"There are thousands of traditional books which are of course brilliantly written and have incredibly exciting storylines and thought-provoking philosophies," Ian continues, as we talk about the differences between traditional novels and interactive fiction of the kind pioneered in Fighting Fantasy. And Fighting Fantasy is still going strong, with Chinese translations launched very recently. And if at first you don't succeed, try and try again." And a lot of people did exactly that: more than 17m Fighting Fantasy gamebooks were sold, in 28 languages. "Fighting Fantasy gamebooks empower the reader, who felt the anxiety or joy of being fantasy heroes themselves – they lived or died by their decisions. ![]() Ian and co-creator Steve Jackson wrote the books in a second-person present style, with branching story narratives and a dice-based game system bolted on. It was on the big screen of the reader's imagination that the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks played out. This unstructured format of role-playing on the big screen of the imagination can't be bettered in terms of unique user experience." "The narrative is made up as the game is played out rather than along a predetermined arc written by the games designer. ![]() "In many ways paper and pencil role-playing creates a much deeper gaming experience than many video games," Ian argues. Dungeons & Dragons established an entirely new paradigm for gaming, one that brought story and character into games as never before. Games Workshop purchased the UK rights to the cult role-playing game in 1975, which established the company's mission to make progressive games for core gamers, and led in turn to the immense success of the Warhammer franchise in the 1980s. ![]() It was Dungeons & Dragons that helped fulfil that ambition. "For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to turn my passion for playing games into a business of making them." "I started playing games as a child and never stopped," Ian says when asked about his own passion for games, which started with classics like Monopoly and chess, then war games and board games before he discovered Dungeons & Dragons in his 20s. I'm fascinated by the way in which the massive growth of gaming in the 30 years since Fighting Fantasy was first published has changed how we think about stories – so I was very lucky to grab some time with one of gaming's most influential figures, Ian Livingstone, co-creator of Fighting Fantasy, founder of Games Workshop and lifetime president of Eidos Interactive, the company behind Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. ![]() What made Fighting Fantasy so addictive for my 10-year-old self, and for a generation of geeks around my age, was the combination of two things we love with a passion: stories and games. If I'd chosen to hit the Magic the Gathering pro tour, or joined a videogame clan I might have stood a better chance. The market for professional gamebook players never materialised, but fantasy gaming has become big business. I was so fascinated with the now-iconic green-jacketed gamebooks, emblazoned with the legend "Thrilling fantasy adventures in which YOU are the hero!", that I hatched a plan to make playing them my job as a grown-up. When I was 10 I wanted, for a brief period, to be a professional Fighting Fantasy player.
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