, just say, lacked confidence in Origin’s As the Garriotts dipped into their own and staffed those projects almost development management and - less savings to make payroll, they entirely with inexperienced people. It sensibly, I think - in the Austin contemplated options. Richard says, won’t surprise you to learn those development community in general. “Ultimately we chose EA because EA’s projects were not well managed. That There were a lot of strange decisions.” vision for the future, their prediction of was totally Origin’s fault. We failed, and platform shifts, and their planning to we ended up killing half of those Denis Loubet, artist: “Before [the meet that challenge was right on.” products. That’s probably what set up purchase], the desire to keep Origin the EA mentality that ‘Origin is a bunch afloat did much to keep politics on the And, too, Trip Hawkins had left EA. “Had of [deleted],’ pardon my French.” back burner. But afterwards, survival Trip still been there, there’s no way we transformed into a competition at the would have gone with EA,” said an Origin Spector: “Once it became apparent we feeding trough. As production groups staffer involved in the deal. were getting a little crazy, EA started became more insular, Origin fractured. taking a firmer hand with us, integrating That was the death of any ‘Origin Starting Out Fine us into the machine in subtle and not so Culture.’ It didn’t help that each Origin’s employees on the early years subtle ways, and that’s when things production head was a dictator over his after the purchase: started to get a little less pleasant. Every team, yet each had to brown-nose EA for company has its politics but, in my funding.” Spector: “For the first couple of years, relatively limited experience, EA was an EA’s acquisition of Origin changed the incredibly political place - lots of empire Steve Powers, artist and programmer: place for the better in nearly every way. building, folks jockeying for bigger, “When EA assumed control, much of the EA brought some much needed structure better jobs, competing for resources, joy began to fade from the Origin to our product greenlight and marketing dollars and so on. And there company culture. It was a running joke development processes. And we certainly were certainly people at EA who, let’s through the company that we went from working for the Rebellion to working for mean they care less about me.’ The the Empire. Our company had a culture politicians began to look at us as the that made work an incredible joy, day in enemy, and would actively work against and day out, even though we worked us.” tremendously long hours. And the culture had to be appealing, because The Hatchet Origin paid a pittance. I started there at After EA bought Origin, authority for the wages that were just above poverty new division fell to the president of EA . EA began to bring salaries up to a Worldwide Studios, . competitive level for the region, and people who were equivalent to hobbyists A Canadian from the Vancouver suburb were suddenly in a career. It was no of Burnaby, Mattrick wasn’t just a suit; longer a nerdy fraternity; it was he could claim seniority over many business.” Origin coders, having programmed (with Jeff Sember) his first published game, Garriott: “There are people at EA to this Evolution for the Apple II, in 1982 at age day who I respect either as brilliant or at 17. Mattrick joined EA in 1991 when EA least well-intentioned. [CEO] Larry paid him $13 million for his company, Probst was often not supportive of the Distinctive , maker of things I was doing, but I respect Larry edutainment and sports games such as because he was always clear, rational the and HardBall series. and consistent in his lack of support. I Distinctive became EA Canada, and as its felt [Chief Creative Officer] Executive VP and General Manager, understood sometimes; I always felt Mattrick led it brilliantly from strength to Bing’s intent was to help me do my best. strength until 1997, when EA CEO Nancy Smith [Executive VP, North Lawrence Probst III promoted him to American Publishing] empathized and Worldwide. desired success for all at Origin. [But] there were others who got into politics, Once EA started exerting a tighter grip who very clearly would get into the on Origin, Mattrick pushed teams to stay mode of ‘Your success will work against on schedule (an insistence that badly my success. EA caring about you will damaged Ultima VIII, according to Garriott). Mattrick killed many projects Launched in 1997, UO’s unheralded later, and UO2 had to start over. The because they had spun out of control, success (it peaked at about 250,000 game never really recovered. and cancelled other projects for reasons subscribers) kicked off the MMORPG staffers still consider mysterious. Some industry and roused EA’s interest in In March 2001 Mattrick cancelled UO2. staffers believe (though not for online games. Origin presented EA a Among his reasons: UO2 would compete attribution) Mattrick undermined Origin suite of ideas for followups: a Flash with the original UO. (EA repeated this because it competed for resources with Gordon-style space opera, a martial arts story precisely with Ultima X: Odyssey, Distinctive’s new incarnation, EA Canada. game using collectible electronic cards, greenlighted 2002, cancelled 2004.) This view arose particularly because of online soccer and more. None of the the way Mattrick managed Origin’s late- proposals were sequels, spinoffs or Business Matters ’90s move into online games. licenses. Privateer Online: cancelled in 2000 to avoid competition with EA’s big bet, This move was not his idea. Originally But EA, which sold sports and licensed Earth and Beyond. The core PO team there was no money in the Origin budget games by the millions, was used to moved to Verant (later Sony Online for Ultima Online. Garriott went directly releasing sequels every year. The Entertainment) and created to Probst to ask for $150K in seed corporate office commissionedWing Galaxies. money to kick off the project. Without Commander Online, Privateer Online Probst’s approval, UO would have been (based on the 1993 space sim), and the Harry Potter Online, cancelled at Origin delayed, maybe never started at all. licensed Harry Potter Online. And, 2001, assigned as Hogwarts Online to EA Garriott said in a 2004 GameSpy inevitably, Ultima Online 2, which the studio New Pencil, cancelled 2005. interview, “Ultima Online was kind of a marketing department retitled Ultima red-headed stepchild during Worlds Online: Origin. Transland (a surrealist game), development. Everyone at EA was Silverheart (an RPG with design focused on Ultima IX, which was seen as Staffers argued against doing UO2, contributions from Michael Moorcock), more of a sure thing. Nobody at EA because it would compete with UO. But Firehorse (Hong Kong John Woo-style full really understood what Ultima Online Mattrick greenlighted it in 1999, motion ), mainstream RTS was all about.” But after the beta test cancelled Wing Commander Online and Technosaur : cancelled, cancelled, drew 50,000 volunteers, EA made a assigned its team to UO2. A bunch of cancelled.... sharp reversal. They insisted Garriott guys who liked spaceships, reassigned to shelve Ultima IX and work only on UO. animate monsters? They quit six months “The business was changing radically, in megahit, spend a ton to make a ton - ways an independent developer/ instead of consistently turning out publisher like Origin probably wasn’t smaller games, making some money equipped to handle,” says Spector. “We every year. I thought he was nuts at the were becoming a blockbuster business, time. Took me several more years to like the movies. When Origin’s revenue admit that, like it or not, he was right and profits took a hit and EA gave us a and I was wrong.” very… aggressive budget number to hit, it was mostly my projects that got killed The forces that propelled Electronic Arts - I wasn’t happy about that. But what to success and gave it the funds to were they going to do? Kill Richard purchase Origin - the incessant Garriott projects? Chris Roberts marketing, the quest for blockbusters, projects?” even the ferocious executive infighting - also made it difficult to exploit Origin Spector’s games (Ultima VII Part 2: effectively. EA could have preserved Serpent Isle, Ultima Underworld, System Origin as a small design house gestating Shock and many more) consistently new ideas. Rather than alienating brought returns a small studio would staffers and discarding the valuable think quite respectable. But the Ultima and Wing Commander brands, EA economics of a billion-dollar corporation could have kept Origin alive in body and are different. For EA it makes more spirit, just as it could have preserved the sense to reach for the sky with every other studios it bought: Westwood and single project. The games that die or get Bullfrog and and... cancelled become tax writeoffs, and the hit pays for all the rest. The worst But though this was technically possible, case is the mere modest success, a it was not imaginable. Like any huge mediocre return on equity without company, EA is risk-averse. The corresponding tax advantages. company has every incentive to play it safe and do a competent job on Madden Spector says, “Mattrick told me I needed 2009 or Tiger Woods 2017. to make games more like Richard and Chris - swing for the fences, go for the A New York Times article on EA (August “I still think it was possible to make it 8, 2005), “Relying on work,” Garriott says now, “except no one Sequels,” observes, “Electronic Arts made time to make it work, and there plans to release 26 new games [in were evil elements in the company.” 2005], all but one of them a sequel, including the 16th version of NHL Red Dots Hockey, the 11th of the In 1992 Steve Powers found in a and the 13th of the PGA Marketing department trashcan a group Tour golf game.” In the article CEO photo of the entire company. “It was Probst said sequels appeal to Wall Street taken on the steps of the Wild Basin investors because they have a steady building during the Ultima VII ship following among consumers. “He added party,” Powers recalls. “I scanned it and that the company had a goal of putting used it as my Windows wallpaper for out at least one entirely new game every years. One by one, as people left or were year, and had several major original fired, I Photoshopped a red dot over games in its pipeline.” Blogger Bill Harris them, blotting them out of the scene. observed, “A ‘goal’ of one new game a Most of the dots tended to come in year? Damn, Larry, don’t be so crazy clusters around Christmas. Just before ambitious. Remember Icarus.” Christmas 1997, I dotted my own face

Beeman says, “You’d like to think a marriage of EA and Origin would result in a merger of their strengths. But instead of combining EA’s execution with Origin’s creativity, the end result was more like Origin’s execution with EA’s creativity. EA limited Origin’s selection of projects to sequels or other ‘proven’ ideas, then let Origin run wild. I think this was pretty much the introduction of that meme into the industry, but clearly we still see it today.” and left. For years I kept the image In 1998, Don Mattrick opened a $54 struggling through Year Four of a updated while working for other game million EA Canada development studio in projected three-year development cycle studios, and it wasn’t until fairly recently Burnaby. By 2003 it had 700 employees, on Garriott’s new MMORPG (working that the last face got erased.” and Mattrick made plans to add another title: Tabula Rasa). building. The studio currently produces Some notable dots: sports games such as NBA Live, Triple EA finally shut down Origin in 2004 and Wing Commander designer Chris Roberts Play Baseball, NHL Hockey, and FIFA relocated UO to their California studio. left Origin in 1996 to found the game Soccer, the best-selling sports game in The last employee fired was producer company Digital Anvil. Roberts wrote and the world. “Don Mattrick is a champion Jeff Hillhouse, Richard Garriott’s first hire directed the 1999 Wing Commander of the [British Columbia] high-tech back in 1983. Hillhouse, like many other movie (Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%). He industry,” said studio president Sydney key Origin employees, now works with released the space game Freelancer in Williams in a 2000 interview. Last Garriott at NCSoft. 2003 to modest success, then left Digital month, in a move that stunned the Anvil to found Point of No Return industry, Mattrick, the heir apparent to Allen Varney designed the PARANOIA Entertainment. So far the name appears , left Electronic Arts after 23 paper-and- roleplaying game (2004 apt. years with the company “to seek other edition) and has contributed to computer opportunities.” EA gave no reason for his games from Sony Online, Origin, Warren Spector left Origin in 1996 to departure. Interplay, and Looking Glass. work for Looking Glass, then run ION Storm Austin. In 2000 he produced the In 1999, four years after Ultima VIII, Ed. Note: Trip Hawkins responded to bestselling game, Deus Ex. The genesis after colossal labor and at least two several points made in this article after of DX was an Origin project called complete restarts, Origin released the its original publication. His response can Shooter, which EA cancelled shortly disappointing Ultima IX. No one at the be found in full in the Letters to the before his departure. “DX could have time realized this would be Origin’s last Editor for Issue 15. been an EA title!” Spector says. new game. Richard Garriott soon left Origin and founded Destination Games Artist Denis Loubet left Origin in 1997 (get it?), hiring most of the Ultima IX and is now a partner in Iron Will Games, team EA laid off. In 2001, Destination which runs the boutique MMOG Ashen metamorphosed into the American Empires. One of the designers once branch of Korean online gaming giant described it conceptually as “Ultima V for NCSoft. NCSoft Austin has published City 10,000 players.” of Heroes and Guild Wars, and is now We need a Straw Man. Any volunteers? severe) system in place. If a game features any significant measure of adult Ah, here we are. Could you repeat that content, it goes before the BBFC and for the crowd, Senator Deanna Demuzio gets exactly the same rating as a film or of Illinois? a video.

