Emil's OpEd in Gameinformer

Latest GameInformer (April 2008) magazine has a great op-ed by Emil Pagliarulo, the lead designer on my current project, Fallout 3.

Couple quotes from the piece that I liked:

When I was a kid growing up in South Boston, the trashcans in our backyard were dragged to the curb for pickup, every week, by a homeless man named Vinnie Trashki. Yeah, I know. "Trashki." Bitter irony or cruel nickname?

...creating fiction for a video game poses one very distinct challenge - you've got to accept that the whole of your writing - characters, narrative, everything - is simply not as important as the gameplay...

I firmly believe the most important story in a video game is the one the player is telling to himself as he plays the game. Its one of the reasons why open ended sandbox games like the Sims games, Grant Theft Auto, and our own Elder Scrolls series are so awesome. No one experiencies them the same way.

In fact, this is the reason why I can't go back to an old save to play downloadable content for Mass Effect. It breaks the narrative I have of my character - the character that I created - to play the game.

Good read. Check your newstands! (err, well, your local Gamestop...)