RJ Layton

Though they're certainly not the final word on the subject, I direct you to GGL's First Annual Top Gaming Colleges Survey.

To start off I want to say that I really appreciated those who showed up at the forum to speak and participate. I think we all had a lot of expectations coming into the forum, and many of us had already formulated a take on the situation before arriving. There was a lot to learn, however, and not just about the controversy but about IMD seminars in general.

I'll start with my take.

...A blog post with such a title, coming from a student in USC’s prestigious cinema school? Before accusing me of blasphemy, hear me out. I do not intend to argue that film or cinema itself “sucks.” Certainly there are many great films, cartoons, music videos and so forth that are wonderful, and I do enjoy them. No, what I am referring to is specifically in relation to videogames. While conceptually my disdain for movies could relate to many forms of interactive media, this post will focus on how I find myself growing increasingly weary of movies and their continued effects on and usage in videogames in particular.

Less than 24 hours since I posted my blog post on why movies suck, I find this. It’s an article by Seth Schiesel titled, “A New Video Game Hopes Expressive Characters Lead to Emotional Attachment.” The hidden subtitle is “Proving RJ’s point about why movies suck.” On the surface, it’s an article about the new PS3 videogame, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Looking deeper, it’s an article about how videogames are still struggling to catch up to its superiors in the film industry.

Last week at GDC 2008, I was able to sit in on the Game Designer's Rant. Much of the theme related to what is quickly turning into a dead-horse topic: "Making games with more mature/adult content."

Many of these designers imply that it's somehow a big change from what has been going on all along. I disagree. I think designers are arguing a silly point and that they want to keep doing the same thing they've been doing all along, which is making games for themselves.

Yes, it appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds. I'm going to talk about why we should stop talking about girls in gaming, or at least why I'm tired of it.

Today is NPD day, one of my favorite days, because it allows me a chance to review the state of the industry and see where it is going. As somebody with a degree in Business (from USC!), I derive quite a bit of enjoyment out of doing market and industry analysis and making predictions about where the market will go next.