Can Publishers Cash In on Video Gamers?

In Discussion by Edward Nawotka

The game L.A. Noire has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. If Mulholland Books gets even a fraction of that audience to buy its companion book of fiction, it will surely cash in. By Edward Nawotka The video game industry is a behemoth. In financial terms, it represents some $10.9 billion in revenue in the US, according to the latest statistics …

LA Meets NYC: Mulholland Books Marries Hollywood, Video Games and Fiction

In English Language by David Duhr

Little, Brown’s new imprint is delivering page-turners with Hollywood pedigree and has signed unique partnerships with film producers and video game companies. By David Duhr NEW YORK: Albert Brooks in The Muse compared being a screenwriter in Hollywood to being a eunuch at an orgy: “except that the eunuch can at least watch,” Brooks’ character says, “while the screenwriter is …

How Can Games Be Used to Promote Literary Brands?

In Discussion by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka As discussed in our lead article today, gamification is a growing trend among marketers. In one current example from the book world, Kirkus Reviews — the venerable American book review magazine — will launch beta version of a new social network trivia game with game developer Qrank at tomorrow’s PubCamp@SXSW in Austin. The trivia game will focus on literary history, …

Lorna Evans of Ubisoft on Turning Games into Comics, Books and Movies

In What's the Buzz by Daniel Kalder

By Daniel Kalder Lorna Evans is Cross Media Producer for video game developer Ubisoft, and also helps the UK games industry find new business opportunities with books, TV and film. She has worked on some of the UK’s biggest games titles, including Tomb Raider and Resident Evil and is passionate about the need for increased cooperation between media. “Sometimes when …

Will Video Games Become More Like Interactive Graphic Novels?

In Discussion by Chip Rossetti

By Chip Rossetti Today’s lead story discusses the first interactive, immersive graphic novel for the iPad, which combines elements of both video games (because the reader controls the pace of the story and can “peel back” the page to reveal historical documents and images as he or she goes) and graphic novels (because it walks the reader through an illustrated …

Video Game Storytelling: High Art or Artless?

In Discussion by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka In today’s lead story Tom Bissell discusses the sophistication and stupidity of video game storytelling. He argues that is a sui generis medium, one that plays by and makes up its own rules and doesn’t need to adhere to the conventions of literary craft. What do you think? Is video game storytelling a high art, something all …

The Sophistication and Stupidity of Video Game Storytelling

In Digital by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka There’s been plenty of news coming out of this week’s E3 video game convention, not the least of which is that game designers will now be moving into 3D. Unfortunately, not matter how stunning and innovative a video game’s visuals get, much less effort seems to be going into the actual stories in the games themselves. “Other …