Over at Gamers With Jobs, Julian Murdoch looks at the craft of writing about games — and how being a gaming journalist has improved his relationship with games. While I've found writing about games has significantly cut into my time I can spend playing games — and there's a difference between playing for pleasure and playing for pay — I'll agree with many of Murdoch's thoughts in regards to going into situations with a new perspective, one that is frequently quite positive:

This self-conscious focus on both the game and the gamer is an unadulterated good. Playing games now brings a joy of personal intellectual exploration, in addition to the joys of escapism, mastery and conquest. There is no doubt in my mind that my enjoyment of BioShock was substantially magnified because I went into the game thinking, not just passively waiting to experience. How it was made? Who made it? Where the threads were that I could pull on, and discover how much fabric was really there?

Writing about games has taken me from the role of dreamer into the world of the lucid dreamer. Where once I woke from moments of seeming glory, grasping at the fading fragrance of what was right there just a moment ago, now I emerge from a game startled and awake, reaching for the pad of paper, struggling to synthesize the experience in a new form – a form hardened by an edge of language.

I have the problem that I find that intellectual, questioning part of me off — I approach all media with a certain critical eye, and it's hard to ever just sit and enjoy something just for what it is. Still, being able to approach games with a certain lucidity is a good thing, as are the overlaps between my 'academic' life and my 'gaming' life. My relationship with games has certainly changed since I started writing about them, but it's not always doom and gloom — making a living (or partial living) off of something doesn't have to kill the joy of it.

Pinning Butterflies [Gamers With Jobs via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Future to rebrand Next Gen website as Edge [GI.biz]

Right now, Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, and World of Warcraft are considered our blockbuster titles, and flagships for the industry in popular culture. But when you think about it, it’s still just shooting aliens, playing gang banger, and swinging your sword in the forest.

Boiled down to their essentials those things appeal to a very limited group of people, and the complexity of game controls prevents even blockbuster movie attendees, whom we should be attracting, from playing these things.

At least, that’s the common line. But is that really the case? Do aliens, wizards, and soldiers really make a piece of entertainment inaccessible? Many millions of people went to see the Iron Man movie over the past two months, and a large percentage of them have probably never picked up a comic book in their lives.

Why is it that people will go see The Lord of the Rings' movies, but many of them will not play the games?

Put on your thinking caps, we've got stuff to think about. Dammit.

The Hardcore Niche [Gamasutra] [Pic]

• Super Mario Bros.

• Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken

• Xevious

• Another World

• Metal Gear Solid

This list comes from a Yomiuri Newspaper article called "All About Kojima Hideo" dated June 11th. We haven't seen the full article (only that picture we found on a Yomiuri blog), and the English translation of Yomiuri article glosses over these five games and what they mean to him. From the pic we found, it certainly appears as though Kojima explained how they affected him.

Hide-and-seek with Hideo Kojima [Yoimuri]

If you missed Part 1, click here.

Schoolboy hangs himself after row over Nintendo Wii [Telegraph]

Many Japanese are uncomfortable with the idea of playing videogames with strangers over the Internet. That's why online games for multiple players aren't as popular here as in the U.S. and other markets... Osaka-based Capcom, better known outside Japan for titles like Street Fighter and Evil May Cry, launched Monster Hunter as an online multiplayer game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console four years ago. Sales weren't huge. Many consumers shied away from the game, which was best played with other PS2 users over an online network... But Ryozo Tsujimoto, the producer of the portable Monster Hunter games, saw a big opportunity for a PSP version because the device could be carried around easily, so gamers could introduce the game to friends. Sales figures soon showed he was on to something.

Dunno about you, but I love Evil May Cry. It's my third favorite Capcom franchise after Resident Devil and Muga-Man. Don't quite buy that Japanese people are afraid of playing with strangers over the internet. I'd say online games aren't as popular because offline consoles have dominated so long, but whatever. And if I was going to take a stab at why Monster Hunter Portable is so popular, I'd say collecting things is fun and the game's a great portable pick-up-and-play. But hey, that's just me! And I could be wrong.