“Video games are not art or media. They My issue with the legislation is the are simulations, not all that different reasons it is progressing. First, the text from the simulations used by the U.S. of the bill claims videogames cause military in preparation for war.” definite psychological harm to players. This is, as yet, unproven. Second, Excellent. related to the quote I’ve just taken, the position that videogames don’t receive Senator DeMuzio is the sponsor for the first-amendment free-speech rights as current legislation being propelled via they’re not actually a form of expression. peristalsis through the bowels of the Games are just simulators, virtually Illinois State Government. The bill would identical to the ones we use to train our introduce a legally enforced rating soldiers. No one’s saying anything system for games. The current rating through them. system is voluntary, much like that of the film industry in the U.S. The new Hmm. rating system would hold that if a retailer sells a game to a person below Let’s put aside the question, exactly in the age limited by the rating, they would which imminent conflict the armed forces receive a hefty fine and so on and… well, expect to utilize their finely-honed gold- so irrelevant. coin-collecting skills. Let’s take the good Senator at her word - games are almost To be honest, I don’t have an enormous military simulators, so not expression – problem with a legally-enforceable rating and move forward system for games. As a citizen of the UK, I already live in a country which has a By an odd quirk of fate, I found myself in similar (in fact, in terms of fines, more Prague a few weeks back, visiting Bohemia Interactive. They’re best known of adding destructible buildings to their Compare and contrast with the recently The conclusion we can draw from this is for their breakthrough soldier-sim engine for future games, explaining the released Battlefield 2 demo, which posits that simulators aren’t, by their nature, , critically acclaimed addition isn’t because they want to give the U.S. Marines and a Middle-Eastern neutral. They’re as prejudiced as their for its extreme devotion to realism. The people the visceral thrill of seeing a army as equals on a technological creators. Simulators say something critics weren’t the only ones who building fall apart. Rather, it is because footage. Both are rooted in the language about the world they describe. noticed. After its release, they were they want to create a persistent world of the military, but they’re expressing Simulation is expression. approached by cheery governmental where your successes and failures wildly separate views on the nature of a bodies to transform the game into a remain to remind you of your errors. Fail conflict.Battlefield 2 presents a In fact, simulation is a cornerstone of the training simulator for soldiers. The to defend a farm, and that burnt out beleaguered U.S. in a war which is more history of most cultural forms. Putting resultant VBS1 is used by the US shell is going to be sitting there for the cowboys and Indians than anything else, aside the obvious history of Marines and National Guard, among rest of the game. while Bohemia reaches for something representation in visual art, even others, as part of their training. more akin to a comment on the nature literature demonstrates the pattern of of war using theoretical examples. Even simulation as art. What is Anna Karenina So, in the case of Flashpoint, Senator within the genre of pseudo-military other than Tolstoy’s simulation of society Demuzio is very much right. Flashpoint simulators, there are clear differences life in 19th Century Russia? “Simulation” is exactly the sort of game she was from game to game to what the nature is just another way of saying this is life, thinking about when making her of conflict actually is. Put simply, and this is how it works. The only statement, with the game and the war- Flashpoint’s world is a world away from difference is, in games, the simulator merely tweaked versions of When thinking of the campaign structure Battlefield 2’s. representation created isn’t static; the one another. Where she’s entirely wrong for their future games, Bohemia doesn’t is arguing that this somehow makes the choose a life or death struggle for game not a form of expression. supremacy between equivalent forces. While dealing with fictional situations Bohemia is actually one of the more and antagonists, they base their idealistic groups of developers I’ve met. campaign on the assumption of American They talk about their moral discomfort in Military supremacy in any conventional creating a game about a real conflict, war. Rather than making the game about recalling a specific project based on whether the Americans will win, they Vietnam. The team disposed of months make it how the Americans will win and of work because they thought it your character’s experiences along the impossible to make a game that was way. both accurate and enjoyable. They spoke player is placed inside and left to explore Implicit decisions in design can reveal its contradictions and limits. similar thought processes in general. I remember an early review of Civilization Restraining ourselves to classical written by British games-writer-turned- simulator games, it’s easy to pick out developer Gary Penn, well before it was Inspired largely by the title JFK Reloaded, HB 4023 (The Safe Game Illinois Act) was examples where a developer’s beliefs, enshrined as a modern classic. He was introduced after strong remarks on the harmful nature of video games from Governor philosophies, prejudices or priorities only luke-warm towards it, being Rod Blagojevich late last year. The governor’s originally stated goal in suggesting the reveal themselves in a game. Remember disappointed by how it presented a world legislation was to help parents who “face unprecedented challenges in monitoring and how it proved impossible to construct a where everything was inevitable. You protecting their children from harmful influences.” The bill bans the rental and sale of decent functioning city in Sim City had to invent the wheel. You had to violent and sexually explicit video games to children younger than 18. The bill also without an extensive public transport invent religion. Rather than being free to requires retailers to label violent and sexually explicit video games, similar to the system? Imagine how the game may experiment in possible civilisations, it “Parental Advisory” label found on music CDs, and to post signs explaining the video differ if created by an advocate of the implies we live in a Liebnitzian Best of All game rating system. Retailers who violate the ban face a fine of $1,000. Fines are automobile industry. Staying with Maxis Possible Worlds. The world is what it had also imposed on retailers who fail to properly label games or place proper signs. games, consider the egalitarian sexual to be, and to Gary Penn, it was a shame. politics which permeates , with I’ve no idea whether Sid Meier believes While it is certain HB 4023 will be signed into law shortly, attempts to legislate video sexual orientation being a matter of in something like the inevitable march of games across the United States are being met with mixed results. In California, choice and all decisions being equally history, but Civilization certainly does. Assembly Bill 450 (Assemblyman Leland Yee) was voted down in May by a committee respected. At the other end of the of the California House of Representatives, which later reconsidered and approved it seriousness spectrum, until relatively In other words, a simulation is never just on a bipartisan, 6-4 vote. Reviving most of Yee’s original bill (AB 1792) from the year recently Sports Interactive’s incredibly a simulation. Equally, freedom is rarely before, AB450 proposes fines of up to $1,000 for retailers selling M-rated games to thorough management simulation of the actually free of designer-imposed children less than 17 years of age. North Carolina Senate Bill 2, also addressing game football/soccer leagues, Championship desires. Even in games with the most sales to minors, is currently in House committee. Manager (now Football Manager), had a self-expressed mandates of “choice” for terrible tendency for Everton to perform the gamer, it doesn’t mean that there The key problem for video game legislation is making the law durable enough to above what their statistical abilities isn’t a message. In Deus Ex, the withstand challenge once it is approved. Federal courts have already struck down should suggest. Eyebrows will remain generally politically liberal Ion Storm various regulations previously approved by Washington State, Indianapolis and St. unraised when I reveal that the Collyer Austin created a world where you could Louis County in Missouri, stating they encroach upon rights protected by the First brothers support a certain Liverpool- choose between violence and pacifistic Amendment. based team. approaches, but the charismatic characters urged you towards peace while the monsters suggested violence. To be praised by someone actually worth jump,” and start thinking, “I’ll jump.” liking, you had to restrain your more Just look at the language people use to scarlet impulses. Deus Ex’s central tenet talk about games to show how much was freedom of choice for the gamer, but their sense of identity has merged with it’s clear what choice Ion Storm wanted their in-game character. If someone’s you to make. enjoying a game, it’s, “It hit me,” never, “It hit my character,” in the same way At the other end of the ethical scale, mark. Most games bear no relation to viewed as machines for artificially that a human’s sense of self can expand Postal 2 is a genuinely monstrous game. military simulators at all. In fact, what inducing sensation in the gamer - digital to include the vehicle they’re in (“He hit You are positioned as an everyday Joe, games mostly choose to simulate bears hallucinations creating holidays in places me!” versus the actually correct “He hit going about everyday tasks, whose no relation to reality at all. Most of these that don’t exist. my car!”). everyday frustrations lead you to entirely games can’t be called a simulation atypical, grotesque violence. Most except in the very broadest sense. You Well, yes, but the counter-argument to Videogames are the simulator which troubling – and it’s this that reveals could argue the base laws of physical games’ rising importance is that’s swallows your consciousness alive and there’s something more than lizard-hind- causality, which form the majority of equally true that most forms of art or takes you to another place. While other brains at the developers, Running With games, make most games simulations. entertainment induce sensation. For forms just let you look at how the Scissors – it’s a choice by the player However, it sits awkwardly when you’re example, reading any piece of fiction, creators believe the world to be, games which leads to the slaughter. You are describing a simulator of something that from Dr. Seuss to James Joyce, is an let you step inside an artificial construct presented with the choice of sitting simply doesn’t (and never will) exist. exercise in building images and fictions and allow you to actually be there. through a tedious delay or short-cutting Describing Ocarina of Time as a boy- in your mind. Where games differ is their it by pulling out a shotgun and starting with-fairy simulator fails to really interactive nature. The feedback loop to blast away. It’s a nihilistic, sick gag, convince… or do justice. between your decisions and the game but it’s only really funny because you’ve involve you in a way other forms simply been made entirely complicit. They may Except, perversely, that’s what it actually can’t match. have wanted you to, but it was you who feels like to play the Zelda pantheon. pulled the trigger. It’s a game which Even if it’s a ludicrous, fantastical Games create a