Orson Scott Card and Dani Bunten Berry
I just saw this article linked from Slashdot. It is a column written by the great science-fiction writer, Orson Scott Card. It was written for the venerable Compute! magazine, 23 years ago. What’s interesting is that back then, EA was known as an innovative game company. This was largely due to one reason: Dani Bunten Berry.
Dani Bunten Berry has always been my game design idol. Her rare GDC writings, lectures and assorted pieces of wisdom I’ve been able to find on the net have astounded me with their vision and relevance. If games today successfully accomplished some or any of her desired game attributes, gaming would be a much more vibrant and social space, and one that appealed to a much wider variety of people. For instance, she talks about multiplayer games with the “Norm effect”, which describes what happens when Normy walked into the Cheers bar. The regular yell “Norm!” when they see him, welcoming him back to their small bar community. A game that facilitates this would long keep its players coming back for more, as the social aspects of the game outlive the game mechanics (which can ultimately be mastered).
Dani invented the real-time strategy genre with Command HQ. She wowed us with her games and was the first famous transgender game designer. This was over 15 years ago, in a time where gays and transgenders had even more stigma than they do today. Between her amazing work at Ozark software and her tumultuous and ultimately satisfying personal life, she was a fearless master of life in every respect.
I’ll leave you with her famous GDC quote, on why she designs multiplayer online games:
“Art, animation, sound, music and people playing together! Who could ask for more in a medium! No one on their death bed ever said “I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer!” (Duh… it’s people!)”
I couldn’t agree more. We’re still trying to catch up with you, Dani. R.I.P.