Game Device Belatedly Clicks [WSJ via PSP Fanboy]

4Players' EIC Jörg Luibl says that Atari's lawyers have accused them of "breaking the law and violating the rights of their client (Atari)", all because 4Players reviewed the game prior to its release, but without using a copy sent to them by Atari. 4Players maintain that, like many other games not sent to them by publishers, they secured a copy via a "trusted dealer". Which could well just be a firendly local GAME manager cracking open his shipment of the game before the street date, it could be point #1 (the leaked copies of the game), who knows.

It's interesting that Atari are so worried about publications securing their own copy of a game. Do they fear that, because these outlets may have received copies of the game "early" (ie from pirated copies), that they're somehow reviewing incomplete code, which could affect their opinion of the game? Maybe. Pessimists could, however, be forgiven for thinking it's a convenient excuse for Atari to attack negative reviews of the only game they're releasing in 2008 that has any chance of making them some money.

UPDATE - Tor-Steinar Nastad Tangedal, from Norwegian site Gamer.no, has contacted us with a similar story. He writes (though without proof we're unable to confirm this):

Gamer.no was the second publication in the world to publish a review, and we also gave it 3 out of 10. The review was based on a retail copy obtained from a store on Tuesday this week. Atari contacted us just minutes after it was published, claiming that our review is probably based on a preview or pirated copy, and requested it to be removed. We never removed it, of course.

Game developer Tecmo has a request for journalists.

Sections of the Western media are running a rumor that large numbers of our staff plan on leaving the company over salary issues, and it is regrettable that this inaccurate news is being propagated, fueling uneasiness among our developers.

We Tecmo are currently focused on bringing high quality products to our customers. Doing our best to concentrate under the circumstances, we hope to bring more enjoyable products to the marketplace.

We have exciting announcements regarding game launches planned for the future. Understanding of the work we are doing and consideration of fairness is asked regarding the treatment of unconfirmed information, as well as how it affects the actual staff. We thank everyone for their understanding.

Recent Press Releases [Tecmo]

Time to go interactive. That's right, me the movie critic is actually telling you to switch to video games until Hollywood makes more exciting movies... [Grand Theft Auto IV is] a hell of a game (maybe not the Citizen Kane of the form, like many game reviews claim), and in terms of action, thrills, imagination and innovation, GTA IV has it all over the pablum currently passing for ingenuity at the multiplex... And let's keep my game skills out of this as well. This is a review of Grand Theft Auto IV the M-O-V-I-E. And I have to say, it's better than anything I've seen at the multiplex so far this summer, except maybe Iron Man. There's plot development, character depth and moral ambiguity, stuff you don't find in Speed Racer... It's a rare video game that enters territory marked by Scorsese and Tarantino. But writers Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries have created the vid version of film noir with dialogue that crackles even in the film's darkest shadows. And they take every shot they can at social satire.

That's some big time movie critic praise! Nice to see that Travers is open to other (more interactive) forms of story telling.

Is Grand Theft Auto IV Actually the Best Popcorn Movie of the Summer? [Rolling Stone via The Chaos Fold]

UK newspaper The Sun is trying their best to drum up some British outrage over Grand Theft Auto IV's inclusion of a child pageant site on the game's faux internet.

In GTA IV a little exploration at the game's cyber cafe yields LacySurprisePageant.com, when you visit the site a message pops up that it has been shut down by the game's police and that your IP address has been "cataloged" for possible future investigation. A visit also instantly maxes out your wanted level.

When I first noticed this, while playing through the game, I had a pretty good laugh, but at least one South Wales man was offended. And you know what they say: One person pissed off equals a story in The Sun.

Jason Deschoolmeester, 23, of South Wales, said: “I was looking on the internet for cheats and the name of this caught my eye as my daughter is called Lacey. This crosses the line. The makers have obviously sat around and discussed putting this in, and it’s not on. What will they do next?

“It’s disgusting. It could lead people to indulge in things like that. It is totally sick. I won’t play it again.”

While The Sun does go out of its way to point out that the game doesn't allow you to act out the role of a pedophile, they never explain how a single complaint by a gamer morphed into a story with the headline: A HIT computer game has sparked outrage by featuring a spoof paedophile website.