cybernetic system plays games with you. situation, it convinces you of its truth. between you and the machine, with your And it’s here where we find what I senses eventually expanding to possess But that moves beyond the strict suspect is the central core of gaming’s your avatar when you’ve sufficiently “simulations” which our Senator was power and why it should be the premier mastered the control system. This is the referencing, which only illustrates by form of interest of the twenty-first absolute magic of the form, where you how great a distance she missed her century. In this future, games can be stop thinking, “I need to press X to This is a fundamental power of the form interesting and worthy of discussion. All this line of argument does is lacerate and can’t be overstated. There’s never Living solely for the future is just as bad games for not being another form. It’s been anything quite like a videogame as living solely for the past. bemusing why games are always before. For this reason, Neophiles gather compared either film or the novel, as if around games, because they’re a form It’s in that spirit we find developers and they were the only art-forms worth which still has a little bit of The Future in gamers denigrating themselves. The mentioning. Why aren’t games compared them. While you can argue that games feeling seems to be that even though to – say – dance or architecture, which are grounded in postmodernism in that games are amusing enough at the are equally accepted as art forms and they, by their nature, celebrate the death moment, because they’re stuck dealing don’t operate anything like the silver of the author and explicitly make the with primary-coloured emotions and screen or the printed word? “reader” the driving force, the fact without the subtle blend of emotion that there’s still so much to do with them literature manages, games are somehow This form of inferiority complex has makes them absolutely modernist. As lesser. When will a game chart the emo- always been endemic in any new cultural the rest of pop-culture plays remix tricks esque moment of seeing someone who form. Last year, I finally got around to with the past and can’t even be bothered reminds you of a person with whom you reading Aristotle’s Poetics and was to start thinking about ways forward, had an ill-fated affair and now you charmed to discover that large sections videogames have a grand vista before experience regret mixed with longing involve Ari discussing the relative merits them of new, uncharted possibilities. But with a touch of realization that nothing between the new-kid Tragedy versus the competition where one must triumph, it’s not purely in potential where games will ever be the same again, and perhaps established form of Epic Verse. He cites the real situation is that Epic Verse are interesting. There’s more than a little bit of the colour mauve, as well as other critics who argue that Tragedy, succeeds in different things in different enough in their current actuality, rather literature can? featuring vulgar elements such as ways than does Tragedy. That’s all. In than their abstract future, to make them singing and creating works of hugely less other words, things in ancient Greece scale, is a lesser form than the were exactly as they are now. The new traditional Epic Verse. Aristotle plays it forms are judged according to the cute, arguing what they’ve analyzed as standards of the old forms, and found weaknesses are in fact strengths, wanting, until someone notes that while allowing Tragedy to move people in ways the new form may not excel in one area, Epic Verse simply can’t. it far exceeds the old in others.

I think he missed a trick in his So, no, games aren’t currently as able as determination to prove one superior to literature or film at capturing those the other, however. Rather than being a successful hybrids appear at every point between the two poles, shows how foolish such attempts are. Games are bigger than that. With games’ immersion through interactivity, they can abstractly take us anywhere, show us anything and allow us to do whatever we want. quiet, sensitive moments. And, while I smaller-screened sister television, So, where, precisely, is this brashly personally doubt this will prove to be the casting the last hundred years in soft, confident child of the arts going to take case, maybe they never will be. Really, it flickering light, still achieve magnificent us in the twenty-first century? doesn’t matter. When you manage to things, its ideas and boundaries are show me a book that captures the increasingly well plotted. Games have I really don’t know. exhilaration of flying down a snowy slope barely even started. while pulling a physically impossible And that’s exciting. contortion even a fraction as well as SSX It even helps games’ case that film is a Tricky does, we’ll talk about which one is more limited form in what it can present. Kieron Gillen has been writing about intrinsically superior. And please bury Games can and have consumed videogames for far too long now. His that absolutely vile concept that primal influences from all other arts, and rock and roll is to form an Electro- sensations are somehow “lesser”. Saying integrated them into a seamless whole. band with Miss Kittin and SHODAN it’s vulgar is just another way devotees While the academic fisticuffs between pairing up on vocals. of another form admit they can’t manage the mechanic-hungry Ludologists and the to appreciate it even a fraction as well story-obsessed Narratologists have and, through this label, put limits on attempted to define what gamesshould what’s an acceptable sensation for a be, all either has done is make the grand work to translate. totality of games smaller to fit their prejudices. As much as a classical Despite the nay-sayers, games are still Narratologist may snort at Tetris or a in the enviable position of being capable Ludologist take issue with a Final of expressing experiences other forms Fantasy game, to remove either from the have had difficulties with, where its canon lessens the import of the canon. competitors’ possibilities are at least That beloved games with real power partially quenched. While film, and its have come from both traditions, and I am a girl on the internet. Yes, I said it. A girl on the internet. There really are quite a few of us. I can type. I can play games with the best of you. And you, my friend, are about to get owned by a girl.

I’ve been watching and observing the internet for quite some time now. It’s like a science project with the usual control and variables. The control is: I am a girl. The variables are the medium through which this fact is expressed. The results all point to the same paradoxical conclusion: I am a girl, but girls do not exist on the internet.

Case 1: Adventures in IRC Teleios is a girl. omg, r u serious? yup, i heard her on vent. omg pics, now. No. c’mon. you’re not a girl if u don’t show us pics. I am a girl. then show us a pic. no. teleios is probably a guy using a voice thing cuz she won’t show a pic. ya, there are no girls on the intarweb. The above is an actual log from an IRC It becomes more apparent to me that nicely - well, he asked, period. It wasn’t channel I frequent. This isn’t just a this is a real issue. Why is it I cannot be just a random group invite. I’m poor and regular run of the mill IRC channel, this a girl if I don’t show my picture? As time could use a bit more coin, so I decided to is the channel where a large number of goes on, I get more confused. The idea give it a go. I respond to him, “Sure, the players from my World of Warcraft of having guys obsess over the fact that why not?” We head to Stratholme. server spend their time when at work, or a girl will not show her picture means during weekly maintenance, or just to one thing for men of the internet: They Someone says something about Johnny complain to the other faction when they are desperate. Depp’s character in Pirates of the are dealing with gankage. Carribean, Captain Jack Sparrow, and I Case 2: In-Game Meanderings respond with “hehe Jack Sparrow is hot.” This is the story of my internet life. (I’m I come home from work one night and I The conversation in party chat follows: not quite sure if it’s a good or bad thing log into my drug of choice, World of that I have an internet life, but internet Warcraft. It’s late, and I want to kill. I [Warrior]: omg wtf dude are you gay or life it is.) I’m a girl, I play games and I try to maintain a low profile because something? exist on the internet. Or so you think. sometimes being a girl on the internet [Rogue]: yeah dude, that’s sick Time after time, I get told I’m not a girl gets a bit troublesome. The immature and that I don’t exist. It’s happened so comments from the kids (“will u go out [Teleios]: I’m a girl. I can think guys much that I’m beginning to think that it’s with me”) and the “omg, she’s an are hot. true. internet whore” from everyone else gets [Nice Guy with Good Grammar]: Woah, to be a bit too much. But having too you’re a girl. That surprises me, you So, I spend some time getting to know many friends makes it impossible to are actually a good priest. No one them. Who are these mysterious keep the secret. has died. creatures called girls if they don’t exist [Teleios]: Well yeah, girls can play on the internet? What does this mean for I receive an in-game tell. “Hey Teleios, games and be good you know. the men of the internet? would you like to run Stratholme with us, [Shaman]: wow there’s a girl playing we need a priest.” I reread it, horde. Most girls are so insecure they teleios you gurl, pix plz? scrutinizing every last detail. I’m a have to play alliance to make kthxxb ai priest; I get a lot of group invites. Most themselves pretty. of them get turned down. This guy, [Teleios]: Well obviously that’s not a however, has proper grammar and asks problem for me. I like my priest as she is. Again, a girl who doesn’t show her Once the pictures actually come out, the [Rogue]: can I see ur pic plz? picture on the internet is not a girl and result is shock followed by denial and [Teleios]: no. the only girls on the internet are actually disbelief. The boys have a tendency to [Warrior]: come on why not? guys who are just trying to get free stuff. think it’s really someone’s sister or a [Teleios]: I don’t show my pic to Don’t get me wrong, I have gotten free random picture found on the internet, random people. stuff before, but I don’t solicit it. Not like but not who I really am. Remember, girls [Rogue]: ur not a girl. those “girls” who sit around dancing for don’t exist on the internet. [Teleios]: That’s right, girls don’t exist tips in game. You know who you are, and on the internet, or play games. you know you’re not a real girl. Real girls Case 4: Teamspeak and Ventrilo [Warrior]: at least not hot ones, they don’t exist on the internet. Here’s where the real test comes in. are all fat and stupid Teamspeak and Ventrilo are commonly [Teleios]: That’s not very nice. Case 3: The Instant Message used voice communication programs. I’m [Shaman]: If you are a girl, you’re I have befriended boys. We really just not afraid to get on one, but for the probably not hot either. play the game together. It’s nice to have longest time I was afraid to talk. [Rogue]: can we go, teleios isn’t a girl someone I can always do something with, or bug if another person is needed A few months back, I joined a rather in game, or even just someone to talk to large raiding guild in WoW. Ventrilo was when I don’t have anything else I can required for raiding, to allow for better do. Boy 4 and I are chatting about organization and quicker communication. random nonsensical things. We talk I didn’t have a problem with logging on about people in game and whether they and listening, but I was very nervous look like expected upon seeing real life about talking. There is one other girl in pictures. I show him my picture. The the guild who refuses to talk, and