The Games Game April 2005

The l33t Speaketh (April 2005)

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7h3 gam3 w3r3 wØrkin Øn i$ amazin ju$7 u wai7 & c

i b33n lurkin Øn 7h3 igda fØrumz & i $33n 7h3 wa¥ u rag Øn p33pl whØ wri73 7h3 wa¥ 7h3¥ wan7

@ r cØmpinn¥ w3 all wri73 3nn¥ wa¥ w3 wan7 & w3 n3v3r hav3 3nn¥ 7rubl und3r$7anding 3@ch Ø7h3r

in 7h3 fu7ur3 3v3r¥bØd¥ will wri73 7hi$ wa¥

all im $a¥in i$ li73n up Øn 7h3 cri7ici$m Øf p33plz wri7in habi7$ wh¥ dØn7 u

wak3 up & wa7ch ur back w3r3 cØmin up fa$7 bhind u

wav3 Øf 7h3 fu7ur3

p$ - b37 u can7 3v3n r3ad 7hi$

Dear Mr. Wave,

I understand your point. It's a shame you don't understand mine. I'll give it another shot (I might as well, this month's column would be pretty empty if I didn't write something! ).

I totally understand the cool of having a special common language that you and your buds use when communicating with each other, not only online but even in person, verbally. That kind of thing binds you together, gives you a special bond.

It's also kind of like the stereotypical boys' tree house. It not only gives you a special place where you can bond together, but also gives you a place where outsiders are excluded. Just pull up the rope ladder and nobody else can get in. You've seen the signs in Dennis the Menace, Calvin & Hobbes, and The Simpsons? "NO GURLZ ALOUD" [sic]. When I was your age we had the same thing. We had a saying, "Never trust anyone over 30." Hah. It wasn't long before we all turned 30 - except the ones who were killed in Vietnam or something.

By using your own cute method of communication, you exclude a lot of people. Not just the older folks like myself, but people in other countries who worked hard to master English as a second language and are ready to use it to collaborate on game projects. It was hard enough for those folks to master their own languages (look how much difficulty you had in school mastering written English!) and then English, and now they have to learn your cute "language" too?

By excluding others, you limit your own opportunities for growth. There's a darned good reason that English has attained tremendous importance as a language for international cooperation - it's a flexible language that permits clear communication as well as exquisite nuances of meaning. I assume you would agree that it'd be asking a bit much to expect everyone else in the world to adapt to your mode of communication if they want to do business with you.

So this is why I encourage game industry hopefuls to better their writing habits. Some day you will get the point, and once you've spent years writing your way, it'll be all that much more difficult to change. Bad habits die hard. So why not start now. See the way I write, using punctuation, sentence structure, and the shift key? This is the real bandwagon. You're welcome to hop on anytime.

Tom Sloper's game biz career began over twenty years ago at Western Technologies, where he designed LCD games and the Vectrex games "Spike" and "Bedlam". There followed stints at Sega Enterprises, Rudell Design, Atari Corporation, and Activision. In 12 years at Activision, Tom produced 36 unique game titles (plus innumerable ports and localizations), designed four games, and won five awards. Tom worked for several months in Activision's Japan operation, in Tokyo. He is perhaps best known for designing, managing and producing Activision's "Shanghai" line. He is currently consulting, writing, speaking, teaching, and developing original games. Find out more at Sloperama.

© 2005 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.