A HIT computer game has sparked outrage by featuring a spoof paedophile website. [The Sun]

About those review limitations, Payton says the NDA covered: Install times, length of cutscenes (the ending in particular), number of environments, opening "movie", product placement and a half dozen story-specific items. Payton gets down to specifics, stating, "The game requires an eight minute install, as well as a number of two to three-minute installs between acts." But what about the cutscenes? The rationale, according to Payton, was that they wanted reviewers to refrain from describing which cutscenes were long as it would "ruin" the experience if players knew when a cutscene was unfolding. What's more, Payton adds, "I want to make it clear that, from today, reviewers are welcome to discuss the length of the cutscenes and install times, but we ask that they not get too specific about the cinematic times and what happens in later install sequences..." Hit the jump for Payton's email in full.

Hey Brian,

Believe it or not, I've been so busy working on a special surprise for MGS4 buyers (that not even those who have leaked copies of the game can spoil! Haha!), that I haven't had time to catch up on most of the pre-launch excitement.

Scanning the net today, I came across that 90-minute cutscene rumor, and a red-faced Adam Sessler, who was obviously very upset about the restrictions placed on MGS4 reviews.

Adam asks at the end of his Soapbox clip if he was rambling. On the contrary, I think he voiced some really important concerns about the restrictions placed on MGS4 reviewers.

In light of this, I took a look at the list of restrictions and found that some items are outdated and require more explanation.

We asked reviewers to avoid the following topics:

-Install times
-Length of cutscenes (the ending in particular)
-Number of environments
-Opening "movie"
-Product placement
-(Plus a half dozen story-specific items)

The game requires an eight minute install, as well as a number of two to three-minute installs between acts.

As for the cutscenes, reviewers are more than happy to comment on whether they're too long or short. We simply want reviewers to refrain from describing which scenes are long, thus spoiling some of the experience because players will know what to expect when a scene is unfolding.

I want to make it clear that, from today, reviewers are welcome to discuss the length of the cutscenes and install times, but we ask that they not get too specific about the cinematic times and what happens in later install sequences...

But as for the next three items, we are still asking reviewers to avoid these topics. We want the opening to be a huge surprise for gamers, and knowing how many environments there are in the game, obviously, is a spoiler. These restrictions will remain in place.

Finally, we've asked reviewers to not write about some of the product placement because of some contractual agreements we have with third parties.

I hope this helps clear up some of the controversy.

As a former writer, I'm proud of the discussion this topic has sparked. I hope Adam, Patrick Klepek, and everybody else who covered this issue continue to be diligent about restrictions placed on media outlets. (That's honestly why I'm such a fan of Kotaku — it keeps publishers on their toes.)

I do, however, hope gamers can appreciate the efforts we go through to keep them protected from reviewers that could spoil some of the MGS4 experience.

rp

Eds Note: Adam Sessler has responded, stating: "I’m very pleased this has a resolution in time for the reviews on the game to come out. I haven’t talked to Ryan Payton yet, who I consider a friend and colleague, but I greatly appreciate his and Kojima production’s reconsideration of these restrictions. Our ability to speak openly and honestly to our viewers has always been of the utmost importance, and I know Kojima productions and Konami feel the same way."

"I thought the term '90 minutes' was just a shorthand way of saying 'long' from the beginning. Anyway, I’m glad this all settled, because I really want to play this game."

"I’m at a point where I rarely second guess what I think about a game upon finishing it,” Gerstmann told me. He said he’s long gotten over the doubt that could set in “when you are facing the raging fury of the Internet.” He used to get death threats about some of his scores. “Now that stuff just rolls off. It’s the ranting of insane people, which you could say about a lot of internet stuff.”

I've always thought that some people take personal offenence to reviews. They are just opinions. Everyone's got one.

The Art of Not Second Guessing [Multiplayer]

Eds Note: This has been confirmed as true. Hit the jump for a scan.

New Famitsu [Wii@Everyday] [Pic]

EGM July 2008 [via GameSetWatch]

"My son Peter was never really aggressive, but once he got into video games, 'GTA' being one of them, he started to push, hit, talk back, and just become a different person," said Stockton parent Greg Within, 46.