I very following conversation occurs: quickly learned why. A girl talking on a voice communication program results in Teleios: the same accusation every time: It’s a Boy 4: omg wtf big facade. Teleios: uh…. they won’t show pic Boy 4: Is that you? I made the mistake of speaking one day, [Nice Guy with Good Grammar]: Yeah, Teleios: Um, yeah. out of the blue. I didn’t give any warning I don’t believe it either. Probably Boy 4: wtf. Really? to anyone, and this was in the middle of someone just fishing for free stuff. Teleios: Yeah. a boss fight during the raid. The main tank calls out, “Teleios, heal me,” to “Was that you?” he asked. indicated by the long silence after I which I responded, “Okay, I got you.” I “Yeah, it was,” I replied. speak. didn’t even think about it, but what was “I’m really sorry everyone freaked out, to follow was perhaps one of the most I don’t think they are very used to Of course, most “girls” on Ventrilo are comical online experiences I’ve ever had having a girl around.” simply just guys using voice translators in my internet life. “It’s okay, I should have known better or having their sisters and girlfriends than to speak.” speak for them. Girls don’t exist on the “Who was that?” “Well, actually, I wanted to ask you internet. “Was that Teleios?” something.” “No, it couldn’t have been.” “Oh?” I asked with interest. Case 5: Meeting In Person “Whose girlfriend was that?” “Yeah, I was just wondering if you I’ve met a boy from the internet in “Get your girlfriend off Vent!” could speak on Ventrilo more often. I person before. The only problem was I really think it would help everyone if don’t think he was able to actually verify The voices were coming from all they heard you talk more often. Then that I was a girl. Reason being, he never directions. People got loud, people were they could get used to the fact that you looked at me. It really bothers me when talking on top of each other, the channel are a girl. Maybe then they will be a bit people don’t give me eye contact while got laggy from all the chaos. Raid mature.” talking to them, and he spent the entire members were dying because people “I guess I can, but I’m not going to adventure staring at the ground. I like stopped paying attention. No one was take any crap from anyone.” to talk; I could talk for hours. But I can’t really sure who had spoken. I very “It’s okay, I understand.” talk to the top of someone’s head. Am I suddenly got flooded with in game tells: really that scary? Or was the boy just “Was that you?” I didn’t reply to any, I I wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to afraid to face the truth that I am a girl? just kept my mouth shut, very quickly this request. The guild master was Maybe he was just trying to perpetuate realizing my mistake. A few people took asking me to talk more so boys could get the notion that girls don’t exist on the it to the next level, making some used to hearing a girl on Ventrilo. Since internet, and as long as he stared at his extremely harsh comments about girls, then, more “girls” have joined the guild, shoes, his zealous beliefs were justified. and girls playing the game. I didn’t talk and I’m not the only girl that speaks Well, the proof that I am a girl on the for the rest of the raid. It’s not anymore. The reactions still don’t cease internet is long gone now. His inability to uncommon for guys to make their to amaze me, and whenever a new scientifically evaluate the situation girlfriends speak when a lot of people are person joins and hears me speak, I can invariably means he’ll return to his listening. I figured I could play it off, but envision the double take they make, friends with the all-so-popular I got confronted by the guild master. conclusion: Girls do not exist on the The Summary internet. My adventures on the internet have led me to learn many things about myself. I also meet people at E3 and various I’m not a girl and I do not exist on the other conferences. I go to these internet. I do not play games and do not conferences and I enjoy myself, but I’ve know how to turn on my computer. I did noticed that very few people actually talk not build my own PC, nor did I buy a to me. It’s almost as if there’s a giant video game. I do not own a headset and bubble around me or I’m completely do not play first person shooters and invisible. Wherever I go, the crowd splits MMOGs. My life on the internet is an or I’m not seen at all, and someone comes intricate, well planned lie. running into me, knocking me over. When I look at myself, I see a girl on the I’ll try and wave at someone and get no internet and a girl with an internet life. I recognition. I’ll walk up to someone and see a girl who loves to play games and say, “Hey, what’s the PVP like in this kill the dirty Alliance faction in WoW. I game?” The presenter will look at me in see a girl who can bunny hop with the shock for a minute, whisper to a friend best of them and keep her kills higher and then attempt to explain to me what than her deaths in Counter Strike. I can PVP is. I know what PVP is; otherwise I talk the talk and walk the walk. But I am wouldn’t have asked the question. not a girl on the internet, because as I’ve been told before, I do not exist. I live in a bubble where the internet does not exist and am invisible in places Well, this is me telling you, I do exist. pertaining to the web. I do not know Owned. what PVP is and I’ve never touched a first person shooter before. Why must I Whitney Butts is the “woman behind the be treated like I am ignorant to gaming curtain” at The Escapist. Her existence and the internet? The answer is simply revolves around the fact that Mathematics that girls do not exist on the internet. is the key to the universe, and that she alone is the square root of all evil. I’m a gaming hobo. While my bindle is digital, I’d still like to pretend it resembles a red and white handkerchief slung over my shoulder as I meander from game to game, from genre to genre, in search of “home.” I’ve pondered the aspects of my nomadic rambling before, dueling fanboys and pragmatists, while defending my position that I’m not a picky whiner but someone in search of a gaming identity. Realization of my search came a few years ago, when it hit me that it just didn’t make sense to play III when Quake II was so much better. Good luck justifying that epiphany to the collective crowd that is mainstream gaming; according to the groupthink, “it’s better because it’s new, and you’re a grognard if you can’t adapt.” I never really earned the “gamer” title because I couldn’t fall in love with anything put in front of me.

I don’t consider myself a gamer; I consider myself someone who does things, and sometimes plays games. I read and talk and write about them more than I actually play them; I’m a fan of the ideal, the hype, the promise. I’ve argued design theory with masters of code to the point of profanity, but when the games finally hit shelves, all I could do was read the box quotes, shrug my shoulders, and wait for the Next Big Thing. I know I’m not alone. I’ve seen entire era and refuse to modernize, whether it’s tribes of refugees during my travels, because of an objection to new people fixated on one dead game or commercialism, the new emphasis of another. There are die-hard Ultima graphics over content, or to a controller Online fans, SubSpace freaks and with more buttons than an arbitrary geeks. As the Great City of Gaming figure they’ve allotted in their heads. builds itself on top of its history, an They’re the old timers of gaming, the undercurrent of homeless gamers people who liked it better when “then” wander between high-poly games, in was “now,” and make no bones about search of their previous gaming peak. telling everyone why. Rarely do they find it. The tribes converge from time to time, occasionally The online era has only made things trading stories, their artifacts from ages worse. Other hobos can now congregate past. The common theme is always the and lament over new games together, same: Where’s home? and even delve into those ultra-addictive MMOGs, only to be left wanting months So many games are going by the later. A few lucky ones find what it is wayside that even The Great Ones are they’re looking for; World of Warcraft starting to fall off the map. As with (WoW) has garnered numbers like anything great, it’s hard for us to say nothing else, which has injected hope goodbye. The games become a strange into the ranks of a surprisingly optimistic version of home, a personal place into crowd. Curmudgeons rule the which people channel themselves. And community, but the majority of gamers the ones without crap on the walls are are more than willing to give anything a hard to let go, because you’re never chance. They were genuinely interested quite sure when the next one you’d show in Molyneux’s Fable, even though it off to your friends is going to come didn’t meet anyone’s expectations. You around. can’t find home without searching, or so the vibe goes. Some people have just given up. They’re the disgruntled faction of “classic Finding a game to love is definitely not gamers” that peaked during an ancient hopeless for anyone. Companies are beginning to realize people had good to admit it, good games have been for the old school. Maybe it’s only occasionally lighting up, snapping out of ideas beyond, “Hey! Let’s add polygons made since the late ’90s. Vampire: The because it’s hard to have an old school their melancholy like a coma victim to that!” and are re-envisioning old Masquerade – Bloodlines by the now- mentality toward novelties previously emerging from the ether of the classics in some form or another. defunct developer Troika is guaranteed untouched by Western hands. Or maybe subconscious, discovering their latest owns the rights to to bring some new refugees into the mix. those same novelties are created by place to squat for a time, or even taking the Fallout license, which should elicit a Katamari Damacy has brought jaded groups who know how to instill spirit up residence with a new lease on their collective deafening cry of joy from every gamers out in droves, all tittering over into games instead of just the standard gaming lives. These awakenings leave fan community in the world. The Bard’s how much fun they’re having. “more is better” formula. me wondering, when is it my turn? Tale remake sent a wave of jubilation through many circles, rippling from deep Maybe Katamari Damacy is the secret. The revolving door of the gaming Maybe tomorrow. within central communities. And while It’s not all that deep – you run around homeless never stops spinning, each many of my fellow hobos might not want with a giant ball of stuff which you generation of consoles and video cards Joe Blancato is a Content Editor for convert into a bigger ball of stuff. It’s sucking in new hopefuls and spitting out The Escapist Magazine. simple, it’s fun, and most importantly, disoriented derelicts just looking for “not it’s new. We hobos understand it’s hard 2, damn it!” The horde is finally to go home again, but finding a new getting big enough to collapse upon place to dwell is almost as exciting as itself; sharp developers are beginning to taking off your boots in familiar territory. listen to our beleaguered cries. As I Strange innovations from the Orient continue shuffling around, I bump into might just usher in a new era of gaming other zombies like me, some of them Imagine, if you will, a first-person shooter game. Imagine it set in a science fiction world where humanity is on the verge of extinction from mysterious alien forces; imagine that it is beautifully rendered in the level design and complemented by a compelling storyline, and imagine that it is loaded with exotic alien weaponry that you can unleash on your friends and enemies in adversarial and cooperative multiplayer games alike. Not too hard to picture, right? Now - and here’s the tricky part - imagine this game as having been released eleven years ago.

