As if being one of the innovators of the god game back in the early Nineties wasn’t enough, Peter Molyneux managed to help alter the course of gaming by revisiting the seemingly simple idea of the “human game.” His Fable series is now the poster child for incorporating human choices and giving them bearing on your character’s evolution.
At Saturday’s panel “The Emotion Engine: Can a Video Game Speak to the Heart?”, Molyneux talked about buzz game Heavy Rain, which puts the player on the hunt for a serial killer by making difficult moral choices along the way. Molyneux encouraged everyone to buy the game and see the future of gaming. His own personal complaint was that the game was so painfully dark that he couldn’t play it for more than 10 minutes at a time. Rain is lousy with difficult decisions of life, death, sacrifice, and other heavy themes. What it’s missing, in Molyneux’s mind, is some of the joyful decisions (hot dogs or hamburgers, springs to mind) that give a more well-rounded emotional experience.
On a similar note, the king of Lionhead Studios had more than a few pointed things to say about the limited powers of the film industry. I suppose it could be considered a common theme at the Interactive Festival, but the lack of interaction sat at the root of films problems. If Heavy Rain had a problem with limiting options just to keep the tone a bit consistent, it stands to reason that film limits things to a degree that is hard to forgive. No interaction whatsoever? Pish-posh. Strange then, that Molyneux also openly called for writers, cinematographers, and other film-oriented folk to e-mail him. Positions are apparently available.
When it came right down to it, despite Molyneux’s charm, many people undoubtedly filled the seats to see footage for Fable III. And, yes, there was some. And, yes, the interactions were impressively lifelike and had the ability to pull at the heartstrings (eg., when you, a father, throw your daughter into the air playfully) and the morality stings (eg., as you drag a beggar to be sold into slavery at the nearby factory). Secrecy was clearly tantamount as the projector often had to be blocked by Molyneux’s coworkers lest the crowd get a view of something not yet ready for public eyes.
However, it was no secret that the game will utilize (but not necessitate) Xbox’s upcoming motion-sensing controller, Project Natal. There wasn’t much else to say on that front.
Interviewer Frank Rose of Wired, who is writing a book on the increasing prevalence of immersion in interactive entertainment, predictably pushed that angle asking about the limits of immersion. Molyneux, pining for a day when the Holodeck is a reality, said that the main limitation to complete immersion is technology. He added that games are not designed to replace human relationships but to enhance them. I’ll admit I question the validity of that claim, but who am I to question a god-game creator.
This article appears in March 12 • 2010.
