This is about that “Top Secret” project that claims to give you the occasion of your life.

Hey, if I’d be a goon that would be the occasion of my life. Since I don’t have the opportunity to work on games following the standard path (as foreigner) this could be the only way to actually try!

“I’ve always loved the idea that someone, from their bedroom, reveals their passion and talent, then suddenly can have an absolutely stunning career explosion, becoming a famous Game Director with a pre-built fan base. We’re going to make it happen!” says David Perry who is a Game Director and Chief Creative Officer for Acclaim Games.

David Perry will be building the new online game from scratch and is offering members of the Acclaim player community a rare opportunity to help him develop this video game in a collaborative effort with some of the industry’s best talent. “We will bring in some surprise guests along the way to inspire and mentor the contributors,” says Perry.

One lucky winner who shines the most during the development process will be given the top prize. “This is the only chance I know of to jumpstart a directorship career in the video game industry,” continues Perry. “Everyone wins. They get to learn how to make professional games, and if they get anything in, they get a real professional credit on their resume.” Perry finishes, “But, if they win, well then they get their life changed.”

Interestingly, applicants don’t need any prior game development experience. In fact, Perry refuses to look at resumes. “We only care about the pure, focused, passionate talent they show up with,” he says.

Hey, it IS me. It’s about MMO. It’s about bedroom game design. It’s about offering a lifetime occasion. It’s about an opportunity for those who cannot have one. There isn’t anyone else in the world who could make a better target!

But I’m not so naive and my first reaction was the same of Stephen Zepp on the F13 thread: a laugh.

I’m mildly curious about how they are going to attempt this. I’m one of those who like to plunge in the community for ideas and feedback, I’m the one who believes that it’s an indispensable part of making games. But at the same time you just cannot let the players, as a vague group, build a game. And what game by the way?

You cannot design “on the air”, you always need a context. A project must have well outlined goals and purposes, then you can start to gather ideas about a specific system or possible alternatives. The problem working with “the community” is that there’s no synthesis. It’s pure chaos and without someone directing the process and taking decisions then it’s all absolutely useless and superfluous.

Without a set context the ideas would be contradictory and conflicting. Building a game is about having a coherent Vision. Letting a whole community build a game instead equals to a “patchwork”. Even assuming the execution is exceptional, you still have a castle of cards lacking solid foundation, principles and goals.

And would be Dave Perry(™) the director that is supposed to make all this happen? Who will tell good ideas from bad ideas? Who will make the calls? Who will evaluate the community work? Since Lum was too modest to brag directly, I’ll quote what he linked, last year’s Austin rant where he comments one of Dave Perry’s ideas, this wonderfully creative guy:

As an example of that last bit, Jennings brought up a new project by Dave Perry and Acclaim that will include in-game classified ads on the screen. They can be turned off, but players won’t level up as quickly if they choose to play without them, a point that drew a chorus of boos from the assembled audience. He also suggested facetiously embracing a “wonderland of consumerism,” with Coca-Cola-sponsored magic swords, Kobalds corpses that hold Skittles, and a Jet Blue dragon to fly players around.

“When you totally disrespect your consumers like that, I can assure you of one thing: Your project will fail,” Jennings said. “And deservedly so.”

Jennings ended his rant to a hearty round of applause