Is that a bit more difficult to envision? It shouldn’t be, because you, as the kind of classy, educated gamer - you know, the kind who reads magazines that are distributed exclusively in PDF format - that you are, should have already played ’s Marathon trilogy back during the formative years of the FPS. Right now, Bungie’s is a phenomenon that has won critical acclaim, sold over $125 million in its first day of sales, and perhaps most significantly, drawn in the Average Joe to the wonderful world of online multiplayer gaming via Live. Anyone who wishes to understand this success would do well to investigate its roots in Marathon on the . Marathon’s game design has left its Shotgun, and the trusty old SPNKR mark, not only in Halo, but also in the rocket launcher (which lives on in Halo). genre as a whole. While the rest of the The multiplayer action, with game modes industry was collectively soiling like King of the Hill and Kill the Guy with themselves over ’s gritty texture the Ball instead of just boring old maps and the totally awesome BFG deathmatch, was the LAN party staple 9000, the Bungie folks were quietly for Mac gamers well into the Quake III pioneering FPS development with things Arena era. And the plot, which put you in like secondary fire modes, objective- the shoes of a cybernetically enhanced based missions instead of red keys and Security Officer, left you at the mercy of blue doors, plots that aren’t mind- a somewhat psychotic AI in a war numbingly boring, and so on. The fact between human and alien, and narrated that Marathon’s gameplay remains fresh everything to you by way of strategically and modern even now stands as a placed computer terminals; Marathon’s

testament to its pioneering game design storyline has a sublime perfection in its (or a depressing indicator of the video progress from straightforward alien- game industry’s stagnation, if your cup is killing in Marathon and Marathon 2 to a half empty). disturbing, disorienting tale of alternate realities, dreams, time travel, and But beyond all this lies a very strong godhood in Marathon Infinity, and sense of character; the levels range from establishes a narrative style that is the dark, claustrophobic corridors of the faintly echoed in the plot twists of Halo. colony ship Marathon to wide open, Yes, perhaps some bizarre sector of the colorful alien landscapes, and the gaming elite frown upon the populist weapons have their own quirky Halo 2 during their secret Katamari-and- personalities with names like the TOZT-7 caviar parties, but neither they nor Napalm Unit, the WSTE-M5 Combat anyone else can deny that the series’ to merely play games better, the achievements like Day of Defeat and Marathon elite, inspired by Bungie’s Counter-Strike, the Marathon modders official Vidmaster Challenge, gave rise to are no less significant.Marathon has its a long-standing tradition of masochism share of well-done total conversions, as by worshipping at the altar of the any decent modding group would; and Vidmaster; that is, the players who indeed, many of the fan-made simple elegance is a product of years began as any gaming community would. would record their feats of mastery by adventures are no less compelling and and years of toiling in relative obscurity. There was something about Marathon – not only beating levels as quickly and haunting than the actual series canon about making flawless one-shot kills with skillfully as they can, but also by adding itself, thanks in part to the inclusion of But where Halo 2 brought the modern the rocket launcher across the a certain amount of cocky flair to them Bungie’s own mapmaking tools with first-person shooter into the hands of the Thunderdome, maybe about those last by killing all moving things (friends and Infinity. But once again, the fans’ Everyman, Marathon inspired the exact few seconds of a game of King of the Hill enemies alike), using grenades for devotion carried them far above and opposite reaction. Marathon was Mac- - that forged a common bond across the locomotive purposes, not using any beyond the call of duty; few modding only, and rather than opening doors for a computer networks of the world. People weapons but the fists, and above all, groups will find themselves so inspired new class of average gamers, Marathon would swap war stories and game never retreating - all, of course, on the as to port the signature Marathon instead drew in the few and the proud: replays, puzzle over the plotline, run hardest difficulty setting possible. multiplayer gameplay to another game namely, those who not only owned a their lunchtime tournaments on engine, a la the Marathon: Rampancy Macintosh back in 1994, but played unsuspecting office networks, make a The community was composed of more for Unreal Tournament. Even fewer games on it. And so computer-illiterate few new maps - such is the life of any than just dedicated players; while people modding groups will ever be able to creative types and the aging-hippie gaming clique. But where, say, the will forever sing the praises of the Half- coordinate the resources and manpower system administrators and the children serious Doom II players would remain Life modification community for necessary to port all of the Marathon of yuppie parents and all the other happily with a few shared pursuits, the trilogy in its entirety to run on any predecessors of today’s mocha- Marathon players pursued all of this with modern computer - Macintosh or PC - in frappuccino-and-PowerBook kids banded a ferocious dedication that would warm high-resolution graphics and support for together out of love for perhaps the only the hearts of any game developer. true Internet play, neither of which were Mac game that was their own - and in supported by Bungie’s original product. doing so, created one of the most tightly One particularly poignant example: the Yes, that’s right; currently, the entire knit and zealously productive gaming current obsession with speed runs and Marathon trilogy is available for free communities ever. technical proficiency, popularized by the download, and it’s playable on your classic “Quake Done Quick” films, could home computer with Aleph One, a labor The Marathon community has its roots in very well include Marathon’s “Vidmaster” of love produced by Marathon’s faithful. Usenet forums, befitting its age, and it films in its hereditary tree. Not content Perhaps the most impressive display of Marathon dedication resides in the group of people surrounding the Marathon’s Story web site. Maintained by webmaster Hamish Sinclair, the site catalogs each terminal screen of plot exposition Bungie’s storytelling introductions to upcoming games have become classic, with the most recent present in the Marathon trilogy, plus example being the Haunted Apiary alternate reality game (2004, funded by , developed by years of communal discussion and 4orty2wo Entertainment, and approved by Bungie), also known as “ilovebees” (ILB). investigation. This plot discussion is no teenage “ZOMG AERIS IS ALIVE” fluff; Introduced in a movie trailer, “ilovebees.com” appeared to be a simple site about beekeeping that had Marathon’s story uses computer terminal been hacked. Players quickly determined that the site, and the messages that appeared on it, were gibberish, numerology, Shakespeare, the connected to Halo 2. Story wise, the activation of a mysterious artifact in 2552 caused a military ship’s Bible, ancient mythology, and complex A.I. to split into multiple personalities. One of these personalities traveled through space and time to mathematics, all within the context of its land on a web server in the year 2004. own rich backstory, and so it takes people literate in each subject to After landing, the A.I.’s mission to repair herself involved players worldwide, who answered payphones decipher each message. Many games and searched websites to gain clues and, together, put these puzzle pieces together. This game might have a secret message, a culminated in a live event spread across four cities (San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Austin) - a developer’s room, maybe a hidden level chance to play Halo 2 before the official release on November 9th. or two; not so many games will present the raw hexadecimal code of a secret One of the many links between Marathon and Halo is a common term called “rampancy,” used in both level file in the game’s own narrative series to signify when a computer A.I. goes “insane.” Rampancy occurs when a computer A.I.’s self- text, and not so many communities have awareness is enhanced to the point when it learns and develops greater mental abilities. In Marathon, the raw ingenuity and talent necessary all three A.I.s of the UESC Marathon become rampant. To announce Halo, the “Cortana Letters” to spot it. For years, people tore apart featured a Halo character that talked about her reality. The A.I. in ILB - the “Operator” or “Melissa” and analyzed everything they could - the (the name, incidentally, comes from the Greek bee nymph who nursed Zeus) - demonstrated the hex code of the data files, hidden effects of rampancy in a “smart” A.I., after she continued to function after her theoretical lifespan of messages in the manuals, even the bar seven years. Regardless of the fact Bungie has not considered the ILB material to be Bungie/Halo codes on the game boxes - and found canon to date (yet approved the ILB material), this recurring theme has proven to be solid enough to clues and easter eggs that helped them forge a connection between these games for hardcore fan and casual observer alike. piece the story together bit-by-bit. To the fans, Bungie had made a literary masterpiece, and they were determined create the illusion that it was a living, willing to invest their energies into to appreciate it, Quake and Unreal be breathing world. making modifications for the game, damned. Bungie accommodated them by releasing Which brings us back to Bungie itself. For their own map editors with Marathon And Bungie paid attention. One the notable part of the Marathon story is Infinity, and eventually releasing particularly notable anecdote from the not that Bungie made a pretty good Marathon 2’s source code and the whole Marathon’s Story website details the game, nor that the game inspired some trilogy’s data files to the public. And mystery of the Lost Network Packets; at people to do some fairly impressive when Marathon players began to analyze the site’s inception, a few inconsistencies things. Rather, it’s that Bungie was every line of text for plot significance, in the given dates and times of certain willing to take the game just as seriously Bungie encouraged them with additional events arose that made the Marathon as the fans were. Yes, Marathon players storyline supplements. Perhaps Bungie plot a little bit confusing. Rather than made the Vidmaster replays, but it was had this in mind while working on Halo: retroactively writing over the Bungie who issued the Vidmaster Marathon’s success wasn’t solely based troublesome dates in the sequel, Bungie Challenge. When Marathon players were on people loving it, but on people loving sent out a little tidbit side-story email to Bungie, too. Sinclair entitled the “Lost Network Packets” that managed to rectify the Pat Miller has been doing this for way dates - the date switching was too long. intentional on the part of one of the story’s AIs, said the protagonist of the Packets, as part of a defensive attempt to confuse alien hackers. Another tidbit came at the very beginning of Halo’s development, where mysterious emails originating from Bungie office computers with cryptic writing styles made their way to the site by way of someone named Cortana (who would later be known as the Halo AI character). It wasn’t enough for Bungie to create Marathon; they did their damnedest to EDITORIAL PRODUCTION BUSINESS Executive Editor Producer Publisher Julianne Greer Jonathan Hayter Alexander Macris

