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Okay, God of War is getting a movie. It’s a great game, and some of it’s core themes, Greek mythology and barbarianism, are ones that game creator and director David Jaffe has enjoyed since school. (He said as much in a great interview over at Eurogamer.) But I’m wandering what, if any, compensation he will get from the movie. Bet your ass it’s going to be well publicized that it’s from a SONY videogame. But will he get a credit in the movie at all? And if so will it be as character creator, a nod like “Thanks to,” or an even lesser “Sony would like to thank…”? Or will it wind up as just a trivia fact on Jaffe’s IMDB page?

(edit: Thank Christ my doom and gloom thinking is completely wrong. He’s involved in the pic, read about it on his blog here, and the whole process was started by a seemingly good crew, Mosiac Entertainment.)

I don’t point this out to poke fun at Jaffe. He seems like a kickass guy that has made kickass games and runs a kickass blog. He likes comics and was a co-creator of Twisted Metal. Twisted Metal for Christ’s sake! Wait, you didn’t know that? Well, that’s the problem I’m talking about. I write this to point out that there’s a problem somewhere when a guy like this says:

the thing to understand about my perspective is that NAME ON THE BOX is a stepping stone to the more important aspect of CASH, and how much cash the publisher feels the key folks are worth (versus the brand name being more important). And if you look at it from a movie standpoint, you are right in that the majority of people choose genres before actors and choose actors before directors….butthe difference between games and movies in that respect is that even though most MOVIEGOERS don’t know who MICHAEL BAY is or who TOM SHADYAC is (both huglely successful film directors), the STUDIOS DO know who they are and pay them many millions because of their track record….so it’s not about being recognized by game fans (or even laypersons)…it’s about getting the same kind of financial respect for proven ability and success that we see in other industries….My theory is that this is not happening right now in game because big game success game be generated via the BRAND NAME and an average game. BUT- once we get amazing game makers who mix art and commerce- then the publishers will see those kinds of games blowing away the average games that are jsut brand based and not emotionally/artistic ally driven.

Dude, you ARE an amazing game maker who’s mixing art and commerce. Okay, granted you’re not gaming’s Orson Welles, on that front I blame Will Wright for being EA’s bitch, but you’ve got a pretty damn good track record going. You should be complaining in your blog about a once-a-month-if-not-week phone call during family dinner from developers and other publishers looking to steal you away from Sony, but you won’t leave because Sony has thrown fat cash at you. That you aren’t says much about the industry. Unless, of course, you just aren’t mentioning that part to us. And in that case, good for you.

Have you ever, for whatever reason, rediscovered a blog you completely forgot about? Well, Josh just linked to Psychochild’s blog that I had somehow completely forgotten about. I like the guy, and I like his blog. While Josh points to a post on free speech, I was also drawn to a post on intellectual property in games.

I went to Full Sail, maybe you’ve heard of it. I was in their Game Design and Development program. And one surprising thing I discovered in going to a game-centric school program is that from my angle, the Industry looks a lot like the comic book industry. Often the coolest thing to do is play with the big boys toys. Many aspiring comic creators just want to work for Marvel. Many aspiring videogame creators just want to work on the next Final Fantasy, or with Blizzard or Nintendo. And that’s why some of them never make it. They graduate, even doing excellent in class, and apply to four jobs that they want at companies they generally (as entry level applicants) have no chance at getting jobs at. And then they give up either going to application development or stop programming completely.

These people don’t want to make their own games, they’re just fans of existing IP. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a fan; I’m a fan of many characters/series/lines/etc. And I’m not talking the majority of wannabes here. But if you’re a film fan, your goal probably isn’t to make a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie. You may love the line, but that’s someone else’s IP. You should be making your own. Something that’s important to you. That’s why I’m amazed when a short while back I saw a post at Scott Miller‘s blog in which he said:

A good industry friend of mine is trying to start a new studio with some well known developers. He wrote to me: Scott, I’ve been making the rounds, pitching that idea for a new development studio — where we retain the IP. Not an easy sell — but no one has officially passed yet. Everyone asks — “Why do you care so much about owning the IP?” I say, “So I can someday sell it, like 3D Realms!”

