Relocation!
I relocated this blog to wordpress.com a few months back, but neglected to update this one. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already knew this - but in case you didn’t: http://www.proceduralcreativity.com
sIn Playlist - 08 May 2010
So, I got to press buttons in clubs and make people dance again…
m@
Sisters of Mercy - Dominion
Basement Jaxx - Where’s Your Head At
Covenant - Theremin
The Cure - A Forest
Siouxie & The Banshees - Kiss Them For Me
Code 64 - Run To You
Icon Of Coil - Former Self
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
Zeromancer - Send Me An Angel
Another View of Video Game Piracy [kotaku.com]
I’m not certain I agree entirely with Rosen’s estimates, (there’s a lot of guesswork going on there) but it’s interesting to see an alternative view on the motivations behind (and actual impact of) video game piracy coming from a developer.
Will Wright - Person, Product, Process and Press.
It’s that time of semester. The below is my submission for my FDN101 - Creativity and Innovation unit. This paper was required to draw on the four P’s of creativity […] and analyse a significant creative and innovative thinker in terms of their individual characteristics, products, inventions and their processes and environment.
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Mention the name Will Wright and you’re not likely to notice an immediate impact on anyone who doesn’t have an inherent interest in game design, or sound knowledge of the history of video games in general. However, mention the names of his creative works (such as The Sims or SimCity) and it’s highly likely that the person you’re speaking to has either played them, seen them or heard of them. In analysing a creative thinker, the question “What is creativity?” needs to be asked. Mel Rhodes states in An Analysis of Creativity (1961, 305) that:
“The word creativity is a noun naming the phenomenon in which a person communicates a new concept (which is the product). Mental activity (or mental process) is implicit in the definition, and of course no one could conceive of a person living or operating in a vacuum, so the term press is also implicit.”
This definition forms the core of Rhodes’ “Four P’s” model of creativity - consisting of Person, Product, Process, and Press. I assert that Will Wright’s upbringing and educational opportunities, personality traits, products and way of thinking conforms with Rhodes’ model of creative thinkers, qualifying Wright as significant creative and innovative thinker.
Academics have traditionally been divided on what cognitive characteristics creative people possess. In The Nature of Creativity, Sternberg (1988, 434) shows that most agree being “highly alert to novelty and gaps in knowledge” is an essential trait, as well as “using their existing knowledge as a base for new ideas”. These are two characteristics which Wright has demonstrated his entire life. In Wright’s first published creation (Raid on Bungling Bay), players piloted a helicopter over several industrial islands and destroyed various targets. Wright found in creating this title that he enjoyed the process of creating buildings and islands for the game more than the actual game itself. (Yi, M. 2003)
This in turn led to the design of the original SimCity game - where players were given the opportunity to create instead of destroy. SimCity is novel in that it is one of the first games released with no defined “winner” or “loser” (Seabrook, J. 2006) - meaning that Wright is also capable of questioning norms and assumptions. Furthermore, Sternberg (1988, 434) asserts that creative thinkers “escape perceptual sets and entrenchment” - John Seabrook (2006) observes in his interview with Wright that “You don’t really have a conversation with [Wright]; you mention an idea, and that triggers five or ten associations in Wright’s mind” .
SimCity might not have come to be at all were it not for Rhodes’ observed element of Press. Malcolm Gladwell (2008, 40-55) observes that both Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft) and The Beatles were offered opportunities that others may not have had access to, but more importantly the foresight to take advantage of these opportunities. Wright was starting to believe that his idea could not be converted into a successful product after being knocked back for funding by major software companies - but had the chance fortune of meeting Jeff Braun (a young businessman) at a pizza party. Wright was able to communicate the concept (or as Rhodes asserts, the “Product”) of SimCity to Braun - where others had seen only the lack of ability to destroy things, Braun recognised the market potential for, in his words, “an audience of megalomaniacs who want to control the world” (Seabrook, J. 2006). With the financial backing of Braun, they founded Maxis and released SimCity in 1989 - by 2006, it had earned the company two hundred and thirty million dollars. (Seabrook, J. 2006)
Wright’s chance meeting with Braun is not the only example of the influence of “Press” in creating his success. Wright spent his early formative years enrolled at a local Montessori school (with an emphasis on creativity, problem solving, and self-motivation), then at Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - a school focussed on “the development of honest, alert, intellectually curious and academically disciplined students […] [where] instruction is traditional in that it demands facts, principles, and methods, yet it is flexible in that it considers each student’s capabilities and interests”. (Anonymous, 2010)
This methodology of teaching - where students are encouraged to follow their interests and remain curious - aligns with creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson’s assertion that to foster creative thought, children with creative minds should be cultivated and encouraged for their energy and curiosity (Robinson, K. 2010). Wright to this day refers to his Montessori education as being an instrumental part in shaping the way he thinks - as evidenced in this excerpt from his interview with Seabrook (2006) in the New Yorker:
“Montessori taught me the joy of discovery, […] It showed you can become interested in pretty complex theories, like Pythagorean theory, say, by playing with blocks. It’s all about learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of Montessori—if you give people this model for building cities, they will abstract from it principles of urban design.”
After graduation, Wright went on to study in several fields at two universities - never finishing his degree and excelling only in the subjects in which he was interested: architecture, economics, mechanical engineering and military history. (Seabrook, J. 2006)
Rhodes is not the only person to assert that press forms a key part of an innovative and creative thinker. Matthew May (2009, 172-175) uses the example of Mohammed Bah Abba - a Nigerian born businessman and part-time adviser to the United Nations in the 1990’s. Frequently “in the field”, Abba was exposed to the problems inherent in an economy based around subsistence farming in arid heat - the most pressing of which is rapid food decay. Abba utilised his knowledge of business practices, local culture (women were confined to their homes by the cultural practice “purdah”), traditional claywork that he had been taught by his grandmother, and secondary school science education to create the “desert cooler” - a “pot within a pot” that utilised evaporation principles, was affordable and culturally compatible.
We can see a similar utilisation of varied knowledge and experience to create an innovative and successful product in Wright’s SimCity - his obvious enjoyment in creating things, the Montessori approach and studies in architecture and economics are core contributing factors that shine through in the game - players need to keep the layout of their city in mind (such as the placement of fire stations, road/rail networks and remembering that no one wants to live next door to an industrial complex), as well as balance budgets and other economic concerns. Without the opportunity (and desire) to study in the fields he did, it is unlikely that Wright would have created the product.
In summary, Wright’s ability to utilise his existing knowledge as a base for new ideas is clearly demonstrated in his creation of SimCity. His mental process is unlike that of most “normal” people as shown in his interviews over the years, and he displays a love of novelty and joy in discovery. Wright’s environment in growing up also clearly contributed to his creative works, his way of thinking and the person he is - one who recognised opportunity when it was offered by Braun to help bring his creations to life. Wright most certainly forms a complete example of Rhodes’ “Four P’s” model of creativity.
Sources Cited