Stockton's Mark Wellis, 19, said he was involved in an altercation a week after he purchased "Grand Theft Auto IV." At the time he noticed that he had become less sensitive to violence.

Wellis doesn't completely blame the game for his violence, but it did affect him.

This is the stuff of Pulitzers.
GTAIV Criticized [Recordnet via GamePolitics]

Graphics Comparison [GameSpot]

PC Gamer Squelches Diablo 3 Rumor [Shacknews]

Nintendo's WiiWare games are disappointing... None of the six games in the WiiWare launch lineup is as addictive as, say, "Puzzle Quest" or "Geometry Wars," but there are many more offerings on the way.

Definitely, there are more on the way! WiiWare is just finding its feet, so it's a bit premature to nix Nintendo's effort. Want to see how the Associated Press rated the current WiiWare titles? That, after the jump.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
"You can build a respectable town fairly quickly, and if you get hooked, you can buy more content online. But it’s hard to escape the feeling that all the real fun is happening offstage."
Two stars out of four

LostWinds
"The wind controls are innovative but frustratingly imprecise, making it hard to pull off basic moves just because the wind doesn’t act the way you expect. It’s an interesting experiment, probably worth the $10."
Two and a half stars

TV Show King
"Here’s a decent trivia quiz for your next party."
Two and a half stars

Defend Your Castle
"'DYC' builds slowly into complete chaos, and benefits from clever graphics that look like the scrawlings of a bored schoolboy.
Two and a half stars

Pop
"It’s much too simple to hold your attention for very long, and just doesn’t have the addictive quality of the best puzzle games."
One star

VIP Casino: Blackjack
"There’s no tournament play, no online competition and not much in the way of visual distraction. It’s amusing for about 10 minutes."
One star

Fret not! The WiiWare games will get better. It's called progress!

AP Reviews WiiWare Games [The Boston Herald via Gay Gamer]

In fairness, though, the makers have for the first time utilised something that resembles a moral compass.

Killing is occasionally optional, dialogue and cut scenes are devoted to Nikos's inner turmoil and while criminality and violence are certainly glorified, its perpetrators are somehow not.

...there was a bug in our publishing system on Monday that caused the incorrect score for GTAIV, a 9.5, to appear for on some pages for a while. This happened hours before we posted the actual score with the review, a 10. This has all led to a lot of talk and speculation so I'm going to set things straight, short answer: it's not true.

You signed a lot of Guitar Hero controllers. Is that cool?

It's fucking way cool.

Our kids love playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It's awesome. There's something really positive coming out of video games. It's so cool to sit there and have your kids talk to you about Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and Soundgarden.

• Amazingly realistic world
• Stunning action set pieces
• Genuinely engrossing storyline
• Hugely entertaining multiplayer
• Vast in every aspect

Shu is quick to point out that the decision was his alone and not one forced on him or dealing with any sort of lay offs, or connected in anyway to the recent news about Games for Windows. He says on his personal blog that after 11 years at the company it's time to move on.

It's with a heavy (and relieved) heart that I write this: I've tendered my resignation here at Ziff Davis Media and the 1UP Network. My last day here will be Friday, April 25.

This is my own decision; I'm not being forced out or laid off or anything like that. And this is not related to the recent news about Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (and I hope I'm not stealing any thunder away from those guys — that's not my intention here). It's just time for me to move on. I've been here, mostly with EGM, since April of 1996. That's 11 years (taking off one year when I did a brief stint at Gamers.com)...quite a long time!

While Hsu doesn't say where he's headed he does that that we will hear from him again in the near future.

love the videogame business too much to stay away (plus, I'm too old to become a professional snowboarder). Besides, I will miss you guys too much. You all have been fantastic. I sincerely appreciate all the support you've thrown my way over the years — and that, I'll never forget, either.

Thanks and good bye...for now.

I just hope it's still as a writer. The game industry doesn't need Hsu as much as we do.

Hit the jump for the official release naming Sam Kennedy as his replacement as Editorial Director for 1Up Network.