It’s 2005 for Christ’s sake. If a Big Name wants to make a movie off of your IP, but they required that they own all of the rights, you should laugh at them. If a Big Name wants to distribute your album, but wanted to own your catalog, you should call them insane. If a Big Name offers to print your comic but demands that own your character/story/artwork, they’re just idiots to think you’d agree. If you believe in your work, why wouldn’t you want to own it?

But, why do some wannabes just want to work on others’ IP? I have no damn clue.

The great news is that Microsoft not only has a plan to allow developers to purchase a devkit directly from them, but a free Prototype Kit to allow anyone to test their XBox code on PC hardware! Read it here! The bad news? It was announced in 2000, before the XBox launched, and to my knowledge a single kit was never shipped by this program. I’ve scoured Google and have found no mention of anyone working with these programs. I can’t find any mention of them ever coming to fruition at all. It seems they were announced, a few individuals (sometimes people on one forum with one post) showed interest, and there was an internet-wide unspoken agreement to never mention them again. What became of it? I’m not sure, but my guess is the it is the direct precursor to both the XBox Live Marketplace and XNA.

Back in January of this year I actually emailed Microsoft about this program, and much to my suprise, I actually got a human response! Score one for Microsoft’s customer service! I emailed:

I’m looking for information about the XBox Independent Developer Program. All I’ve been able to find on it are mentions of the original press release (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2000/Nov00/XPKPR.asp). Was this program scrapped, or is the XBox Prototype Kit still available to independent developers as part of XBox’s Registered Developer Program?

I’m emailing on behalf of myself and four associates, the majority of
whom have graduated from Full Sail: Real World Education
(http://www.fullsail.com). A large reason we’re interested is
because of the possibilities that we see for small development teams
in the XBox Live Arcade.

If you are able to give me any information that may help me, or are
able to point me toward someone who could, I would greatly appreciate
it. Feel free to email me back at this address which I check daily,
or contact me by your preferred means.

Followed by my name/number/address/etc. The reply was as follows:

Mr. Bridges,

The program you mentioned is no longer in operation. We have a Registered Developer Program, but it is only open to established studios. While you would be unlikely to be accepted into the Xbox Registered Developer Program, there is a viable alternative for smaller and/or independent developers. The Xbox console is built around DirectX, and any expertise you develop using DirectX on a Windows PC will be of great use on any future work you may do on Xbox. Other advantages to developing for Windows are the ease and low cost of access to tools and hardware. I would encourage you to develop prototypes using Windows and DirectX and to use those to interest publishers in your work. The DirectX SDK and a wealth of developer resources may be freely accessed at http://msdn.microsoft.com/DirectX.

Thank you for considering the Xbox console as your development platform and good luck with your efforts.

Scott xxxxxxxx
Microsoft Corporation

So basically, “No, you can’t develop for XBox hardware, go program for PC.” But I don’t blame Scott; it’s not like he cut the program, right? (I’ve got my eye on you, Scott.) And I appreciate his info about Direct X, even if I already knew it. He was as helpful as he could have been. I see this and say “Well, okay, let’s make a game and shop it around for publishers. No doubt some of them are going to be making XBox Live Arcade games anyway. Maybe they’d look at our stuff. And my friends, whom I thought were as gung-ho as I was, decided pursuing individual careers would be best (and as of this date, one of us five has a job programming. They’re all great guys, mind you.)

But now I see Microsoft is building the X360 around XNA as opposed ot Direct X. Hey, why help the gaming industry out for free when you can instead charge people to be stuck with your code? Code that Microsoft possibly won’t support in a few years if the X360 and their constant framework changes are any indication.

(After this and the ‘Someone Bitchslap Greg Costikyan‘ post titles, I’m really going to try to cut back on the sensationalistic titles and instead rely on my wit, I promise. Wish me luck.)