Am I shrewd or what?

I made my last attempt (for now) to break into the video games industry last night. Turning down some easy money whoring for Second City, I instead paid fifty bucks to visit the U of T Faculty Club for a panel discussion entitled "Competing in the Video Games Sector". All my hard-earned half-hundred got me was some dried-out sandwiches and a plea from John Buchanan of Electronic Arts for computer science academics to do EA's research for their thesis papers.

Something was clearly missing from this picture. On the subject of game development, the only mention of story and character came with a brief nod to Max Payne, which, despite having animation and artwork that both "suck", is one of the industry's best-selling titles right now. And why? Because, in John's words "the story and characters are great".

Well, duh!

I'm thinking that the games industry has to get to the same place digital video is at, that is, where the tools are easy enough for sage storytellers like myself to use. We're clearly on the way there; the iShell software I used at nerd school is great for prototyping, and the makers of Max Payne apparently licensed their game engine from a third party instead of programming their own. But only when the power to produce content no longer requires a BSc will we see a real renaissance in interactive entertainment, and a killer game from yours truly. Until that day, standouts like Shenmue will be the exception rather than the rule.

The only good thing about my quarantine of the past few days was the free time I had to finish the second installment of Shenmue. It may just be my fever talking, but I firmly believe that this series is the standard-bearer for no less than the future of interactive entertainment. More than a video game, Shenmue is taking important steps towards the type of cyberdrama prophesied by Janet Murray.

Leaving aside the ten dollar words for a moment, let's talk value. Since November of 2001 I've been through seven game disks, each taking about ten hours to complete. I've spent a total of about two hundred dollars on Shenmue I and II, or just under three bucks per hour of entertainment -- less than half the cost per hour of a new release film at the theatre. And instead of sitting on my ass eating popcorn and looking at the pretty pictures, I'm actually taking an active part in the story. More importantly, even after seventy hours, the story of Shenmue is just getting started!

I'm certainly not saying that the hundred years plus of cinema history is now irrelevant -- I did go to film school after all. In fact, one of Shenmue's most appealing qualities is its exploitation of cinematic conventions. There are as many cut movies as there are interactive scenarios, and unlike you're typical shoot 'em ups, your reward for solving a puzzle or defeating an enemy is far greater than access to the next level of play.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Shenmue is its release as a feature-length movie, not as a live-action Hollywood crap-fest starring Angelina Jolie, but with the same 3D renderings of the actual game.

Mr. Suzuki, cheers to Yu!

Perhaps the gods are punishing me for stopping people on the street on the one of the coldest days of the year, asking them what their favourite MasterCard commercial was. If you've ever been shot down by an attractive member of the opposite sex, you know but half of the misery I felt on the lonely corner of Front and Church Streets this past Wednesday afternoon. I also learned that precious few citizens are watching anything on the idiot box these days, but if you've been keeping up with these pages, you already knew that.

Maybe it's just the cosmos doling out some karmic balance for this.

The only other news I have right now is some musical FYI stuff. In a miraculous accident of programming, a U.K. band called Budapest, apparently BritPop's next big thing, opened for my Conservatory class at The Rivoli Tuesday night! And speaking of music, you'll find a plug for Dictionaraoke.com in the back of this month's WIRED magazine. Good for a quick laugh if you've nothing better to do. I didn't.

Unless it's this website, of course...

I guess you could call my site a weblog, though it's mandate is more commentary than diary. And surfing last night from Wesley's homepage to the Bloggie Awards to other tedium only strengthened my resolve to push beyond the boundaries of a mere online journal.

In the meantime, here's that Shenmue II minigame I was writing about yesterday...

My import copy of Shenmue II finally arrived yesterday. You may remember me complaining about the lead character having to get a job in the first installment; if you don't, check last year's August 26th entry. Well, this time Ryo gets his wallet stolen right off the top of the game, and has to earn pocket change by moving crates with this Chinese dude who somehow manages to be bossy and whiny at the same time! Words cannot describe how bizarre this minigame is, so look for a QuickTime movie on my treats page in the next day or two...

Right now you can visit my updated downloads page, and get yourself copies of my brand-new eBooks =:-o