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Terrano explains his history and wishes that game writers knew what game designers know.

At Ensemble, Game Writers Conference keynote lecturer Mark Terrano was lead designer on Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings, and as part of the Microsoft Xbox team, he helped developers improve their games. In that capacity, he oversaw a wide variety of games and development processes. Now he’s design director for Hidden Path Entertainment, an independent game company, which lets him claim experience in both big and small development companies.

Terrano’s keynote was peppered with big-picture ideas and humor, starting out with him saying he’s a game designer and storyteller, but not a writer, so he decided to focus his talk on what he wishes game writers knew, from his perspective as a designer and as a game player.

Games Are Not Movies

One quote he used to illustrate his point was from Steven Spielberg, who said he thought games would arrive as an entertainment medium when, “somebody confesses that they cried at level seventeen.” Terrano thinks this is looking at games all wrong. He says everyone, including writers, needs to stop comparing games to other media – saying it’s “kinda like a movie,” or “kinda like a book.” He says games can’t even be classed in the same ways.

For instance, a movie taking place in the old west with a sheriff and gunslingers is called a “Western.” If it takes place on a space station with ray guns, it’s “Sci-Fi.” If it’s in the gritty underbelly of the city with mobsters and crime, it’s “Film Noir.” In games, though, if it’s set in the old west with gunslingers, it’s a shooter. If it’s on a space station with rayguns, it’s a shooter. If it’s got mobsters killing people, it’s a shooter. Game genres are about interaction, not about setting.
More at: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10776

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