Two weeks ago, Microsoft organized an online event they called “Game With Dev” as we’ve officially launched Turok. I’ve never heard of this before (although apparently it’s not a new thing), but the idea is was sheer genius.

Aside from getting my ass handed to me by the community (hey, I was busy coding during production; not goofing around and playing games, *cough* Lenzin! *cough* ), it was great to see people trying to reach through to the team: before I started playing I started receiving friend invites, as well as messages detailing “what-would-be-soooo-cool-as-DLC”. It was really good to see people enjoying the game, and feeding back (particularly since forums seem to be more of a form of cathartic venting then actual constructive feedback).

I wouldn’t be surprised to see this sort of event with an MMO or some such, but it never struck me as something possible, or even enjoyable, for your average FPS gamer. I’m glad that Microsoft is heading these types of events, it definitely makes life a lot more enjoyable as a game developer.

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