Friday March 11, 2005

Grand Theft Author

Reporting from the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Wired tells of a lighthearted competition to design a speculative computer game based on the life and work of Emily Dickinson. While two designers proposed rather straightforard simulations, the winner — proposed by Black & White designer Peter Molyneux — sounds as brilliant as it is, um, creepy.

Conceived as a cross between a Tamagotchi and Microsoft’s annoying “Clippy” character, Molyneux’s proposed game casts the player as Dickinson’s therapist. The game would be played off a thumb drive, with Emily running in the background and popping up only occasionally via email or instant messenger.

“As you interact with her, you start with a cordial relationship,” he said. “She (either) becomes romantically obsessed with you, or goes into a suicidal depression, and at the end, she can delete herself from the memory stick.”

Wow. It’s almost like knowing a real writer.