Escape artist: on The Getaway--a new form of entertainment that blends gaming and cinematic storytelling. (backdrop).(Q and A with Gavin Moore)(Interview)

Q Would you consider The Getaway to be a breakthrough in terms of combining cinematic storytelling and interactive game play?

A There is nothing new in blending cinematic storytelling and gaming. Games have had stories ever since Space Invaders: Defend the Earth against the all conquering, invincible, relentless alien horde.... The difference is in the way we are doing it--using film techniques of storytelling. We have a proper script, all our locations are found by a location scout, and we have real actors. The main point is that we want to involve people more in the game, to feel part of what they are doing, to care for some characters and hate others. To do this, we have tried to tell our story in the same way a film would. The only difference is that to see how the story progresses, the player has to succeed in controlling the game.

Q Lots of games use cinematic clips, or cut-scenes, to move the story along. How is what you're doing different from that?

A Many stories are bolted on at the last minute to add some substance to a game, but these never work. We've created an engrossing script. We spent a lot of time on rewrites, actor casting, and rehearsals to make sure that we got the performances we wanted. We have also tried to blur the line between the cut-scene and the game by showing the cut-scenes in real time. We use the game engine to do this, and this stops the jarring between in-game graphics and cut-scene graphics.

Q Do you consider The Getaway to be a cinematic game or an interactive movie?

A cinematic game. The term "interactive movie" leaves a bit of a bad taste in my month. I was asked the other day if I was a frustrated film director. I may be frustrated, but I don't want to be a filmmaker in the traditional sense. I want to create stories and characters for game players that will make them hate, laugh, cry, and so on, and drive them to want to find out what happens next. Good stories can make great games. I believe it's the future of gaming.