Content Editor Layout Artist Associate Publishers Joseph Blancato Jessica Fielhauer Jerry Godwin Russ Pitts Gregory Lincoln Lead Web Developer Contributing Editor Whitney Butts Director of Advertising JR Sutich Susan Briglia Web Developer Research Manager Erik Jacobson Media Sales Associate Nova Barlow Laura Rotondo IT Director Contributors Jason Smith Chairman of Themis Group Joe Blancato Thomas S. Kurz Whitney Butts Kieron Gillen Pat Miller John Sczcepaniak Max Steele Allen Varney

Volume 1, Issue 45, © 2006. The Escapist is published weekly by Themis Group, Inc. Produced in the United States of America. To contact the editors please email [email protected]. For a free subscription to The Escapist in PDF format please view www.escapistmagazine.com On screen, my module – the second I’ve channels. And unlike the other players, created with the Aurora toolset for he’s a computer game novice. The two – Neverwinter Nights – is finally his earnest roleplay and his computer proceeding smoothly. Jon is playing a RPG virginity – are of course correlated. fighter/sorcerer; Newton, a ranger; Brian, a paladin; and Scott has a rogue. “sup, newt?” texts Jon. “y u barkin?” They’re in the groove, fighting smartly, working as a team, a dozen years of It annoys me every time Jon speaks. Jon collective pen-and-paper experience used to be even better at staying in brought into real time to dispatch the character than Newton, back in the days pack of Worgs I’ve just flung at them. of face to face. That gift is long since gone, devoured by the gaping maw of The fight is just wrapping up, with MMORPGs. Newton slaying the last dire wolf, when he gets weird on us. “Woof,” Newton MMORPGs are, in fact, what has led us suddenly texts. “Arooooooo!” here, to Neverwinter Nights, to my second module. Jon, Brian, Scott, What’s going on here? Newton is a Newton and I used to all game together, consummate roleplayer, and always in in high school and college. Now, this is character when he types in the public back before D&D got dumbed down. We had to keep track of weapon speed Jon still bears the scars, unable to speak cooperative play. I downloaded modules I feverishly created a manifesto—a factors and “to hit versus armor” in complete sentences or roleplay for designed by players like myself. I mission statement—of what my adjustments. There was an entirely more than five seconds. Scott refuses to installed the Aurora toolset and learned modules would be like, and emailed it to separate rules system just for play characters who aren’t chaotic-evil. about scripting. And I realized, with that my friends. I wrote: pummeling. I mean, you had to be Brian keeps the online strategy guides deep, soul-searing inner knowledge that dedicated to be a gamer back then. And handy to ensure he always has the leads people to make the most foolish 1. The adventures will have plots and we were. optimal build for his dual-wielding dark decisions of their lives, that this was the puzzles, not just hack-and-slash. elf paladin/ninja. Newton is the only one Holy Grail. Using Aurora, I could succeed Items with glowing grey names (“half- Years later, some of the band gathered of us who stayed whole, because he where Turbine, Verant, and all others eaten corpse”) should be examined together on the PvP server of Asheron’s stayed away from MMORPGs. had failed. I could re-create the pen and for clues to the story. Call in a noble attempt to recapture paper experience. 2. There will be no respawning! Dead is these halcyon days. That experience Despite our scars, our desire for re- dead. was, shall we say, less than successful. capturing that tabletop experience didn’t I analyzed where the computer RPG 3. There will be no resting in the go away. When Neverwinter Nights came (CRPG) experience had gone wrong and dungeon proper. You’ll need to return out, I investigated: Could NWN be the what I had to do to change it. Death—a to base or find a safe spot. answer? I played through the campaign slap on the wrist in CRPGs—would be 4. This will be a Full PVP server, meaning single player, and tested it out with restored to its full tabletop menace. you can damage each other. This is “Friendly Fire” would be on, forcing for realism’s sake, not because I want players to think about tactics and you to slay each other. position rather than just fireball everything they encountered. Everyone read the manifesto and agreed Restrictions on resting would keep that these rules were the greatest gift to wizards in check. Yes, yes! computer roleplaying since Ultima VII. I puffed up with pride. The next day, we played my first A few minutes later, after I had With these changes in place, I designed masterpiece, a spelunking adventure in a resurrected everyone (just this one time the second adventure in a mere 28 maze of caves. The finale was you understand), Jon managed to hours. The module called for the group handcrafted with care: The grim lair of accidentally hit Scott with a spell and to kill an orc chief in a faraway fort. I giant spiders was dark, with special killed him again. Since player-inflicted planned for them to travel overland lighting effects. A chittering sound effect deaths shouldn’t count as, you know, through a vast 64-tile by 64-tile was set to go off as the party Real Deaths, I raised Scott again. The wilderness zone to meet a mysterious approached, and I had tiled the entry rest of the session played smoothly, and druid, Kostas, who would then give them area with blood, webbing, and a the group assured me that this module the information they needed to get to an highlighted “half-eaten corpse.” was The Best Module they’d ever played. orc village and complete their mission of Examining the corpse revealed that it Of course, they had suggestions for slaying the chieftain. “has been gnawed by something with improvement... great and terrible fangs. The stain of What a beauty my wilderness zone was! venom corrupts the wounds.” I grudgingly turned off the PVP flag for I lovingly handcrafted it with immersive the second module, but kept the content and encounters (a dryad with an The time came for the party to approach. permanent death rule from my ogre problem! A goblin hunting party! A Scott, the rogue, was on point, but he manifesto. I didn’t want the party to brook running into a lake with nearby had his sound turned off and wasn’t think there were no consequences to fawns and deer!) and I completely alerted by the chittering, and there was battle. Just because they had played scripted the main encounter with Kostas, too much “junk” painted in the entryway badly didn’t mean it was my job to the druid. I created an NPC faction for him to be warned by the body. Jon coddle them. However, in a nod to the system which tied Kostas into the entire and Newton rushed in to help when Scott difficulty of last session, I increased the ecology of the region, enemy to the blundered into the spiders, but the experience point award for killing goblins and orcs, friend to the deer and paladin, Brian, was AFK getting a soda. monsters—Neverwinter Nights defaulted dryad. By the time he arrived, the rest of the to a 10% reward, and I upped it to 25%. party was dead, and then a second later, Since there was more risk in my module When they zoned in (it took only about so was Brian. from fewer, more intelligent NPCs than in twenty minutes on Newton’s dial-up), traditional hack and slash CRPGs, it the party looked at the woodlands for made sense to amp up the reward, I about five seconds. Then they began explained to the party. systematically killing every living thing Scott, Jon, and Newton soon joined Brian After a few minutes of further hazing, they encountered in the zone that wasn’t and the deer in the land of the dead and the group glumly agreed to try harder to labeled “Kostas.” Fawns drinking at the the zone fell into a grim quiet. “You play right. I re-spawned them and told brook – dead. Deer bounding across the weren’t supposed to kill the deer! Now I them where the orc fort was hidden. Play woods – dead. “Why are you slaying all have to raise you from the dead and the commenced. Finally, the module began the wildlife?” I demanded. module is ruined!” I typed as loudly as I to proceed smoothly. The rogue found could. and disarmed the cunning orcish traps. “dood... 2.5 x normal xp for killing,” The heroes battled through the guard at explained Jon. “If you didn’t want us to kill the deer, the bridge. They dispatched the first why’d you put them there?” asked Scott. band of orcs. And then they came to the “Need to level up to fight orcs,” admitted worgs. (Like all hidden orc forts, this one Scott. “BECAUSE REAL FORESTS HAVE DEER! was guarded by a fierce pack of worgs.) IT’S MORE IMMERSIVE THIS WAY!” “I’m hunting to gather dried venison for This is the aftermath of the battle with our overland expedition,” rationalized At that moment, I felt that the problem the worgs: The worgs are dead. Newton Newton. with computer roleplaying games wasn’t is growling. Jon, Scott, and Brian are the games. It was the players. They just silently wondering what the hell is going After about thirty minutes of tile-by-tile didn’t get it. Here I was with friends on. The confusion goes on for literally slaughter, the party finally reached who were perfectly good tools for forty-five minutes. Kostas, the quest-giver, their only source executing my storylines in the living room, for the directions to the hidden orc fort. but put them behind a keyboard and they “Why are you howling like a wolf, It was after Kostas killed Brian that I simply couldn’t be bothered to try and do Newton? Speak English!” I demand. realized that my faction script had now what they were supposed to do. set Kostas to be the party’s enemy. Too ”Grrrr.... I am lyncathropic! I have many deer had been killed, you see. transformed into a wolf! Woof!” “Newton, why do you think your That moment was the turning point caused them to trek through the tunnels, character has lyncathropy?” I text. when I began to realize: Even with a while the umber hulk (a very powerful hands-on gamemaster and a small group monster) was set to a faction opposite “OOC: My avatar has been replaced with who knew each other, the the beetles. My thinking was the group a wolf. I must have gotten infected unpredictability of the computer would lead the beetles to the umber hulk during the fight and transformed!” environment wreaked havoc. How, I and use them to distract the creature pondered, could I hope to capture the while they snuck out. “your lousy dialup connection sux. u got essence of immersive tabletop play when a lag-bug!” says Jon. He’s right, I realize. I couldn’t even protect the players from A few minutes after entering the tunnel, Newton’s modem connection is prone to bugs? Brian, Scott, Jon, and Newton were all terrible lag. Somehow during the fight dead and it was my fault. The script I’d his game client has replaced the avatar Everything went downhill from there. use to place the fire beetles caused them of his ranger with an image of one of the The escape route from the orc fort took to endlessly re-spawn. That wasn’t a worgs. We’re still seeing his ranger, but the players into an underground tunnel problem when the beetles were just he’s seeing a wolf. It’s a bizarre bug. swarming with fire beetles and an umber being led to the umber hulk, but the