Today I had the pleasure of listening to developer Peter Molyneux from Lionhead Studios speak about the development and future of games. For those dear readers whom do not immediately recognize the name of Peter Molyneux then it is well for you to learn that, consequently, he is one of the best-known people in the international world of computer gaming. Some of his most recent creations include Black & White in 2001 and Fable in 2004.

But that is the past. We, as a society of computer gamers, are concerned with the future. Luckily for us, so is Mr. Molyneux. He said that games must be made where they reward the player for creativity, for thinking outside the box. "When a player says, ’Hmmmm... I wonder what happens when I do this’ we [developers] have to deliver." Upon hearing this I, just as many of you may have done, breathed a sigh of relief. The linear playgrounds, the ’forced marches,’ the redundancy of levels are seeing their last days. Molyneux wants to create a "personal experience" and to "make players feel like inventors." In essence, he desires to have the game experience revolve around us, the player, rather than a set story line. His goal is to help create "worlds which people will make their own... an expression of themselves." In his vision the player decides the direction of the game, the point and purpose. For example, you will be able to grow crops or level cities, to cure cancer and save millions or purge humanity with a plague. He is saying "look, here’s a problem. You find the solution: you being nice, you being nasty, you being good, you being evil." The freedom which our forefathers so gloriously fought for is now being delivered to the gaming experience: the freedom of choice. To do as you want, when you want. With this endeavor one must always be mindful of the words of Ben Riley, "With great power comes great responsibility." This has also crossed the mind of Peter Molyneux.

Peter Molyneux is seeking to have the player "understand the responsibility of that power." Every action has repercussions, as evidenced in Black & White. For those of you who are hearing about Black & White for the first time then there exists the possibility that you have been living in one of the deepest, darkest holes in all the Earth with cotton shoved in your ears and the only thing to keep you company is some rustic, oversized paperweight still running DOS. If this is you then I weep for your soul, but I shall help you. Black & White is game where you are a god, in charge of your people and your creature (a gigantic animal who does your bidding... most of the time), and must guide and control them so you can expand your power and influence to other peoples of the world while simultaneously battling with rival gods. Now, off that rabbit trail and back to the topic at hand: consequences. Say you were playing Black & White and decided that a town of notable mention needed to convert to worshipping you, well there are many was to accomplish this. You could give them resources they need and heal their people so they gain faith in you, or burn their buildings and destroy their crops, or have your creature (whom you have beaten, starved, and encouraged to wreak havoc) eat the populace while you attempt to save them. Assuming the events of these three scenarios play out then, in the former case, you will become more good and the people will love you, in the subsequent case you will become more evil and the people will fear you, and in the latter things may balance out and no significant change occurs. For all the things that you, the player, will do there is a consequence to it.

Now, many critics say to this, "Well, if you are going to let the youth of today do whatever they want in games and give them the ability to do it then they, of course, will commit horrible crimes and indulge in perversion with no regard. Furthermore, this mentality will transfer over to reality and they will become all the more deficient as social creatures." But that has not nor is it the case at all. In fact "exactly the opposite is true. Over 75% percent of people who played these games tried harder then you would ever believe to be as good as they could possibly be, because we have given them the choice." This came straight from developer Peter Molynex when he conducted a research study of Black & White users. In the new generation of games where freedom of choice is paramount an overwhelming majority of players choose to take the morally correct approach to solving problems, even if this approach made the game more difficult. By taking this harder road of justice the player feels a sense of accomplishment which reinforces these ’right’ actions in the real world. Yes my dear readers, you are actually learning from the games you play. From Sid Meiers’ Civilization III and the make up of countries, empires, and history to Fable where you learn about yourself; these games are educating you.

At this point you may be looking back over your gaming history, reliving the moments of your victory and accomplishment, thinking something along the lines of "Wow, the Roman Empire really did divide in it’s end like that scenario in Civilization III" or "I really can tell the difference between a Black Hawk and a Huey thanks to that test I had to take in America’s Army" quickly followed by "But those weren’t education games. I killed stuff, how is that educational?" But something was learned. In the midst of the invading army, the sighting of the cross hairs, and the leveling of your hero something was gained. You grew as a person and acquired useful knowledge. Is that not education? Is that not learning? Though of course these were not labeled as educational, there were strategy games or first person shooters or role playing games. And this led me to the subsequent question, which I was compelled to ask Molyneux: "If the normal games I play are educational and purely educational games, in the past, have generally done poorly in the market: what do you feel is necessary for these learning based games to succeed?" And to this he responded that "the same $20 million that is put into ’normal’ games must also be invested in educational games because these $200 thousand budget educational games are being compared to the $20 million budget normal games."

When all is settled a clear picture appears, the future of gaming is taking us to a place where the game is defined by the player and, through this definition, the player learns primarily about themselves as a person and how he or she interacts with his or her peers. A traditional educational game, in order to properly succeed in this market, must be properly funded along with the incorporation of these elements of our new-found freedom of choice. Many hurdles still await the gaming industry, but with the passage of each a new door is opened and possibilities flow forth. Thankfully there are those great minds out there like Peter Molynex with the vision and the drive to see this dream through to its fruition. Peter Molyneux is trying to bring this dream to fruition with his next "game", The Movies.