Looks like gamers are pretty much destined to digitally fight their lovers every year. Watch this video for the announcement as well as a sneak peek at Dollface.

Over 100 exhibitors will be at this year’s show, including 2K Games, Activision, BioWare, NCsoft, Capcom and Turbine. If you’re into tabletop games, don’t worry — exhibitors like Wizards of the Coast will also be on hand.

As far as activities go, Microsoft is hosting Halo Fest, concerts are happening every night, competitions will be held and there are constant panels. (Really, you’ll probably find something interesting in every timeslot.)

PAX Prime is scheduled for August 26-28 at the Seattle Convention Center. If you don’t have a pass yet, you’re not getting one, because they’re completely sold out. None of this last-minute stuff this time. They’re all gone for real.

Marianne Krawczyk

Hot off the heels of God of War 3′s release, lead writer Marianne Krawczyk took some time to answer a few questions about writing for video games, the God of War series, and her experience as a woman in the gaming industry.

GamingAngels (GA): How long have you been writing as a career?

Marianne (MK): 0000ff;">I’ve been writing for a long time. Long before my work in games.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: What inspires you? Who have you learned from and how have they helped you better your career?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: I always have a hard time with this question, because everything can be a source of inspiration, and you never really know where it’s going to come from. Kids, dogs, people, art, music, stories… on any given day, something could catch my attention and set me spinning.

0000ff;">There are numerous people who have encouraged me along the way, but the ones who helped me the most are the ones who told me to quit. I think I had something to prove to those guys.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: What would you say are the toughest challenges you have faced as a female in the industry?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: My first game was working with David Jaffe on God of War, so I’m completely spoiled. David was great to work with, and when God of War is your first title, it lends a certain credibility. That said, I don’t think I’ve run into many obstacles due to my gender. Periodically (and I’ve heard female TV writers say this too) when I’m in a room with a bunch of guys, sometimes it feels as if my voice is a dog whistle. Like they can’t seem to hear it. Although that is the exception rather than the rule.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: With the growing number of females playing games, why do you think companies still have problems marketing non-stereotyped games towards women?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: When I worked in children’s TV, the general thought was that boys will never watch a girl show, but girls are willing to watch boy shows. I’m not sure that still applies in TV, but I think maybe it crosses over to the game space a bit. Women are playing more games, and many seem to enjoy (or at least put up with) the more male driven titles.

0000ff;">At the end of the day, though, I think change comes incrementally. The more women are willing to plop down 60 bucks on games that reflect their sensibilities, the more the industry will be forced to consider those consumers and their needs.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: You are best known for working on the God of War franchise. How did you approach writing for these games?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: Through character. I’m lucky that these games are character driven. On GoW 1, it was figuring out Kratos’ back-story and what made him tick. On the subsequent titles, it was trying to keep that consistent.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: How many hours of research would you say went into preparing the first draft or outline for the first game, and how has that grown with each installment in the series?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: I really don’t know how to answer that. It seems I’m always working even when I’m not working. Ideas float in and out all the time. So it’s never just hours spent in front of the computer. It’s having brunch on Sunday morning and seeing something that makes me think about the story or what we are trying to do with the story. It’s doing research and finding a way to incorporate interesting concepts. It’s as simple as watching a movie or playing a game for diversion and realizing that how the content was handled was good (or bad) and taking lessons from that. I feel like I’m constantly working.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: What are you responsible for when you write for games? Do you work on every aspect of the story or just on the storyboards?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: More and more I am called on for story and character development as well as dialog scripts. But it all depends on the game, the dev team and what they need of me.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: When it comes to writing content that some might deem offensive or promoting stereotypes, how do you respond?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: I try to write the scene as honestly as possible, and at the end, I hope, there is a little more depth and truth to it. Sometimes that doesn’t come through, and sometimes, even when it does come through, it doesn’t always stay in the final cut.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: How do you write scenarios like the orgy scenes or other sensitive material so that it is tasteful?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: I’m not sure they are ever tasteful, are they? More to the point, I’m not sure they should be tasteful.

0000ff;">But seriously, in the case of all the God of War sex games, almost all the directors wanted the passion to erupt from a fight (or some kind of argument), but with a powerful male character like Kratos, passion from a fight quickly begins to feel abusive. So I was always concerned that female characters be equally interested in Kratos and that the sex not be born out of any kind of violence or argument. That was always my 2 cents. From there, the guys would come up with the sex scenes, and I think they handled them well.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: Is there a story you would want to tell in the God of War series that hasn’t been told yet?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: Oh, there may be a couple out there still, but I’m trying not to think about GoW for a while.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: Are there any other mythological tales that you would be interested in writing a game based on?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: Yep. I like all mythology. I like how it’s similar and how it really reflects the human condition, whether it’s from ancient Greece or from the Yucatan.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: Is writing for video games catching up or has it surpassed writing scripts for movies?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: Man, there is a lot of good game writing out there these days. I think it’s catching up for sure. In some cases, it’s already there, but the nature of games is so completely different. It’s a bit of an apples and oranges question. In a film, you don’t need to tell the audience to go pick up some dynamite (or some other directive), but you will have to ask that of the player. It’s hard to keep that kind of exposition fresh.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: Where do you go, or what do you do, to find inspiration to write? Is there a certain place you tend to frequent or a sort of “ritual” you go through to submerse yourself into the world you are creating?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: I hate to dispel the romantic writer’s myth here, but quite often it comes down to this is my job and people are depending on me to deliver to the best of my abilities.

