How does collaboration differ in game development from film development?
My son is a game developer and fan of both computer games and films. I am not really a gamer myself, but I appreciate the power of interactive, participatory storytelling and the way some games have become more and more filmic and story-driven. I hope someday to be collaborating on games with my younger friends who are more literate in the medium.
Here’s a brief post that observes the difference in the type of collaboration that happens on film projects versus game projects.
Filmmaking and Gamemaking – The Difference
For the moment, I’ll keep learning and playing with ideas for storytelling that is compelling and influential yet highly participatory. I don’t believe that even the most complex stories in computer games has risen to the level of Shakespeare or Hemingway; perhaps that is not even the goal.
Games are already a larger entertainment phenomenon than film in terms of opening grosses ($300+ million in one day for Call of Duty 2) and active players. I hope to be a part of anything so influential.
MindSoulStory 
Hello Tom: Great thoughts. I believe the line has blurred already. It is focusing to a point and becoming less that one can say, “I am a Gamer, ” or “I am a Filmmaker.” I see the games as a new way of “storytelling.” Even though I am a writer/director in the traditional sense of filmmaking, I have often referred to myself as a “storyteller.” This past summer I attended a few workshops put on by the Director’s Guild of Canada and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and wrote about it in my blog http://terrapin-point.com/Christopher_Bessette/Blog/Entries/2009/8/11_Filmmakers_New_Brush.html You, my friend are already a storyteller – you have the mind and the skill set, I can say that because I’ve worked with you. That deleted scene in The Enemy God movie of Yanomamö history is proof. We are in Shake’s head as he thinks of the pain, then we come back to the present situation. If this was a Gamer’s World in The Enemy God – that scene would be in the film “IF” we chose to play the game from our character “Shake’s” perspective. Thanks for letting add my two cents to the conversation. Your blog has inspired thought… let your imagination soar. 🙂 Christopher