Just a little more than a week after Disney shut down the studio he founded, respected game designer Warren Spector was talking about the future of video games at this year's D.I.C.E. summit. Namely, he was saying they need to grow up a little.
As creator of the "Deus Ex" series, Spector isn't exactly a stranger to crafting violent titles, but his last two projects have been firmly planted in family friendly territory. Last year, he criticized the gaming industry for "fetishizing" violence, and at his recent presentation he detailed his personal evolution in the industry.
Spector began by mentioning how he always wanted longer and longer games before coming to embrace shorter titles. It wasn't just because he had no time, but because he started to realize that some types of games shouldn't be made.
An image of the game "Lollipop Chainsaw" popped onto the screen as he spoke, and the audience chuckled.
"Lollipop Chainsaw" is a game that has players taking the role of a cheerleading zombie killer named Juliet Starling. Starling runs around in a skimpy outfit, violently ripping apart zombies with a chainsaw. Spector made it clear he wasn't much of a fan.
"I'll try not to be too obnoxious," he said. "When I was younger, that's all I needed. All I needed was to differentiate myself from other people. If it was going to convince my mother that I was a juvenile delinquent, I was there. I needed to be transgressive. Adrenaline rush and spectacle were all I needed. I don't think I was alone in that. Maybe I'm just shallow.... When you're this age, spectacle is plenty. And bloodsprays and all that stuff is really kind of what you're looking for because you really want to alienate people in a strange sort of way. You want to shock people and you want to be different."
"Not so much, anymore."
Spector isn't necessarily advocating the elimination of these titles, but he called for video game developers to start tackling issues that are more relevant to peoples' lives.
"I have no interest in guys who wear armor and swing big swords," he said. "I have been the last space marine between earth and an alien invasion. I really just don't need to go there anymore. I want content that is relevant to my life, that is relevant to me, that is set in the real world..."
"If we're going to reach a broader audience, we have to stop thinking about that audience strictly in terms of teenage boys or even teenage girls. We need to think about things that are relevant to normal humans and not just the geeks we used to be."