0000ff;">Are there days when it’s clicking and everything is working? Sure. Just like there are days when nothing feels like it’s working and you have a deadline that day anyway. It’s a matter of exercising the muscles, even when you don’t feel like it.

0000ff;">To get into the mindset, I keep an outside office. This helps to keep home life separate, and when I’m at my office, I know I’m there to work.

0000ff;">To prep, I do try to submerge myself in the tone and mood of a piece. Through research, through fiction, everything I can get my hands on. Then I stop and let the world and the characters tell me what they want to be. I try to let theme bubble up rather than forcing it down on the page. Quite often it’s about allowing the work to show up. At a certain point, if the material is strong, I feel like the typist, and the story is telling me what it wants to do. Of course, those are on the good days, when everything is clicking.

0000ff;">000000;">

Game Development Essentials: Game Story & Character Development

GA: What learning aides can you recommend for those who want to learn more about writing for video games?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: My book, of course (shameless plug). Also, there are several good books on the topic, but the best thing to do is play games and analyze why the stories work or don’t work.

0000ff;">000000;">GA: Do you have any advice to share with our readers who are interested in video games as a career?

0000ff;">000000;">MK: Write. And learn every kind of writing from novel to screen to games. Then once you know these, apply what you can to games.

Women in Gaming Weekends is an interview series with women working in various positions throughout the video game industry. These interviews are to help answer questions that female gamers interested in pursuing a career in gaming might be looking to have answered, provide helpful information and inspire healthy debate.

Eat Sleep Play logo

David Jaffe has decided to keep himself from commenting on the internet, twitter and anything else online for the next six months. He made the decision in a NeoGaf post after a fight about used game sales.

“This is the problem with the internet,” he said. “No matter how clear you make yourself, people simply ignore what you have to say. And so I will now forever be the guy who opposed to used game sales (which I am not).

“One day I will learn that it’s just not worth saying a damn thing. Which really – to be fair – is the smart way I should be doing things. Let’s make a deal NeoGAF… right here, right now. Let’s see if I can JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP for the next 6 months. No Twitter, no blog. The accounts will stay open cause I wanna go back to it I’m sure. But next time you hear from me will be announce of our game. Deal?”

Not sure if he’ll be able to make it, but I bet PR is probably happy. I personally love reading his twitter and watching his video blogs, and will be there in six months when he returns.

More and more companies are starting to use Twitter to release information. Game companies use it to announce everything from new websites to new game releases. Journalists then pounce and use the 140 character tweet as a source in an article. We’ve been guilty of it too. But does that make it right? Should we be putting so much weight to something on twitter?

Recently David Jaffe said something about an upcoming announcement in a recent tweet (only part of it).. “..but please buy our new game, to be announced soon! ”

That day gaming blogs ran with that and posted that Jaffe was going to be announcing a new game. We didn’t run it because there was no other information. No date, no title, no to be announced at blank con.

*warning explicit text- it’s Jaffe what do you expect?*

Even Jaffe thought it was insane that his tweet became news.
” Yeah I expected them to do it. Fucking fuckers. By the way, what a stupid news story. An announce of an announce?!?”

Earlier today, EA posted a link to a website which we did post about. Ten minutes after posting, I received a press release about the title of the game and what company is behind it. Sure would have been nice to have that information to begin with.

What I wonder from you is what do you think about Game company tweets? Do you enjoy the code giveaways? Do you think Twitter teases should not be news? How do you wish Game companies would use Twitter more effectively?

Eat Sleep Play logo

E3 rumors are everywhere right now. Eat Sleep Play’s David Jaffe has decided to end one rumor about his company’s project being announced at E3 next week.

“I’ll say it right now, because some people are speculating: we’re absolutely not going to be at E3,” said the developer, speaking in the video update you can see after the break.

“I will be there, and Scott Campbell may be there… but we’re not showing anything.”

But don’t rule out next year for Jaffe and his team.
“Next year, I fully expect us to be on the showfloor,” Jaffe added. “Part of me would love to announce at E3, so you walk into the Sony booth and bam, there’s our game.”

You can watch the full webcam message here: