The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for holding talks with the Squirmles to try and talk them down from a diplomatic incident after my cat’s various war crimes. Before that, let’s read this week’s best writing about games (and game related things!)

A.I. Isn’t Going To Make Art, writes Ted Chiang for the New Yorker (paywalled unless you refresh the page a bunch of times).

Many novelists have had the experience of being approached by someone convinced that they have a great idea for a novel, which they are willing to share in exchange for a fifty-fifty split of the proceeds. Such a person inadvertently reveals that they think formulating sentences is a nuisance rather than a fundamental part of storytelling in prose. Generative A.I. appeals to people who think they can express themselves in a medium without actually working in that medium. But the creators of traditional novels, paintings, and films are drawn to those art forms because they see the unique expressive potential that each medium affords. It is their eagerness to take full advantage of those potentialities that makes their work satisfying, whether as entertainment or as art.

Monica Harrington shares her story of The Early Days Of Valve From A Woman Inside.

I was in a panic. We hadn’t made back the money we’d invested. The buzz was continuing to build, but we had a long way to go. I told Mike that we needed time to figure out a pathway out, as at that time, the value of our ownership stake was highly questionable. At the same time, I was also panicked because I’d read, for the first time, the contractual agreement between Sierra and Valve, and while I thought I’d understood the key terms Gabe and Mike had agreed to, there were several points I hadn’t been aware of. Chief among them was that Sierra owned all of the intellectual property for Half-Life and held the exclusive option to publish Valve’s next two games, all at a royalty rate for Valve of 15 percent. We would do all of the development work with an upfront royalty advance of $1 million for each of those games, and Sierra would get 85% of the revenue and all of the intellectual property. At the time, I knew development costs were approaching $5 million or more per game

Given the licensing deal we had with id for the game engine license, the lack of any ownership of our own IP, and the exclusive commitment for future game publishing rights, all I could see was Valve swimming in red ink for years to come.

We needed a different path forward.

Hannah Nicklin’s contribution to Eurogamer’s Where will games be in 25 years? stopped me dead in my tracks. In my chair.

Though we didn't spend much time developing games in the 40s, I never stopped designing them. But they were more like the games you played as a child. Not digital. Games like counting magpies, or not stepping on the cracks in the pavement; making bets with fate so your loved ones survive the dysentery going around, or that miracle of miracles the picture you posted on the missing person's board in every city you pass through is found, seen, that they find you, and that you can hold each other close once again. The next city, that will be the one.

Saying “People Make Games latest is a must-watch” feels redundant every time, but it really is. Bit o’ classic Bowie for music this week. I learnt this riff yesterday. I didn’t know you could do the walking rock n’ roll thing by fretting two notes on the same string. I thought that was illegal! Have a great weekend!