Summary: Storytelling is becoming increasingly important in games. Changing gamer demographics, increasing sophistication among developers, and other factors are helping to expand the field so much that game companies are now hiring writers to work alongside programmers and artists. This week, we visit with Tim King, a software engineer, writer, musician, and story enthusiast, who has had a long love affair with story-based videogames. Tim produces "be the story," a podcast about stories and telling them. In this fascinating interview, we explore the world of story-based games, including: * Which types of games feature stories * How developers integrate game play with storytelling * How players interact with and experience games that feature strong stories * What makes for good and not-so-good storytelling in a game * What cut scenes are and how they affect game play * What some of the best games with stories are.