Goodbye [1Up] [Image]

***1UP Network Media Bulletin***
1UP Network Announces New Management Appointment
Sam Kennedy Named as Editorial Director for 1UP Network

April 11, 2008- 1UP Network, the recognized authority in video game content and industry expertise, reaching over 24 million gamers per month, announced today a new management appointment within the 1UP Network. Sam Kennedy, the driving force behind 1UP Network's online properties as site director will be taking on the added role of editorial director as of April 25, 2008.

As site director, Sam Kennedy's fervent vision for the future of 1UP Network's online properties and respected leadership, coupled with his seasoned experience as editor-in-chief of 1UP.com has helped transform 1UP Network into what it is today— the first family of gaming print publications and online sites to provide fully-integrated content and a comprehensive social network. In the added position as editorial director, Sam will report directly to Simon Cox, vice president of content, contributing to the execution of the strategic vision for 1UP Network, setting and maintaining the editorial voice of the 1UP Network, and fostering consistency and co-operation among the editorial brands.

Current editorial director, Dan Hsu, is stepping down to pursue personal interests.

I looked at the Resident Evil 5 trailer and I was like, "Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game." Because I wonder, and I haven't sort of really dug into it that much, but I wonder what sort of advice Capcom gave them. The point isn't that you can't have black zombies. There was a lot of imagery in that trailer that dovetailed with classic racist imagery. What was not funny, but sort of interesting, was that there were so many gamers who could not at all see it. Like literally couldn't see it. So how could you have a conversation with people who don't understand what you're talking about and think that you're sort of seeing race where nothing exists?

There was stuff like even before the point in the trailer where the crowd turned into zombies. There sort of being, in sort of post-modern parlance, they're sort of "othered." They're hidden in shadows, you can barely see their eyes, and the perspective of the trailer is not even someone who's coming to help the people. It's like they're all dangerous; they all need to be killed. It's not even like one cute African — or Haitian or Caribbean — child could be saved. They're all dangerous men, women and children. They all have to be killed. And given the history, given the not so distant post-colonial history, you would say to yourself, why would you uncritically put up those images? It's not as simple as saying, "Oh, they shot Spanish zombies in 'Resident Evil 4,' and now 'black zombies and that's why people are getting upset." The imagery is not the same. It doesn't carry the same history, it doesn't carry the same weight. I don't know how to explain it more clearly than that.

N'Gai on the RE5 Trailer [Multiplayer]

Awesome... I've had a chance to read the Game Informer story now and I think when people get a chance to read it they'll see that [Gears 2 is] really good. And we told the Game Informer guys just a tidbit about the game. We showed them some stuff, obviously, but we're keeping a lot of information back that will make people go, 'It's even better than this.' As good as they say it is, and they really, really like it, there's still a lot of story to open up between now and when the game ships in November... I think people will really enjoy this game.

I hate video games, on or offline. I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them.

This is not because of anything wrong or bad about video games or heroin or teenage parents. It's not even because of game-induced homicide or web-grooming of little girls by perverts - serious problems, but statistically low-risk. It's because, compared with everything else on offer in a kid's life, video games and heroin and teenage pregnancy are a colossal waste of time.

I'll Never Buy One [Times via videogaming247]

Divorce and illegitimate births have reached epidemic proportions. A society whose grown men seem to be more interested in the latest video game, rather than the survival of their nation or even of their own family—is doomed to failure.

The lazy and disconnected American man is much more of a threat to the survival of this nation, than are the Muslim terrorists seeking their 72 virgins in heaven.

It Is Time For American Men To Grow Up [American Chronicle]

STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!!

There's have to be some kind of misunderstanding, I'm from Chile (not a pokemon) and I have to say "ponceo" had nothing to do with oral sex. What they do in this parties (thursay or fryday, between 4-5PM to 10-11PM, they are all minorage so they cant be out to late at night, alcohol sell is not allowed) is try to kiss in the mouth (not oral sex, that was a particual case, not even pokemoes involved, only 3 highschool students, 14 or 15 years old) as much different people (of the opposite sex) as they can durring the party.

