There was an interesting post recently on Wired about Hotel Dusk, a game for the Nintendo DS portable system that stretches the definition of "game" and "book" to meet somewhere in the middle.
A quick overview: Hotel Dusk is a game that plays like a mystery novel set in an old hotel. The player navigates around the hotel and speaks to the various characters in an attempt to solve the mystery. The style is reminiscent of film-noir (both graphics and dialogue) and the vast bulk of the game consists of reading what the characters are saying to you. And you even hold the system sideways so that it opens like a small book.
E-Books are generally assumed to be the natural incursion of books into digital media, but more success is being seen with formats like podcasts and cell phone serialization, which makes me wonder if our efforts are not better spent trying to find the best format for a given story, instead of trying to wedge readers into the formats that the publishing industry is most comfortable with.
From Matt: The scriptwriters made quite a few changes from the book, but they were all for the best - and booklover though I am I have to admit that its better to see magic than to read about it.
From Mina: I adore this film. Monsieur Hulot’s very modern sister and brother-in-law don’t know what to do with Tati’s charmingly untidy and bungling protagonist, who inhabits a world where meaning is still more important than appearances.
From Carey: A must see Hayao Miyazaki’s anime is Laputa: Castle in the Sky, originally released in 1986. A fantasy film that explores the altruistic and compassionate nature of humans, aspects lost through repeated exposure to power, technology, and the complexities brought by the combination of the two. 
Thanks for this quick overview. Hotel Dusk is a very good game.
Posted by: Sudoku Print Puzzles | January 01, 2010 at 08:46 AM