I finally wrote an exhaustive review of Katawa Shoujo, the visual romance novel set in a facility for disabled teens (you may recall I first covered it back in 2010, exploring the cultural genesis of such an unusual idea). Over the past few weeks since the fan-made game’s made its long awaited launch, tons of you have been mailing and tweeting to see if I’d played the final version, so now here you are.
Games about conversations, about dating, about things less tangible than action, are clearly overwhelming to develop (and also to interpret critically, come to think). But I like when people try. Boy, do I! Over at Gamasutra, we’re doing those annual Road to the IGF interviews with the festival’s finalists, and today I’ve done one with the folks behind Prom Week, a game that promises an unprecedentedly sophisticated conversation engine.
The team gives a pretty fascinating interview. Mattie Brice asked me on Twitter about why more people don’t try to push social simulation technology (like, why was Facade so long ago, for example, with few comparable examples since?)
I think it’s because not only is it an enormous technical challenge, there’s also the perception that it’s a niche, a thankless academic corner that will never reach beyond an “indie” audience. Good thing some people try, though. (Mattie, is it a coincidence you go by xGalatea online, where Galatea the game is among the most iconic examples of groundbreaking, conversation-oriented interactive fiction in history?)
Anyway, back on task; I also interviewed the creators of musical landscape game Proteus for the Road to the IGF series. Cannot believe it’s only a handful of weeks til GDC!
This past weekend was the 2012 Global Game Jam. Good thing I have loads of friends who make video games for me to look at and talk about! As soon as I catch up with what all my favorite people have got done I’ll let you know about it.