hulk. The tunnel was another favored party had no idea there was an umber And we’ve lost almost an hour because area where I had lovingly spent hours hulk in the dungeon. So they had just Newton has been roleplaying the bug. crafting and designing. The beetles fed kept fighting... and fighting... on mushrooms I had painted onto the “Newton, stop growling. Stop tiles throughout the tunnel network. The Now it was their turn to level the roleplaying! Log out and log back in and umber hulk fed on the beetles. A special criticism on me. How were they let’s get this module going again.” spawn script created the fire beetles and supposed to know what to do? Was it immersive to have a spawn on endless I went back to the drawing board, and to have fun. In short, I created every The gameplay of computer RPGs doesn’t repeat? After sitting through their re-worked everything for my next other CRPG out there. feel like D&D in the old days and it righteous anger, I raised them all from module using what I had learned. I never will. Trying to design a computer the dead and we went on to finish the replaced my sprawling 64x64 zones We played it the following week. It game that plays like a tabletop RPG just module. But the joy was gone. with smaller areas that would be easier didn’t have a damn thing to do with makes for a broken computer game. It to load. I eliminated subtle clues in tabletop gaming but it was the one and seems obvious now, but like so many My manifesto was in shambles. My favor of short, simple and direct only successful session we had. It was designers before me, I had to learn it efforts at deep content and story-telling messages that couldn’t be missed, from also the last session. for myself. had been at best mediocre. Roleplaying NPCs that couldn’t be fought. I got rid had proven unworkable. What little of “immersive” fauna and flora that I couldn’t go on. Each module had taken I’m left with a new found respect for the immersion there was died at the hands were just for visual enhancement, and me twenty to thirty hours to create, and craft of computer game design, and a of designer error, lag, client bugs, or added random encounters with random ultimately where I ended was nothing strange sense of gratitude I didn’t learn player mistake. There was no fear of spawns to give the players the different from—and certainly no the lesson with a $5 million budget and consequences – rather than be an experience points they craved. I added improvement on—what was already out a team of twenty under my control. impactful and tragic event, death was a instant re-spawn on death at a cost of there. Even with a hands-on comedy. gold and experience. I let the players gamemaster, and a crew of gamers who And Newton—next time we play online rest wherever and whenever they knew each other from their face-to-face together, please don’t roleplay the bugs. wanted, and let them pause the fights if days, I hadn’t been successful in my they needed to. And I told the players quest to emulate the tabletop not to worry about roleplaying and just experience. The Holy Grail was forever Max Steele is an enigma wrapped inside outside my reach. a riddle. When not actively being mysterious, he passes his time manipulating time and space to fit his plans for world domination. I want to tell you something about of the more high profile members, gaming below the radar. I want to speak including the head of one such about an entire subculture that is so community. A renowned American awe-inspiring it causes you to re- gentleman who wishes to be known only evaluate the concept of gaming. as ASSEMbler, he tells us a little of himself and also the nature of such Normal retail methods make you can feel undocumented people, “Truth be told, I limited by the videogame items own large amounts of items, code, and displayed. Anyone can buy a copy of tools that have never been released, are Panzer Dragoon Saga, Metal Slug AES, sometimes of legendary status, or are of Ginga Fukei Densetsu or even the entire singular extant. I also own the names Fujitsu Marty collection. Throw enough and intellectual assets of several defunct money at eBay, and a myriad of studios. I own the masters and even the apparently rare gaming items are yours. rights to some unreleased games. But these things are not unusual. It However they were not free, they were takes intense passion and hard work to not easy goals to attain or items to get hold of truly obscure goods. There is acquire. It’s not easy to track people a secret underground community of down and coax them to sell items, to high-profile collectors who deal strictly in create a company to buy things, to take these most limited of oddities. out loans and risk your financial future to complex. I judge [a collector’s status] by acquire things. I’ve been sued, the amount of non retail items owned. If Oftentimes, such groups run the risk of threatened and watched for what I do. you have dev units, prototypes of the law, yet still dedicate their lives to Why do you think no one has ever seen consoles and games, or unreleased the acquisition and recording of things. a picture of me? And now, being part of hardware. Those take effort to get, In trying to uncover this secret realm, I the industry, working for a games everything else is just throwing money was graciously granted access to some company, it makes it even more at eBay.” with unreleased prototypes, development NR Reader machines. Great for playing and debug equipment, weird hack-jobs, prototype games six months before they and even commercially-released-but- hit the streets. You can be sure Nintendo poorly-marketed-failures all being doesn’t want you knowing this. Their focused on. court actions prove the point. But like moths to the flame, I can’t help but be At the lowest end of the commercial fascinated by what I’m not supposed to spectrum, console bootlegs from places see, especially when I know the four as far flung as central China and Brazil figure prices. But not all dev equipment will pique people’s interest. Many are is valuable. Dev Jaguars can be bought Famicom clones, but go further afield for little more than retail models, it’s the Unsurprisingly, all of those I spoke to and you’ll find all manner of obscurities. 4Mb Alpine II programming cards that wished to remain anonymous throughout How many varieties are there? As many push the value over $1,000 a piece. this article. as there are industrialized towns north of the Baltic. Yet people are determined to A little documented fact is that games Why go to such great lengths? Because collect and document them all. For the journalists are actually a reliable source it’s forbidden fruit. Items that gamers cream of the commercial crop, your for underground goods. How do you shouldn’t have, they inevitably want. It’s everyday 64DD, Bandai Pippin, and think they manage to play gold copies of cloak and dagger, certainly far more Marty systems will be vying for burned proprietary discs? Because the exciting than stepping into Wal-Mart, and collectors’ money. Released mainly in games companies supply them with in a way, replicating the role of Indiana Japan with a limited audience and small specialist modified hardware. Jones discovering that Holy Grail. selection of games, these are prized products for displaying. The real action, though, is unreleased The entire videogame community is like prototypes. We all know about 3DO, but a microcosm of society, with those at the For something with a little more flavor, what about it’s cancelled M2 successor? top and the bottom, and also those check out Nintendo’s top secret line of Never made it public, though the hidden from view who control events. development equipment. Ever heard technology was used in Japanese drink Let’s take a look at the big game these about the dark pink cartridge based machines and Russian ATMs. So prestigious hunters track. Gamecubes that exist, the fabled NPDP enamoured is the underground hardcore systems? Some even come emblazoned collective, there’s jovial banter of trying Hard-line Hardware with Nintendo Dolphin logos. For tastes a to smuggle said ATMs across the border, Desired hardware takes many guises, little more vanilla, seek the green boxed just for the hardware. As for modern dev kits and prototypes, scene’s most generous dealers, a Mr. L ASSEMbler tells me: “Usually a developer from England, who explained why: does not own the console, and has to “Some people will only trade [rare items] return all [proprietary] equipment when for unreleased games - money you can the lifespan is over. [They’re] usually come by any time and is easily spent on asked to be destroyed in the field. Unless junk, but unreleased games are harder more companies go bankrupt, you will to acquire. You can offer someone a see them either return the hardware or million and they still wouldn’t take it, but archive it for spares. You might see if you offered them an unreleased game some on sale due to employee theft, but then they’re more willing to part with considering it took ten years for Saturn their [rare items].” items to surface… They technically don’t own it in some cases, just the right to It’s this refined attitude that elevates make games on it.” proceedings to levels comparable with wine and antique collectors. Considering Meaning Microsoft wants their recently games such as the PAL version of Kizuna stolen X360 development kits back. Encounter reach $12,000, the prices are Merchandise so hot to handle, not even also comparable. Lower down, the the underground traders are dealing? I’ll Nintendo World Championship cartridge wager the scene’s best modders have still manages to clock over $6,000 on these babies, trying to create X360 mod- auction. If you can manage to find chips. someone willing to sell, that is. The willingness to sell is, due to the fact And with owning such hardware, you they’re already available digitally, buying will, of course, need games to play! them is purely for completeness’ sake. Singular items which have not been Scintillating Software duplicated command greater reverence, If such underground groups are like since there is no other way to experience virtual societies, then unreleased them. software and rare data is their specialized currency. Games are often Of note, here, are the unwritten rules traded like-for-like. I spoke to one of the traders live by. When unreleased games are used as trading currency, it’s review copies of DC games, while accepted no one will leak them, unless another from Belgium is holding onto his everyone agrees. Some things are never English Xbox copy of Rent-A-Hero, no allowed to be made public. A collector of matter how much money is rubbed in his unreleased PS1 titles, who amassed a face. staggering amount of games and dreams of collecting all such prototypes, But Japan is still Mecca, with Yahoo! offered to trade duplicates to further his Japan closely monitored by the goal. His rules were simple: trades only, influential seeking precious goods. But strictly no community releases. He not everything is so easy, one Mr. Kyu proved his ownership by showing from Massachusetts reveals, “You think watermarked images of his treasures, just any Japanese collector knows about such as the fourth installment of Star this stuff? Rare in Japan means business, Control. All attempts to contact him for there are specific ‘people’ to go through.” further info proved fruitless; contact is Duly proven to me when investigating obviously limited only to fellow the upper echelons of the collector aficionados. The lengths gone to fraternities in Japan; virtually acquiring these are immense. Said impenetrable