David Cage, founder of video games developer studio Quantic Dream which has produced games like Heavy Rain and the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls, took the stage at D.I.C.E. 2013 to lead a thought-provoking presentation he called “The Peter Pan Syndrome: The Industry That Refused to Grow Up.” The keynote speech, which clocks in at just under half an hour, explores the video game industry today and Cage argues that it is about time the industry as a whole undergo some radical changes so that it can reach its full potential and a wider, mass audience. For example, he notes that video games have been around for over 40 years and during this time the majority of titles feature the same themes, worlds, and paradigms. He imagines a future where developers push the envelope and embrace storytelling; he wishes for more games like Journey and less like Call of Duty. He shares a humorous anecdote about a developer who couldn’t comprehend a game without the hero carrying a gun or some sort of weapon. We need to break free from this mold, says Cage, and over the course of his engaging presentation he presents a number of ways in which industry can do so.
Tag Archives: D.I.C.E.
J.J. Abrams and Valve’s Gabe Newell strike a deal to produce movies and games based on their respective projects [Update: video]
At this year’s D.I.C.E. summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain), co-founder of game developer Valve conversed with filmmaker J.J. Abrams about collaborating on future projects. Gamers and sci-fi fanatics alike, perk up. Newell and Abrams have expressed their interest in bringing some of Valve’s most popular titles–Half-Life and Portal, specifically–to the big screen. “We’re going to try and figure out if we can make a Half-Life movie or a Portal movie together,” said Newell. Additionally, Abrams said that he’d be interesting in working with Valve to create video games inspired by Bad Robot films. Apparently this partnership has been in the making for awhile. “We sort of reached the point where we decided that we needed to do more than talk,” Newell admitted. Though details beyond these are sparse, this is something to definitely be excited about and when more comes through the pipeline you’ll know.
Update: The exciting announcement laid out above came at the very end of a rich 20-minute conversation during which the Bad Robot and Valve founders discussed storytelling methods in movies and video games. At first the two make friendly jabs at each other’s work but quickly the back-and-forth evolves into a stimulating discussion about the importance of the relationship between the viewer/player and the on-screen experience. Watch the full clip courtesy of D.I.C.E. after the break.
[Via Engadget; Joystiq] Continue reading J.J. Abrams and Valve’s Gabe Newell strike a deal to produce movies and games based on their respective projects [Update: video]