Bisides, pokemones are not gender-blending nor they costume are related to Pokemones (most of them dont even play videogames, pokemon is known here for the tv animated series) they just are wierd looking.

So I hope that make things much clear and erase the vision of "orgies" with menor age student in my Country, Bye!

Captain Tim Guerrette of the Collier County, Florida Sheriff's Office, apparently referred extensively to video games and their influence during a conference, where Daily News reporter Victoria Macchi was in attendance. In her article, she refers to what Guerrette said, but also notes some of her own research:

An American Sociological Association report released in early 2007, however, dismissed the link between video game violence and homicidal behavior in children as unfounded.

Moreover, the report claimed that in the decade following the 1993 release of the first-person shooter game Doom — which Guerrette mentioned several times on Tuesday evening as a possible trigger of youth violence — juvenile arrest rates actually went down by 77 percent.

Police Official Blames Games, Reporter Calls Him On It [GamePolitics.com]

What if, people wondered, favoritism and nepotism were the rules of the day. Would journalists be blocked from covering E3 if they didn't write positive stories or angered a publisher?

So far, that doesn't appear to be the case, but now both the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (DICE) summit and the Game Developers Conference are moving toward an invite only system and the same concern is rearing its head.

But the heads of all three organizations say they're going to great lengths to make sure that doesn't happen.

The Game Developers Conference is moving to a new invite-only system starting next year, the show's director, Jamil Moledina, told me.

"We don't have it nailed down, but we are looking at moving to an invite model for press access at GDC," he said. "It's meant to be a networking event for people who make games, but more and more we are seeing a lot of individuals who are obtaining press credentials who aren't full-time press. It's kind of open to being spoofed, in a way."

In 2006, for instance, about 1,000 press members attended the conference, which had a total admission of just 16,000.

And it's not just that an abundance of press, both professional and amateur, get under foot, it also costs the people putting on the show money.

On top of that, Moledina says he has to worry about maintaining the show's atmosphere.

"Making sure the Game Developers Conference fits its core goals is the main thing we concern ourselves with," he said. "As long as it remains predominantly about learning, thats what we are concerned with."

The problem, Moledina says, is that the show draws some of the biggest names in development every year, which in turn draws quite a crowd of journalists and even more publishers hoping to show off their wares in the "halo" surrounding the show.

"I am concerned that if we don't focus on what makes GDC work we will face some complications down the road," he said.

That's primarily the impetus behind DICE's decision this year to cut down on press attendance.

"The academy's role, first and foremost, is to make sure the academy members are comfortable and that the role of the media is to be there to watch and not participate," said Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, which puts on DICE every year.

This year, the academy decided to cut down on press attendance by assigning the invitee lists to two public relations companies. One handled mainstream press and the other handled enthusiast press and blogs.

The decision came, in part, Olin says, after some misbehavior on the part of invited press in 2006. Some writers were too enthusiastically pursuing interviews, which led the developers to feel like they couldn't focus on the show itself. Olin said he felt like the show had also become a place for writers to find great interviews that could be saved up and doled out over the rest of the year.

"The opportunity to be among so many high-profile signature members of the game-making community is that it creates this opportunity to be, 'There's so and so, I need to go talk to him'," Olin said. "Some of our high profile members said they felt uncomfortable.

While DICE did manage to cut down on press attendance, mostly by limiting the number of those attending for one organization, it also seemed to arbitrarily exclude some sites, including, initially, Kotaku.

Olin acknowledged there were some issues with the vetting process this year and said that it's being looked at for next year.

"We will be reviewing our policies for 2009," he said. "I'm going to get a lot of feedback from our attendees and (journalists)."

The ESA, meanwhile, plans to stick to their invite-only system for E3, which involves getting a list of invitees from participating publishers and developers and creating their own master list.

While last year's show had some hiccups, the downsizing was generally well received.

Rich Taylor, senior vice president for communications and research at the ESA, said the main reason they went to the invite-only system was because the publishers and developers felt they were getting lost in the "swirl of attendance."

