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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 6.01 - APRIL 2001

Gaming: A Similar Process For A Different End Result by Jacquie Kubin The video game industry is very different from Hollywood. Yet in many ways, while they are two very different mediums, with different demands and dollars, the development of a video game compares with the production of a movie. From the consumer viewpoint, video games provide interactive entertainment, while the theatrical or television movie attracts a passive viewer. While movie watchers accept the latest horror or love genre release, video gamers are always anticipating the next big thing -- be it the newest console or game. However, while each medium attracts a different viewer, the video game player and home movie watcher are often one and the same. Plus, individuals who stay home on Saturday night, instead of heading for the arcade or the movie theater, will most likely play a game or two and watch a feature film. New Challenges for Video Game Developers As the line separating video game players and movie watchers erodes, so does the gamers as "adolescent males" stereotype. Today's gamers include families, individuals of all ages, males and females. This widening group demands more than just first person shooter action, such as was found in Doom. They want to have interactive stories or movies, if you will, told in a three-dimensional environment that are realistic to this world. Steve Ackrich, vice president of development for Infogrames. "Gaming is at an explosion point in three areas -- animation, artificial intelligence and physics," says Steve Ackrich, VP of development for Infogrames Entertainment, Inc. "Games are requiring a lot more movie-like animation, which means that in a production team of 20-25 people, creating a two to three million dollar product, we may need up to four traditional animators to create sequences that take a character from a standing stance, to a roll, to a unique crouch that appears only when they are landing on the edge of a stair or cliff. Artificial intelligence relates to the story and the characters' reactions. Physics becomes important because when you drop something into the environment, say a rock into water, the player demands that the game responds properly." Richard Vincent, founder and president of Kutoka Interactive, with gaming star, Mia. "There is an important difference between making movies and making games," explains Richard Vincent, founder and president of Kutoka Interactive from his Montreal studio. "With games, each year the technology changes and so what you can do with the game has changed. You now have more power and can include more polygons, and that means more money. The more sophisticated the game, the more money. The customer wants the game to have more features, and so to be competitive it is a 'must.' So unlike the film and TV business we cannot rest on our laurels. We are only as good as our newest game, which has to be better than anything we, or anyone else, has done before. This is incredibly challenging...but I love it."

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