due to the language barrier individual was later contemplating a trip and sense of security. You need to India to locate bootleg copies of the connections to move in their world, and rare unreleased Clayfighter Extreme on sometimes it takes upwards of 10 years the PS1. to convince and gain the trust of such recluses. People like ASSEMbler Again, games journalists are a good simultaneously own both a home in the source for unreleased games. They’re U.S. and an apartment in Japan to sent early review copies, and if a game further such activities. gets cancelled, it’s instant money. Journalists live by a different code, and Luckily a few generous people, such as so once articles get published, there’s no Mr. L, enjoy buying prototypes purely in problem selling merchandise. An order to release them to the community. Australian I know made obscene One such (unsuccessful) attempt was amounts of profit selling unreleased Ochouchi Gengorou Ikka on the N64, selling online for $500. The idea was to threatened with legal action, but it’s fund its release, rather than it expensive and not fun.” disappearing into a collector’s hands. Mr. L was eager to speak on such matters, I also spoke to the legendary Lost Levels “It’s a chance to play stuff that most will founder and all around nice guy, Frank never see. Smaller items can cost a few Cifaldi, about the reluctance to release hundred, but purchases can often be in publicly. “A lot of people have this elitist the thousands. Usually it takes a lot of need to be the only person able to play a time to acquire items - 6 to 12 months game, some have this weird belief that easily, some things take years to holding on to a one-of-a-kind game gives surface. Companies should provide more it ‘legendary’ status and makes it more information, instead of leaving it to ‘historically valuable’ than it would be if flimsy press releases, leaked documents [publicly available], and still others just and speculation - it would help clear up mouth off about how much they paid for the facts and paint a better picture of the damned things. No one but the gaming history.” So popular is his game’s copyright holder is entitled to generosity, there is constant discussion have a game never sold at retail level. as to which title should be pursued next. The rest of us either rely on the kindness Long may he succeed. of strangers, or spend a hell of a lot of money dealing on the black market. To But many people abhor public releases, me, once I’m over the excitement of complaining it devalues things, and with being Indiana Jones and discovering CD media, allows people to sell something special and new, I specifically duplications for profit. ASSEMbler is want to see how other people react to it. more concerned about the legal Seeing people actively playing and implications, “Software allows reverse discussing the game I found is much engineering, and potentially, piracy. more gratifying to me than being able to Everyone remembers the damage done brag about having something.” by the code that became Dreamcast boot CDs. It would be foolish to openly There have been two very big events in distribute software for dev kits. I don’t recent months. The first is that a short know if you have ever been sued [or] playable Saturn demo of Sonic Xtreme surfaced, the seller being an employee of companies dislike such people, and have Sega. It was done via proxy with the threatened and/or taken legal action final bid coming at a cheap $2,500, against them. Because of this, people though only after a rather unpleasant who want to contribute to the fiasco involving betrayal and vindictive community, and help build the archives, revenge. The community was shaken to need to do so discreetly. Until the day its core. Thankfully, when the dust that companies realise that people are cleared, ASSEMbler assured us it was in interested in these games and would the safe hands of a trusted collector. A love to see them, archiving such piece of history was saved, though information and media will remain a people wept because it wouldn’t be relatively underground task.” And so, I publicly released. assure everyone I won’t mention that people are playing on the The second event is, four blue 64DD Saturn, Robotech on the N64, or running development disks have appeared, and the halls of Biohazard 1.5. they may contain Mother 3. Speculation is intense, but there are problems Community Camaraderie getting the disks to load. It requires And there I was, thinking I’d hit the big specialist equipment, which is in short time when getting hold of Propeller supply. But many are pledging Arena. Like so many previously exalted assistance. Collectors are also reported commodities, it’s now common amongst to have offered undisclosed five figure the ranks, becoming part of the great sums to own these disks, assuming online data stores used for archiving. A they’re genuine. treasure trove of illegal and oh-so-highly prized ones and zeros. I was granted Some unreleased games are legally so only brief access to just one such secret hot, corporations feverishly pursue those and bountiful oasis of data, strictly for who have copies in order to stop their research purposes and validating mere mentioning. Mr. F from Florida people’s claims. These watering holes elaborates, “There are a few wealthy are reserved specifically for loyal collectors who have been generous and community participants, and is indicative shared with the community, but of the camaraderie present. If you want of exclusive video footage and images. to take, you have to give as well. Plus other data that would make a man’s blood run cold with awe. “Some people have gushed over how amazing and wonderful it is for someone How do communities acquire such to amass these things and be willing to hardware, software and data? Simple. share them. I archived [such media] Employee theft, company bankruptcy until a time when I had the means to and liquidation, sheer luck, and share it with others who cared to see anonymous contacts. Several set up what the corporations [were hiding]. dummy companies for the sole purpose Much of the software collected has been of purchasing assets when others go into submitted either by contacts I know, or liquidation. It doesn’t cost much to set anonymous individuals who for various up a registered company, allowing you to reasons I have decided to trust. At one transcend the black market. ASSEMbler point, I was open to letting [everyone] explains, “I have started my own have access, but it became a problem as company devoted to such efforts. It everyone would come in, get what they allows me to legally buy items, to have wanted, and never contribute anything. an ability to preserve whole failed After changing it so that I had to companies or at least some of their approve each person’s access, I saw a assets as complete.” dramatic improvement in how people treat the service that I provide.” - Mr. F The close-knit community spirit is from Florida again, one of many strong, while the group is also illustrious data keepers. apprehensive of outsiders. These communities have no promotion, those And playing by the rules is certainly who seek the rare find their own way. worth it, since within their bosom is kept Readers seeking them out should avoid things such as unreleased copies of Sega the social faux-pas of demanding free CD, Turbo Duo, PS1, Dreamcast and access to items, as ASSEMbler points Saturn games. There are also NDA out, “I would release all I have, but the protected documents for all the latest result is that I can be held legally hardware, not to mention an abundance accountable. Information wants to be free, and eventually it will be, but not smoke-filled room with low lighting, one speakers. Look at the forums where The otherwise be lost, virtual book keepers with my name directly attached. I regales me about the time he privately Escapist is discussed. Within these you so to speak, who are everywhere. shouldn’t be expected to give away the shipped a Harley Motorcycle to Japan in will find elite international collectors and fruits of hard labor.” exchange for a one-of-a-kind piece of dealers, moving like shadows amongst There is so little known about these hardware stolen by Indonesian sea the loquacious debates. It would be too things and so much to learn. I’m just Even if you relentlessly pursue this pirates. While another muses about the much to jest that they infiltrate these through the looking glass. Just how far underworld, some doors forever remain time he had to call Korea and explain gaming communities to keep tabs on does the rabbit hole go? locked. There are secret, strictly that a mysterious MSX labelled package developments, rather comparisons guarded, members-only IRC channels did not in fact contain MSX missile parts. should be made to groups such as the John Szczepaniak is a South African and message boards. Like a maze within Freemasons. An underground secret freelance videogame writer with a a labyrinth, in them resides a small When conversing among them, one society for the digital age, dealing in preference for retro games. He is also a group of maybe 20 of the most wealthy notices familiar people. I’ve recognized knowledge and acquisitions not meant staff member on the Retro Survival and powerful. If a floundering company several who frequent various other for the masses. Like a secret hive that project, which contains articles on retro has items they want, they simply buy online communities, often holding archives information that would gaming and is well worth investigating. said company and all its assets. In a moderator positions, or are prominent John Szczepaniak, “Obscurity Below Joe Blancato, “The Left Behind,” the Radar” Content Editor Each week we ask a question of our staff and featured writers to learn a little bit If we’re talking games, then “There and Back Again, or WHORES!” My about them and gain some insight into where they are coming from. This week’s “Tramampolining Gunmen,” definitely. No first and last attempt at memoir. question is: two websites ever spelled it the same. If we’re talking articles ... Well, excusing Julianne Greer, Executive Editor the absurdly surreal “Mr Biffo Dialogues” “I Haff KEELT It.” It was a short re- I wrote in school (it’s a U.K. thing), then telling of my dog’s and my adventures in probably “ a Go Go, Baby!” for The spider extermination. Escapist (it’s a Viewtiful Joe thing).

Allen Varney, “The Conquest of Kieron Gillen, “Culture Wargamer” JR Sutich, Contributing Editor Origin” You may remember a few years ago “The sworn affidavit of Gerald Peter Although the PARANOIA game I write for when a major Sikh organization got Sutich, Jr. as witnessed by the Clerk of features many unorthodox titles - “Send annoyed with Hitman 2 for its Superior Court, Cascade County, in the Clones,” “The Yellow Clearance presentation of Sikhism. I was writing an Montana.” Black Box Blues,” “Vapors Don’t Shoot article on it, and how they were taking Back” - the best (or worst) example in legal action and so on. While we wimped Russ Pitts, Acquisitions Editor my career is non-PARANOIA. In the early out and ended up with a terribly formal “Chibi-Robo: Zen and the Art of No-Wax ‘90s I wrote a pick-a-path adventure “Sikh Hitman Outrage,” for a few hours it Floor Maintenance.” gamebook set in a fantasy world where was entitled “Desperately Sikhing Sues- undead monsters had taken over, and Them.” We got it into a side-bar mini- the player was an undead Paladin news story a few issues later. fighting to drive them out. I had the premise handed to me along with the title: “Knight of the Living Dead.”