"There was a decision to match the need of companies with the goals of the show itself," he said. "We aren't interested in blocking freedom of the press. The selected attendees come from the publishers themselves. The whole point isn't to limit access but to get the information out."

"There is an expanding, exploding universe of folks who have the ability to write or opine about our industry and there just isn't a way to include all of them."

Taylor says there was very little "blow back" from bloggers and mainstream press last year over the invite-only system and promised that if an issue did come up they would be quick to address it.

Taylor added that news that both DICE and GDC seem to be, in some ways, following their lead in this regard is a "validation of a path we chose."

"Across the spectrum there is an increase in the number of people covering events and you can't just keep making larger doors to the convention halls."

For the record, I would never go to a talk about me... unless I was invited. Nora Paul, with the University of Minnesota school of journalism's Institute of New Media Studies, emailed me over the weekend to clue me in to the talk she was doing entitled: "Being Brian Crecente: Using an Off-The-Shelf Role-Playing Game to Teach Journalism."

Actually, the whole name thing really was a last minute add-on. It sounds like Paul had been working on the idea, introducing college-level would-be journalists to the profession through a video game, for a number of years.

After playing around with a couple of different concepts, Paul said she saw a presentation Kurt Squire did about how he and his team made an American Revolution mod for Neverwinter Nights.

Paul scraped together some grant money and 20 copies of Neverwinter Nights. Using a pool of student assistants, and consultant Matt Taylor, Paul and her team rewrote the dialog trees and reworked the graphics for Neverwinter Nights to make it match their goals.

"The course objectives was to teach information gathering, synthesis and analysis," she said. "We wanted the game to let them practice (journalism) and find out the implications of their choices.

"The idea was to develop a game that would reinforce good reporting practices."

In the game, the players take on the role of a reporter (no, not me) who is covering an accident in which a train carrying anhydrous ammonia hits a truck and derails, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding neighborhood.

"We had to create the city...22 different characters," she said.

Students had to figure out what story angle they wanted to take, covering the health, public safety, transportation safety or environmental issues, before getting started. Once they figured that out that have to identify the important questions, collect the necessary background information, find the right sources and interview them, keep notes, and eventually return to the newsroom to write and file a story to the paper's website.

When Paul contacted me over the weekend, she asked what my take was on reporting, what important things had I learned over my years as a police reporter. I gave her three key lessons, which she included in her presentation and, in some sense, the game mod.

Treat people like you want to be treated.

This is one of the most important things you can learn not only in journalism, but in life. Treat people like crap and you'll get a double dose of it in return. I was happy to learn that Paul's mod incorporates attitude a bit. The game allows the questions to take essentially four forms.

They can come from a cocky journalist, a very competent reporter, a ditzy journalist or someone so tentative that they don't seem to know what they were doing.

Don't rely on the officials.
Paul said this was a tricky, but important thing to incorporate into the game. They had to make it possible for a reporter to get conflicting information from different sources and then figure out what the real, and full story is.

If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.

A famous journalism chestnut, that couldn't be more important. No matter who tells you something, never assume it's right, check and double check everything. Something that seems ingrained in the journalism training mod.

While Paul and her students seemed to like the mod, she said that Bioware didn't really cooperate much with their effort, making it nearly impossible to roll out the program to more students or larger classes. So Paul decided to transition the mod over to a different program.

Now Paul's team is working with Pine Tech's Johnson Simulation Center and a program they have called MULE.

I loved the concept of turning journalism into a video game. Funny enough, years ago when I was still a full-time police reporter I was contacted by a fairly sizable development studio who were playing around with the idea of creating a mainstream game about being a police reporter. They asked me about consulting for them.

That never went anywhere, but I've long thought that in many ways being a reporter, in particular a police reporter, is a lot like being in a role-playing game. You need to explore, talk to people, figure things out. I think that could be made into a great game.

We're not publicizing the conversion scale because we want our readers to go with our new scoring system and not be constantly translating the new letters back to our old scores. We also don't want our reviewers to be thinking about how they translate. It's just easier for us to have everyone move forward and accept the new ratings. But most people can figure it out. Our old "average" in the 5 range roughly translates to the C letter grades (with plusses and minuses), for example.