IGDA Game Writing Handbook Enters Second Printing

Author: by Beth A.

Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames, put together collaboratively by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game Writing Special Interest Group (SIG), has sold out its first run and is starting its second printing. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames addresses issues of creating narrative for interactive systems and relates research that shows that stories are highly valued by game players. Through the insights and experiences of practicing game writers, the book captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today’s game industry. The articles, written by members of the International Game Developer’s (IGDA) Game Writers’ SIG, detail aspects of the process from the basics of narrative and non-linear narrative to writing comedy for games and creating compelling characters. Throughout the articles there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers will expect a game writer to have. Contributors include Ernest Adams, Richard Boon, Richard Dansky, Mary DeMarle, Matt Entin, Stephen Jacobs, Ed Kuehnel, Tim Langdell, Rhianna Pratchett, Coray Seifert, James Swallow, and Andy Walsh. The book is edited by Chris Bateman, who is the Managing Director of International Hobo, a specialist company in the field of market-oriented game design and narrative, and a noted game designer and writer. He sits on the executive panel of the IGDA Game Writers’ Special Interest Group, and is also co-author of 21st Century Game Design. For more information about the book, visit the Charles River Media website.