As mentioned, In Real Life is a graphic novel adapted by Jen Wang from my short story Anda’s Game, out in the autumn. Wagner James Au of New World News got an advance copy and had some kind words about the book, as well as its context in MMOs like Warcraft and Second Life.
“Well, certainly the way that the economy shaped up in SL, and the contrast between that, WoW and Eve Online all played a part in my thinking about the relationship between play, game-mastering, democracy and economics,” Cory tells me. “I think in some way, games are a kind of Singaporean experience: an authoritarian state that is not accountable to its subjects attempts to optimize their experience for some balance of productivity and entertainment.” (Cory wrote a whole essay on that topic for InformationWeek.)
