How to make a video game

If you like video games, you should know just how difficult it is to make one. Dan Harnett, of Acclaim Entertainment Inc., in New York, explains the process.

"Basically, it's like mak­ing a film. You start with the idea for the story. It can be an original concept, or it may come from a movie or sport. Then you have to create a storyboard, which looks like a cartoon, it includes all the different levels, the characters, the rooms, perhaps the weapons. The storyboard also specifies if it's a first- or third-person game, and if the game will be horizontal or vertical, that is, if the image will scroll horizontally or vertically — or both.

Then you are ready to start program­ming. We often do that in collaboration with the creator of the original, if the game is based on a movie or a cartoon For example, for Batman Forever we worked with Warner Brothers .

'There are a lot or people-involved in the programming process — music programmers, graphic designers, and computer people. When they think they have something that looks good, the editing process begins. Editing is a long process. There are many new "codes'' or versions, before the editors feel like they have a playable code.

"Then the game is given to the game analysts. Their job is to find all the mistakes 'All in all, the process usually takes about 12-16 months. Bigger games — the ones with more levels and more moves — can take longer. And the total investment, including development, programming and marketing, can be about 50-60 million dol­lars. But nowadays video games are more profitable than movies. Mortal Kombat, for example recouped its S50-million dollar investment in one week. For the movie it probably took months, or more.

The woman also says that kids used to comehome from school, throw their books on the floor and dash out for a few hours of fun. Now they rush home and plop down in front of the Nintendo home-entertainment system, there to spend time with the Super Mario Bros and other Nintendo characters. Some parents and educators think that time might be better spent in front of an algebra problem. They cite studies showing that video-game addicts do less well in school than other students.

Hoping to capitalize on growing concern about video-game addiction, an entrepreneur in Dundee, Illinois, has devised a lock that prevents kids from using a Nintendo machine. The product, called, Homework First, consists of a simple J-bolt attached to a four-digit combination lock. The lock, which screws into the bottom of the control deck, blocks the chamber into which game cartridges are inserted. Tom,
I owe, the inventor of the device, says it requires no tools, takes only seconds to
install and does not harm the machine. "Parents need an effective way to
control when and how much time their children play video games," says Lowe.
Lowe claims his company, Safe Care Products, has sold 15,000 units to mass
merchandisers in lime for the back-to-school season. Parents may like the
idea of locking the Nintendo — but have they given any thought to what
their kids — wide-eyed, sweating and trembling with rage—may do if they
are deprived of video games?

Some teachers say they are worried about teenagers using websites about the occult, a subject which a survey says a quarter of secondary school pupils are "very interested" in - BBC News Online's Gary Eason says. The survey of pu­pils in 115 middle and secondary schools in England and Wales found 54% of the 2,600 who responded were "inter­ested" in the occult and the supernatural and 26% were "very interested". Boys were a little more likely than girls to have expressed an interest. But girls were more likely than boys to have uncovered things which worried them. Younger pupils - the 11-year-olds - expressed the most concern. More than twice as many black and ethnic minority pupils than white pupils were "very worried" by things they had come across.

The findings are part of a larger survey of schoolchildren's attitudes carried out by market researchers Mori for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). The children were not specifically asked whether they had used the internet to pursue their interest in things supernatural.

But as a result of the findings, the ATL has added its voice to the widespread unease that unsupervised access to the internet could mean young people could find it easier to visit websites devoted to "unsavoury" subjects. It reinforces official warn­ings about the need for parents and schools to take steps to ensure children are not wandering freely on the net.

In the survey, pupils were also asked how they rated their knowledge of comput­ers and the internet against that of their teachers. Thirty-nine percent felt they knew more than their teachers did.

Commenting on the findings, the ATL's general secretary, Peter Smith, said: "Young­sters can very easily visit a choice of hundreds of websites on witchcraft, Wicca magic, casting hexes and bloodletting techniques, without adults having any control as to what they read. This goes far beyond a case of reading a Harry Potter story. This represents an extremely worrying trend among young people. Parents and teachers will want to educate children and young people about the dangers of dabbling in the occult before they become too deeply-involved."

The ATL has given some exam­ples of the sort of websites it is wor­ried about. One,dealing with bloodletting, bears the warning: "This site is here to provide needed techni­cal and safety information for people with a need, craving, or ongoing de­sire to drink blood (from consenting sources). If this topic offends you, please don't continue on inside.

"By continuing on inside to view this site further, you are certifying that either you are at least 18 years of age, or you have the permission of a par­ent or legal guardian to view this site. “ Well, that makes us wonder whether the Net is doing us more harm than good.

John Kerry

/Digest, Sept. 17, 2000/