Sci-Fi News and Reviews

Curt Schilling's Next Pitch - Video Games

Current Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has a new business venture. He has founded a new game studio in the Boston area, fittingly called Green Monster Games.

From his press release, Shilling sounds very serious about creating a company that will become a force in the Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) gaming arena. He notes, "I've had a passion for gaming as long as I can remember and I've always known this was something I wanted to do one day, and today is that day. My goal is to not just enter the marketplace but to reach the apex."

Normally, despite the fact that I hold Schilling in high regard, I would be compelled to mock a sports star who tries to create a MMO, just because he's "..a longtime MMO player." However, he has enlisted Todd McFarlane as his Artistic Director and R.A. Salvatore as his Creative Director.

To quote Keanu - whoa.

Todd McFarlane is most famous for creating "Spawn" and writing and illustrating "Spiderman" in the early nineties. However, he has also created a video production company. His artistic style is wonderful and if he can translate that to an online world, it could be very, very good.

Even more promising is the addition of R.A. Salvatore. A prolific fantasy author, Salvatore created arguably the best sword and sorcery character ever - Drizzt Do'Urden(and, yes, Drizzt does have his own wiki page and, yes, I know who "Conan" is). Salvatore is known for his strong characterizations, which is an area in MMOs that is sorely lacking.

This is the area where Green Monster Games may capitalize. Sure, a game has to look good - McFarlane will have that covered. The flaw in most MMOs is the fact that most non-player characters (NPCs, in the lingo) just stand there, or follow a very simple script. With Salvatore, you are assured that the game will have a plot and, hopefully, the world will be populated with complicated characters, situations and quests. In short, Salvatore has the ability to create a world that is alive and filled with purpose. That would be a game worth playing.

So, when Schilling says the GMG motto is "If you can't do it better than it's ever been done before, work for someone else," I now believe him. I'll be watching this studio.

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Posted by Fred on September 12, 2006 6:25 PM
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