That is just one of the memorably quotes from Jesse Schell’s speech at the DICE summit 2010. I like that particular quote because it flies in the face of Michael Pachter, who believes there will be one big entertainment box by the year 2020 … like whose going to produce that? Microsonyntendo-Applezon Business Machines? Sure.
Well, Jesse tries to imagine the question “Is Your Life Just One Big RPG?” and wants us to think “beyooooond Facebook”. If anything, it’s very entertaining to watch.
While the future picture he draws in the third part is, well, futuristic i do see that the tendency towards that direction is strong. But i’m actually more interested in the psychological aspects of today and their roots in reality that i find inspiring. There are certain things that never get said out loud, or not often enough. Especially for us game developers i do notice a lack of respect towards the psychological aspect of the games we find appalling (like Mafia Wars, Farmville etc.) or the achievement systems whose followers get ridiculed as Achievement Whores. That is not only missing a huge point, that is missing business opportunities with eyes wide open but narrow focused so you’re effectively too blind to see.
But … and therein lies the beauty: if you know that there are enough gamers out there who also see it that way, you can monetize that as well if you are willing to accept that it’s going to be a niche. It’s not going to fund you a million dollar business but it may well support your life as Indie game developer just fine. Examples are plentifold, and one of the most inspiring stories (and games made) in that area is Eschalon, a classic semi-turnbased fantasy RPG modelled after Ultima and others which won the Indie RPG 2007 award. The author, some self-proclaimed “normal guy” called Thomas, has against all recommendations for being an Indie success refused to give Interviews and the only personal insights he allowed are the ones in this forum post. It’s important to point out that he made 95% of the game by himself, worked on it for 2.5 years and invested his life savings into the project. If you have any love for old-school RPGs, give it a try – that man deserves it! And that game deserves to be played even more!
But enough of that, here’s Jesse Schell’s talk if you haven’t seen it elsewhere yet:
Hi And Welcome!
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