The Narrative Design Exploratorium™

A publication dedicated to exploring interactive storytelling.

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Today’s creator is none other than the transmedia mover and shaker Danny Bilson. As Executive Vice President (EVP) of THQ Core Games he has helped refocus the juggernaut that is THQ to create “a rich offering of content distributed across digital platforms based both on all of [THQ's] major core brands as well as new intellectual properties.” Danny joins us to talk about his work and thoughts on the burgeoning craft of interactive narrative design for transmedia experiences.

Entertainment is on the verge of something new; no not 3D, but a new generation of transmedia story experiences. Story worlds that, in a calculated fashion, cross from media to media providing players with new ways to experience, and immerse themselves in, an authored interactive world. In the past this was done solely for purposes of merchandising and franchise expansion, but in the present it’s being used to create fantastic story experiences. This NDE series, Creators of Transmedia™, sets out to explore what visionaries in the field are now creating, and what they believe tomorrow will bring.

Stephen E. Dinehart: As EVP Core Games at THQ what does you role entail?

Danny Bilson: I run the Core games business unit at THQ. Both marketing and product development are under my supervision.

That’s compelling. Marketing tends to be a different beast from development. Earlier in this series Jordan Wesiman spoke of his trials wrestling with the marketing department on “The Beast”. As transmedia product development reaches into what was once marketings’ sole domain, it seems even the big boys have to fight for creative control. Is having both marketing and product development under your supervision part of THQ’s restructuring and transmedia strategy, or is it unique to your SVP position?

DB: Partnering marketing and product development as we have done is essential in delivering a transmedia program. At our shop, content leads the way. All things flow from the ideas and the people to make them and sell them sit together. It is unique these days, I think. (more…)

What is the future of video games? This is a large, if not insurmountable question, especially when considering the increasing diversification of styles within the medium. ‘Indie’, ‘casual’, ‘core’, ‘mature’; the labels continue to proliferate, identifying specialized niches of styles, however real or unreal, within the larger ‘video game’. Forming at present is a new niche, one that threatens to pull away from the classic play centric design paradigm. It’s forming in the cubicles over at Visceral, down at the newly acquired Bioware, up at Ubisoft and out east at Studio 38.

Many are aiming with different titles and terms, but the goal is the same – to transplant the player into the video game by all means of his visual and aural faculties; into a believable drama where he is actor, this is dramatic play; Interactive Drama that utilizes interaction rather than description to tell a story. Aristotle began the movement about 2300 years ago with his Poetics, dissecting plays into clear part and functions [Aristotle 330 BCE]. Some 2000+ years later, Richard Wagner saw a dissolving of the fourth-wall of theater, bringing the audience into the play as actors so that the stage art may breathe like life, and seemed to them to be as expansive as the real world [Wagner 1859].

Through the next 130 years various studies and pioneers would set out on a pursuit to hit that mark, Happenings, Video Installations, Virtual Reality, just to name a few. Though the target was never reached and the pursuit itself seemed to fall into the land of the obscure, and intellectual, without much effect on the everyday life of the public and how they experience stories. Though with the dawn of popular video game culture the pursuit gained a refined focus. (more…)

This is an ongoing NDE series featuring interviews with Masters of Narrative Design™. While ‘narrative design’ is not a term in common usage, the design of story experiences is nothing new.  As game developers are increasingly looking to create meaningful interactive narrative experiences, looking at the lessons learned by these masters becomes increasingly valuable. Today’s master is the Moses of game design himself, Chris Crawford. Chris began the renaissance we all now exist in with the likes of Alan Kay. He taught himself how to program and brought the legend of Atari to life. Chris famously exited the videogame industry in his 1992 GDC talk “The Dragon Speech” to pursue the elusive beast of interactive story. His most recent venture Storytron has been a fanatic voyage into the possibilities of tomorrows interactive storyworlds.  I’m hoping to see what we can learn from his wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and sheer audacity.

Stephen E. Dinehart: First of all thank you. It’s because of brave artists like yourself that I am able to exist, that my field is able to exist, we still fight, but your successes have been our stepping stone and for that we are forever grateful.

Chris Crawford: I tend to think of myself more as the soldier who falls on the barbed wire so the others can climb over his body.

We’ll get more into your selfless nobility later, you are currently Owner of Storytron can you explain what you do there?

CC: We have built an entire development environment for interactive storytelling. It consists of an engine for running storyworlds, a set of editors for the words used in the storyworlds, a scripting system, and a number of analytical tools to make life easier for the author. It’s a large and complicated system, but it does a great deal of computing for the author. (more…)

Welcome to the “Narrator Dialogs”; here we seek to put a face on those who are making interactive narrative design a force to be reckoned with. Today’s dialog is with NDN member, Dr. Michelle Franklin Esquire – Writer and Narrative Designer. Michelle has been rooting on the Narrative Designer’s Network since it’s inception, she is a valuable team member and a fantastic writer. Michelle just released a highly acclaimed fan-fiction novel based in EA Bioware’s Dragon Age Universe and it currently working on a sequel. She also has undisclosed secret projects in the works; maybe we can get her to spill the beans today. She comes to share her perspective on interactive narrative design with the Narrative Designer’s Network.

Stephen E. Dinehart: Please tell me a little about yourself and your interest interactive narrative.

Michelle Franklin: I have been working in the video game industry for 6 years now. I’ve worked on over a dozen titles across multi-platforms. I’m also a published fantasy writer for The.Gloaming Magazine and a fantasy novelist. Since game design and writing are my two passions in life -besides my unabashed love for candy- I’ve have always been searching for new and exciting ways to combine the two.

Can you describe your current role(s)?

MF: I am currently doing game design and game writing for a new itle, which I cannot talk about. I apologize. I’m also finishing one novel and beginning another. (more…)

Welcome to the “Narrator Dialogs”; here we seek to put a face on those who are making interactive narrative design a force to be reckoned with. Today’s dialog is with NDN member, Rhianna Prachett – Game Writer and Narrative Designer. Rhianna work has included heavy weight titles like Heavenly Sword, Overlord and Overlord: Raising Hell,  and EA’s ever famous Mirror’s Edge. Rhianna recently won the WGGB award for Best Videogame Script for her work on Overlord. She is currently “wrestling the wild beasts of narrative” on forthcoming titles. Today she has come to share her perspective on interactive narrative design with the Narrative Designer’s Network.

Stephen E. Dinehart: Can you tell me a little about yourself and your interest in game narrative?

Rhianna Pratchett: I’ve been an avid gamer since I was about 6 years old and working in the games industry for nearly 12 years. Part of that was as a games journalist, working for UK publications like PC Zone magazine, along with The Guardian and Sunday Times newspapers. For the last 8 years I’ve moved over to working in the games writing field – right there on the other side of the fence. I initially started as a story editor, then moved into level dialogue and finally into full script writing, narrative design and audio directing.

Can you describe your current role(s)?

RP: Unfortunately all the projects I’m working on at the moment are top secret, so I can’t say much about them. However, the spread includes working as a writer, lead writer, narrative designer and creative director, so it’s a fairly wide remit. I hope more will be revealed about them in 2010. (more…)

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