November 2007
Iain Simon explores Lorne’s passion
Veretan gaming commentator Iain Simon, director of GameCity (where Lorne first announced Citizen Siege) and author of Inside Game Design (in which Iain interviews Lorne), presented to the Institute of Contemporary Arts last night an exploration of ‘the processes, passions and motivations behind some acclaimed video game designers’, among them Lorne Lanning (although he was not present).
Sources: Design Week
End of ‘End of the debate?’
The second part of Lorne’s interview by Mark Androvich has been posted on GamesIndustry.biz. In it, Lorne talks about censorship of art and of the truth, violence in art, and the nature of art.
More Oddworld film art
OddBlog is tremendously excited to be able to share two more production paintings from the very early stages of the Oddworld film. The first is by none other than Lorne Lanning, and the second is another piece by Raymond Swanland.
Once again, we must remind fans that the Oddworld film is only in pre‐production, and Oddworld Inhabitants are concentrating on the Citizen Siege feature film for the time being, so don’t expect to see trailers any time soon. This is just a special treat to remind fans that a return to Oddworld is still on its way.
Also, we understand that Matt Lee, who has recently been responding to mail from the Oddworld fan community, has still not caught up with our fan mail, but has every intention of doing so given time!
The video game violence debate
Mark Androvich of GamesIndustry.biz has interviewed Lorne Lanning following his Moral Kombat panel debate with Jack Thompson, on the reasons why violence in video gaming is still generating debate. In the first part of the interview, published today, Lorne blames press sensationalism, ‘the opportunity‐seeking politicians and the Jack Thompsons of the world,’ for keeping alive a contention that science and the courts have repeatedly dismissed as a non‐issue.
Jack Thompson recently claimed to have been asked by ‘the man who organizes’ the Game Developers Conference to reprise the Moral Kombat debate at GDC 2008, although it later transpired (after investigation by GamePolitics.com) that Thompson had not been invited to GDC by either its director, Jamil Moledina, who did not attend VGXPO, or video game composer Tommy Tallarico, with whom Thompson actually spoke after the initial debate.
It was documentary filmmaker Spencer Halpin’s wife who broached the possibility of repising the debate at GDC to Thompson over the ’phone, after the idea was discussed by Lorne, Halpin, and Tallarico over dinner after the Moral Kombat debate at VGXPO. The GDC team has released a preliminary list of sessions and speakers for GDC 2008, and although neither Lorne nor Thompson are yet announced to be in attendance, attorny Lawrence Walters will be speaking on the topic of Jack Thompson’s antics, and other legislative attempts to restrict the sale of video games.
Sources: GameIndustry.biz, GamePolitics.com, Game Developers Conference website
‘Oddworld 2·0’ big plans in pipeline
Marking the ten‐year anniversary of the release of Abe’s Oddysee, GamesIndustry.biz has spoken to Lorne Lanning about the change in Oddworld Inhabitants’ approach to production, and the future of Oddworld.
Calling the future of our favourite intellectual property ‘Oddworld 2·0’, Lorne admits that the long‐anticipated Oddworld feature film is in the early stages of pre‐production, the most explicit mention yet of the film’s state of development. Two production paintings for the film, by Raymond Swanland and depicting the Cell Condo Silo in RuptureFarms, were released through OddBlog in early August this year.
He also states that there are four projects currently being worked on, another of which is a machinima television series, probably the same ‘very strange HD episodic television series’ Lorne told the the CGSociety about in September, although whether this is an Oddworld or Citizen Siege production is left uncertain. The other two projects are likely to be the Citizen Siege film, and its Wage Wars online game accompaniment.
Lorne finishes by admitting to fans that it may take longer than they’d like to see Oddworld again, but that the universe is still ‘really, really close to our heart, […] and we have big plans for it.’
Sources: GamesIndustry.biz
Raymond Swanland in Advanced Photoshop
Oddworld Inhabitants artist Raymond Swanland has been interviewed for the latest issue of Advanced Photoshop, a magazine for professional and enthusiastic users of Adobe Photoshop.
Sources: Advanced Photoshop website
Lorne to instruct at ConceptArt.org Winter Workshops
Lorne Lanning will be amongst the people instructing at the ConceptArt.org Winter Workshops, which are happening at the Bell Harbor Convention Center, Seattle, 4–7 January 2008.
Sources: Oddish, Jason Manley of ConceptArt.org Forums
Joystiq reports live from Thompson–Lanning debate
Reporting live from the Philadelphia Convention Center, Joystiq has been covering the panel discussion between Lorne Lanning and advocate of banning violence in video games Jack Thompson as it happens. The debate, moderated by Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal, was over whether video games are responsible for certain instances of violent crime, a topic discussed in the recent documentary film Spencer Halpin’s Moral Kombat.
Sources: Joystiq
Lorne judging ‘Amazing Creations’
Lorne is a judge for the first NVArt competition, ‘Amazing Creations’, which is calling for digital art of ‘things that are impossible in the real world.’ NVArt is the result of a partnership between NVIDIA and the CGSociety (on whose Advisory Board Lorne sits). Also judging is Mark Snoswell (President of the CGSociety), whom OddBlog interviewed in September 2004 in anticipation of The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants (released by the CGSociety’s sister division, Ballistic Publishing).
Sources: The CGSociety