A startup developer was working on a small downloadable game for a large publisher. The publisher canceled the game midway through development for business reasons, and didn’t pay the developer for the work completed thus far – in violation of the terms of the contract. When asked about the money, the publisher’s lawyer got on the phone.

“Listen, guys,” said the lawyer. “I speak regularly to my colleagues in similar positions at the other major publishers. If you turn this into a big issue or try to take legal action against us, I’m going to tell these people that, based on my experience, you are a very difficult developer to work with. And when they hear that, they may avoid doing business with you.”

It was a cheap scare tactic, but the words resonated. As a nascent company with no name or reputation built up – no track record to fall back on that could dispute the lawyer’s threatened claims – there was little choice in the matter but to settle for a deal.

This is one of the reasons why in the game industry, as in film and music, the money for interesting new projects overwhelmingly finds its way to those groups with a well-established (and well-communicated) prior history.

For the following month, anyone writing or speaking about video games who uses the word “narrative” will be administered a mild electric shock to the temples. The shocks will increase in strength and duration the more times the word is used in a single thought.

“Wait!” I hear someone saying. “Denied the use of this most important of words, the entire critical framework built up around games today will be reduced to a shambles!” Well, I don’t care. You’ll just have to make do without it.

The injunction begins… now.

1.

At one point, Tim and the Princess had even tried to see a professional relationship counselor. The counselor lowered her bifocals to look at Tim, to peer into his soul with her birdlike eyes. In time, Tim heard about value systems, about maladaptive patterns and letting go. The Princess sat quietly with her arms folded, and she already seemed distant. It had snowed that day, and Tim was reminded of the time he built a snow fort, from the safety of which he lobbed gritty snowballs at the neighborhood kids. But that’s all gone – relegated to the past, forever. There is no snow fort to protect him now.

“The game follows students at an academy whose peaceful lives are overturned after their country's boarders are invaded.”

–Kotaku.