- NECN Features The Act (2006-12-15)
- Hardcore Gamer Magazine on The Act (2007-8)
- Beau and arrow: Only shots in video game 'The Act' are from cupid (2007-1-11)
- Game vet hopes to reach the 'casual gamer' with The Act (2006-12-22)
- Spielberg For A Day (2006-11-06)
- Boston Globe: Sidekick (2006-11-03)
- Caught In The Act: a CG Society Production Focus (2006-11-03)
- Ex-Disney animators raise curtain on new Act (2006-9-28)
- The Act: Emotion Control with Single-Knob Gameplay (2005-03-31)
- Emotion trumps violence in new game (2005-01-25)
- Fluttering Off the Beaten Path (2004-12-01)
- Collected blogger reports
Spielberg for a Day: games and film come together—again
Red Herring, Nov. 06, 2006
Playing The Act requires a bit of finesse. Turn the wheel too fast or in the wrong direction, and disaster erupts—in one scene, Edgar, the main character, lunges at the girl at the bar and she angrily pushes him away. Turn the control knob just right and he successfully woos her with a shy glance and suggestive gestures.
In a world of games crammed with exploding spaceships and genres featuring world creation or destruction, a game featuring hand-drawn drama animation and a film-like storyline is decidedly different. Sure, there was Dragon’s Lair in 1983, but Cecropia believes the time has arrived for the return of the film-game hybrid. “It’s a very familiar entertainment experience,” Cecropia CEO and founder Omar Khudari says of The Act. “We’re really borrowing a lot from feature films [with] this new style.”
But is The Act a little too innovative for the gaming industry? The company finished development in July and has been looking for publishers in the console, portable, and PC game businesses. Although the industry is always on the prowl for new ideas, it’s hesitant to stray too far away from known quantities, preferring instead to issue annual updates to successful titles. “There’s a lot of head-scratching,” Mr. Khudari says of the game establishment.
For now, the game is available in select Massachusetts’s locations as an arcade game. Founded in 2001, Cecropia has 10 core staffers at its headquarters in Lexington, Massachusetts. In November 2004, it hired former Disney artists in Orlando, Florida—just as Mickey decided to abandon pen-and-paper animation—and they spent the next 20 months working on the project.
The format of The Act could also pose barriers. “Cartoons for adults are a really tough sell,” says Nicole Lazzaro says of gameplay research and design firm Xeodesign. Making the game work with keyboards or handheld controllers is one way to take it mainstream, but Ms. Lazzaro says the game’s success hinges on whether or not the story themes resonate with people.
Mr. Khudari believes they do. If The Act really touches people, it could be the first of many adventures for Edgar. “We see it as a kind pilot,” he says.