Huhn, this time tomorrow I'll be on a plane to Vancouver and I haven't yet made my first slef-congratulatory blog post. So lets get this out of the way first:

Thank you NSI and Zero2Heroes. Thank you for the support I've encountered on the site itself. Wow, wow, I seriously, totally omg for REEL can't believe this (I'm writing it in a flippant tone, but believe me: I'm still walking on air. Or sunshine. Or something else similarily insubstantial. There was so much talent on display in this contest, I almost fear my selection was something of a mistake). To the other winners: can't wait to meet you all! <3

That being said, 'System Shock 2' scares the heck out of me- even when I'm playing it on a bright, sunny morning in a well-lit and impeccably secured convenience store- so instead I did my very favorite thing in the world: I made a list (South Park may have lost it's edge years ago, but once in a while it still hits on a few Universal truths: girls. love. making lists)

Five Games I Really Want to Make (Even if They're Kind of Silly Ideas)

5) A space-opera based on Shakespeare's Henry VI pt. 1+2 (and maybe adapting a few things from Henry V, because goodness knows those, uh, sily space-French need to learn their place. Or something). It would kind of be like 'My Private Idaho' except with no prostitutes or Keanu Reeves. And, uh, in space.

Okay, so it would be nothing like 'My Private Idaho', but seriously: bear with me here. It would be AWESOME.

Hal, heir to the galatica throne, runs away to serve in a minor position on the smuggling rig of former royal adherent, Captain Falstaff (who, of course, is a large, gelatinous, bulbous alien creature).

Hotspur is a vicious and ambitious- but often incompetent- "space cop". Also, an extremely annoying reoccuring boss.

It would have faux, Shakespearian dialogue and everything. Prince Hal would say things like: "Falstaff, you are as an overgrown, single celled organism. Your body has evolved too swiftly and your cerebrum not at all."

4) Superhero action RPG! Or just heavily plotted action game. It would be a darkly humourous, tongue in cheek kind of affair. Kind of like an unholy union between Alan Moore and Keith Giffen. Maybe it could serve as a wry commentary on video games to boot (k-ka-ching?). Yeah, baby, I'm bringing the late 80's back to your television set!

It'd be cell-shaded and brightly colored- like a *real* comic book, none of this muted "oh so realistic" glossy crap you see in DC and Marvel these days (they re-colored 'The Killing Joke'. THEY. RE-COLORED. 'THE KILLING JOKE'!) Also, full of seamless advertisment- mocks ads in the background, cleverly inserted into dialogue, ect. ect.

3) I really want to make a game where there's a countdown that's indictated in the character's dialogue, but not shown on screen. Like, the characters are all: "We have about fourty-five minutes to get out of this ridiculously complicated enemy base we just took two hours breaking into!" and although there's no on-screen confirmation that this estimate it absolute, if you take fourty-SIX minutes getting out of that base, you're dead.

See: the first time I played 'Metal Gear Solid' when I was eleven years old I *believed* Colonel Campell when he told me I only had eighteen hours to stop that nuke (Campbell would NEVAR lie to meeeee!). I mean, MGS was awesome regardless, but it was just *that much* more awesome back in the innocence of my youth when I thought I was on some sort of nerve-wracking, invisible timer.

... okay, so this isn't so much a game idea as something I'd really like to do to mess with players. (I guess... I could make an entire game on a timer... except that would just be 'Majora's Mask'.)

2) I've never played a zombie game that's driven home the point of how absolutely terrifying and horrible zombies really are. Some games have promised to wine and dine the point, but did a heel turn halfway through the night and instead of dropping cash at a real restaurant, took the point to some sleazy 50's diner with the expectation of hooking up in the photobooth to a nosy audience (this is not at all my dating tactic in 'The Sims 2').

I'd really like to play... y'know, a philisophical zombie game. A game about the human relationship with death. And zombies, eatin' people.

1) A four part fantasy epic- each game taking place with a different cast, often in different parts of the world, always about 10-20 years apart yet all undeniably entwined; all telling the same story. This is something I rarely see done in video games- sequels that were in mind when the first game was made. This is especially something I've never seen done in RPGs (at least on console). The Suikoden games are all deliciously intertwined, but subsequent entries in the series were dependant on the sales of the previous game. .hack//? Really just should have come in one box.

Actually, the closest on-console examples of this structure I can think of off the top of my head are... recent FPS epics. A genre we RPG fans ironically *love* to dump on. Imagine that. :P

Yeah, yeah, this idea isn't actually ground-beaking or anything, but I have a story I want to tell here.


As with my last list, feel free to add to this in the comments! Whether you're a PlayWrite winner or not, I want to hear your very dearest and nearest ideas for interactive media.