You Ought to Be in Pixels

ELECTRONIC ARTS; J. KIMURA/GETTY
GAMERS V. HOLLYWOOD: Lucy Bradshaw -- Sims scion; Sofia Coppola -- Tinseltown tyro

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Home-Movie Maven
Lucy Bradshaw, Sims scion = Sofia Coppola, Tinseltown tyro
The games industry is overwhelmingly dominated by men, which creates something of a vicious circle. If men keep creating games for themselves if there's no game equivalent of a date movie or a chick flick how are women ever going to break in? The notable exception is the all-time best-selling computer game The Sims built by a design team dominated by women. Lucy Bradshaw was part of that team; now she's executive producer on this fall's hotly anticipated sequel, Sims 2. Colleagues at Maxis call her the Sofia Coppola of the industry hip, young and iconic. And the feature she's working on, Movie Maker, could make directors out of us all.

The Sims has long been the antithesis of plot-driven games, like Everything or Nothing, in that you can control much of what happens to your virtual family. "When you talk to Sims players, they start telling you the story of their Sims," says Bradshaw. That gave her an idea. Why not let players film the story of their Sims?

Movie Maker spreads cameras through your Sims family's house: you click on one to start recording digital footage of your self-created character. Bradshaw's team has been experimenting with its own home movies. Her favorite: Maxis Revolutions, starring a family of Sims that all resemble Keanu Reeves' character Neo. Sims 2 lets you edit your Sims' looks and personality in detail, so you've got all you need to create almost any movie star you want. Hollywood can only dream of doing that.

It's Clone-y at the Top
George Lucas, Star Wars director = George Lucas, Star Wars gamester
Who is the George Lucas of games, the geekiest of them all? Easy. George Lucas, owner of Lucasfilm and LucasArts. The latter produced Knights of the Old Republic, a role-playing adventure set centuries before Star Wars Episode I. Knights was a critical hit, mostly because players have the freedom to choose the Jedi or Sith sides of the Force. Star Wars Galaxies, an online game with thousands of players, allows them to choose their species (now anyone can be a Wookie). Mercifully, no one gets to be Jar Jar.