... Will Wright continued to think about what else he could do now that he had discovered this new scale. If people messed around with ants and kept ant farms because, on a certain level, it was easy to see ourselves in them, why not make a digital "people farm"? This, of course, led to the ant-farm-by-way-of-doll-house know as The Sims, the best-selling PC game of all time.

Through these games, Wright struck upon something essential in humanity. Messing with ants is the original "god game." Software simulations are both an extension and a refinement of this behavior. They let us focus our frustrations and desires onto something smaller than ourselves, something over which we can feel supremely powerful. We can single out a few digital people and decide if we want to make their day heaven or hell. Or we can simply watch them go about their tasks, gently nudging them along, content in the knowledge that we have the power to tear it all down at any moment. For beings that often feel powerless in the face of a vast, harsh universe, this is extremely cathartic.

The whole issue is a fun read, with essays on a variety of god game-related subjects.

A God Among Insects [The Escapist]

Mike Wilson, former CEO of GOD, and Harry Miller, former GOD president, have teamed up once more to form independent game publisher Gamecock Media Group.

You might not care about this, but you should. If it weren't for GOD we may not have ever seen games like Max Payne, Serious Sam, Stronghold, Railroad Tycoon II and Tropico.

Gamecock describes itself as a "well-funded, independent, artist-driven game publishing company, and is already looking to make friends in the game industry, which they describe as "bloated and originality-starved." The Austin-based company plans to publish games for the 360, Live Arcade, PS3, PSp, Wii, DS, PC and even DVD games.

"The major publishers have been focusing on safe bets - large budget games often attached to major licenses or sequels," said Mike Wilson, CEO of Gamecock. "This insufficient emphasis on the creation of original game properties has created major dissatisfaction among the industry's most talented game designers and has made the current system unpalatable. In other words, things are getting stale. We aim to change that."

Personally, I think this is just what the industry needs. GOD was formed back in 1998 and quickly shook up the industry with their eye potential smash hits and ability to blend gaming and pop culture. Sure their games based on Heavy Metal and Kiss may not have been well received, but they still managed to have 80 percent of their titles attain profitability.

The company was also well known for their wild E3 parties, which they conducted outside the halls of the big show in a nearby parking lot. The shows featured exotic dancers, the school-girl clothed GOD Girls and occasional appearance by Mini Kiss.

GOD died in 1999 when they were bought out by Take 2 and eventually rebranded 2K Games. Yes, 2K Games.

Straight out of the shoot, Gamecock already has lined up five games for publishing, including one by Wideload Games.

"These guys have a stellar track record and a reputation for producing innovative titles," said Alex Seropian, of Wideload Games. "Their ability to identify and develop new hit properties from new teams and then market them successfully worldwide is virtually unmatched."

Judging by Wilson's intro page for his new company, it sounds like Gamecock is going to shake things up in the industry as much as GOD Games did. Brian Crecente

Gamecock