A Story is Not a Game
I often get emails from people who have "a really
great idea for a
game."
-----JUNE-----
I was wondering to whom I may submit an idea for a
video game. I have most recently published a book called "Skinks: A Pet
Store Odyssey" which is geared towards children ages 7-12 that would be a highly
marketable video game for youngsters the same age range. It's about three
little lizards who find themselves trapped in a pet store. They need to
find a cure for their mother's misdiagnosed allergy before she's put to
sleep.
-----JOE-----
I got similar game ideas -- at first -- from my
students in Hong Kong. While the story may be cute (in my opinion, it sounds
pretty lame, but I'm inconsiderate for saying so), it's not a game. Not even
close. I could do a thousand games based on this story -- but they'd be a lot
more like other games in their genres than like each other. A Doom-style Skinks
game wouldn't bear much resemblance to a Sims-style Skinks
game.
It's OK for games to have stories, but they're not
the same thing.
Filed Wed - October 19, 2005, 03:26 PM in
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