Comments on: Interactive Fiction Goes to Market http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/ A group blog about computer narrative, games, poetry, and art. Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:43:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: ross http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/comment-page-1/#comment-409992 ross Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:14:14 +0000 http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/#comment-409992 planescape: torment was made by a gaming company good text in that one planescape: torment was made by a gaming company

good text in that one

]]> By: josemanuel http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/comment-page-1/#comment-407489 josemanuel Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:04:40 +0000 http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/#comment-407489 David, I, personally, don't see the relationship between an IF device and the use of computers for educational purposes. My idea was really more oriented toward adults going to work or college on the bus or on the train, than toward children in class. (Though I wouldn't mind seeing kids go to school playing IF.) Also, since I wrote the article, I realized that my initial idea was too restrictive: Why impose a limit on the uses a device can have? Why just interactive fiction, and not also e-books, or images, or even music and videos given that Gesaku is supposed to have multimedia support? As for individual authorship vs corporate development, that idea is intimately related with interactive fiction being a literary genre. If IF is sold as a kind of book, and not as a game, then it could be seen as something new, and that should give more commercial appeal to it. It's not that it shouldn't be created by corporations. It's just that, then, it would have to be marketed as a gaming genre, and it would be less interesting to potential buyers, in my opinion. Of course, if the corporation is also a (books) publisher, then there should be no <em>big</em> difference between individual and corporate authorship, as far as costs and commercial appeal are concerned. David, I, personally, don’t see the relationship between an IF device and the use of computers for educational purposes. My idea was really more oriented toward adults going to work or college on the bus or on the train, than toward children in class. (Though I wouldn’t mind seeing kids go to school playing IF.) Also, since I wrote the article, I realized that my initial idea was too restrictive: Why impose a limit on the uses a device can have? Why just interactive fiction, and not also e-books, or images, or even music and videos given that Gesaku is supposed to have multimedia support?

As for individual authorship vs corporate development, that idea is intimately related with interactive fiction being a literary genre. If IF is sold as a kind of book, and not as a game, then it could be seen as something new, and that should give more commercial appeal to it. It’s not that it shouldn’t be created by corporations. It’s just that, then, it would have to be marketed as a gaming genre, and it would be less interesting to potential buyers, in my opinion. Of course, if the corporation is also a (books) publisher, then there should be no big difference between individual and corporate authorship, as far as costs and commercial appeal are concerned.

]]> By: David Cornelson http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/comment-page-1/#comment-404945 David Cornelson Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:57:30 +0000 http://grandtextauto.org/2009/01/27/interactive-fiction-goes-to-market/#comment-404945 Thanks Nick. I continue to be aggressive with dates and they keep sliding. But we're actively pushing the testing, the artwork, and the user interface to come together soon for Secret Letter. Klockwerk should follow shortly afterwards. I think Empathy will lag until late summer. I love the idea of an IF device, but I think the netbooks, the 6" x 9" laptops, are going to become ubiquitous in middle and high schools. In the next few years they will likely be the defacto device for reading and doing homework. School books are going to be licensed software (probably already are). Since this is just a PC, IF games will certainly be compatible...the issue will be how the games are presented, which has always been my mantra. IF is great..we just need to sell it better. I don't see why individual authorship can't happily coexist with corporate development and in fact I've argued they would eventually feed off of each other. Anyway...look for Secret Letter soon. Thanks Nick. I continue to be aggressive with dates and they keep sliding. But we’re actively pushing the testing, the artwork, and the user interface to come together soon for Secret Letter. Klockwerk should follow shortly afterwards. I think Empathy will lag until late summer.

I love the idea of an IF device, but I think the netbooks, the 6″ x 9″ laptops, are going to become ubiquitous in middle and high schools. In the next few years they will likely be the defacto device for reading and doing homework. School books are going to be licensed software (probably already are). Since this is just a PC, IF games will certainly be compatible…the issue will be how the games are presented, which has always been my mantra. IF is great..we just need to sell it better.

I don’t see why individual authorship can’t happily coexist with corporate development and in fact I’ve argued they would eventually feed off of each other.

Anyway…look for Secret Letter soon.

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