WIRED Staff
Culture

Slideshow: Battle for the Belle of Amherst

Three of gaming's biggest names invent game scenarios based on Emily Dickinson's poetry. The results are great; pity we'll never see the games. Daniel Terdiman reports from the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
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Will Wright, Peter Molyneux and Clint Hocking laugh as Eric Zimmerman explains the game design challenge.Daniel Terdiman

See related story: Battle for the Belle of Amherst

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creator Will Wright's Emily Dickinson game would be stored on a USB flash drive.

Daniel Terdiman
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Clint Hocking says one of his early Emily Dickinson game ideas was to have a poetry slam, pitting the poet against the likes of Mark Twain and Robert Frost.

Daniel Terdiman
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Wright's fantasy game features Emily Dickinson as a disembodied presence on a user's computer. She can communicate by IM, e-mail or text.

Daniel Terdiman
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Wright suggests his Dickinson game could be followed up with sequels involving, among others, Karl Marx and Homer Simpson.

Daniel Terdiman