In the superb 200th issue of Edge magazine (buy it, everyone!), four game developers predict the state of gaming in the year that Edge #300 will be out, hoping to do better than writer Steven Kent, who predicted in Edge #100 that Microsoft would buy Sega. Peter Molyneux tries to top that...
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From Edge issue #200's roundtable featuring developers Peter Molynuex (Lionhead), David Braben (Frontier), David Armor (Relentless) and David Smith (Media Molecule):
Edge: By 2016 [the year when Edge issue #300 should be published], will we be any closer to that completely immersive narrative experience?
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Molyneux: We're starting to realise our uniqueness, and that we've got the ability to do things that no other medium has had before. I think by 2016 we're going to have a truly amazing story, which will be cited as the equivalent of 'The Godfather' on film. The uniqueness and adaptability of the content, the fact you feel you are the hero character more than you are empathising with the hero -- these are all things you can see evolving. I look at 'Grand Theft Auto' and the Niko Bellic character, and I realize that we're really getting a handle on how to characterise somebody.
[Note from Stephen: a back-and-forth about what "GTA" achieves follows, and then there's this from Molyneux...]
If you look at early storytelling in film, it was much less character-driven and much more plot-driven: Harold Lloyd falling off a skyscraper or trying to move a piano. Part of the revolution that Niko Bellic started to unveil -- and what we're attempting with Fable -- is to say the characters, especially who you are as a character, matter as much as the plot. Moving forward to 2016, you're going to see new forms of characters that we've never seen before, and those characters totally adapting to what you're like as an individual.
That's just one small bit of an excellent interview that is part of a great issue, cover to cover. Edge #200 also includes interviews with Sonic creator Yuji Naka, EA founder Trip Hawkins, an in-depth look at the making of the PlayStation, a roster of the 100 must-play video games and a "Resident Evil 5" review of 7.
Track it down. Congratulations, Edge team, past and present.
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