????布蘭登?桑德森從小就愛玩任天堂游戲機，這個愛好直到現(xiàn)在也沒有放棄。現(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)成了榮登《紐約時報》（the New York Times）暢銷書排行榜的作家【作品包括2009年的《暴風前夜》（The Gathering Storm）和2010年的《午夜之塔》（Towers of Midnight）】，并且參與到了電子游戲的編劇工作中。目前桑德森在同時創(chuàng)作好幾部科幻題材的作品，而且他的兩本小說已經(jīng)被好萊塢改編成了電影【其中《迷霧之子》（Mistborn ）由Paloppa Pictures電影公司改編，《阿卡特拉茲大戰(zhàn)邪惡圖書管理員》（Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians）由夢工廠改編（DreamWorks Animation）】。過去三年里，他還與Chair Entertainment娛樂公司一道，共同開發(fā)了大熱的iOS游戲《無盡之劍》（Infinity Blade）。

????這款融合了玄幻和科幻元素的游戲一經(jīng)推出便大受歡迎，前兩部已經(jīng)在全球售出了1100多萬份拷貝，帶來了超過6000萬美元的營收入。考慮到當下許多手游都是免費的，而每名用戶想玩《無盡之劍》都得掏6美元，因此它的成功更顯得鶴立雞群。當年Chair Entertainment的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人唐納德?瑪斯塔德是通過一個朋友認識了桑德森，問他愿不愿意參與這款游戲的創(chuàng)作。

????桑德森住在鹽湖城，離《無盡之劍》的游戲工作室并不遠。他說：“我們在一起各抒己見，最后的意見是，由我寫一本書，作為第一部《無盡之劍》的續(xù)集。我感到非常興奮，因為《無盡之劍》這款游戲的背景非常有吸引力，但是游戲本身還沒有一個好故事。這給了我很大的自由，在這個世界里探索，最終完成了一個非常有吸引力的設(shè)定。”

????最終，桑德森寫成了一本暢銷電子書《無盡之劍：覺醒》（Infinity Blade: Awakening），這本書一經(jīng)發(fā)售就占據(jù)了iBooks的榜首。自從2011年10月4日上市以來，這本書一直居于暢銷玄幻小說排行榜的前列。它給了這款游戲的愛好者一種非常豐富的跨媒體體驗。與此同時，Chair Entertainment公司正在緊鑼密鼓地研發(fā)《無盡之劍》的第二部。桑德森表示，與開發(fā)團隊一開始設(shè)想的劇情相比，他的書把第二部的劇情帶到了一個相當不同的方向，使游戲開發(fā)團隊不再局限于普通的手游體驗，而是進一步進行探索。

????“我在書中添加的角色變成了第二部游戲里的主要角色，Chair Entertainment公司又把劇情朝一個方向上推得更遠，最后又把故事扔給我，讓我寫第二本書。”桑德森說，這種跨媒體的創(chuàng)造性體驗就像拉鋸戰(zhàn)一樣。“在《無盡之劍》第二部的最后，他們把主角放在一個很糟糕的處境里，然后我必須要應對這個局面。我們對所有這些情節(jié)進行了‘腦力風暴’，然后我們一起努力。不過看到我的書是怎樣影響了他們的游戲，然后他們的游戲又是怎樣影響了我的下一本書的，我還是覺得很震憾。”

????桑德森的第二本電子書《無盡之劍：救贖》（Infinity Blade: Redemption）還沒上市就接到了大批訂購。這本電子書已經(jīng)于本周二正式發(fā)售，而且已經(jīng)登上了iBooks玄幻類小說的榜首，同時在iBooks的總排行榜上位列第二名。桑德森與Chair Entertainment公司的這種合作模式在手游領(lǐng)域可以說是獨一無二的。雖然小說改編成電影或游戲早就不是新鮮事了（比如桑德森的小說《迷霧之子》正在被改編成游戲），但是像這樣由一個暢銷書作家和一個手游工作室通力合作的情況還是絕無僅有的。瑪斯塔德指出，平板電腦和移動設(shè)備的興起為游戲玩家們打開了在同一塊屏幕上探索不同世界的機會。

????Brandon Sanderson grew up playing video games on Nintendo (NTDOY) consoles, a hobby he never gave up. Now the New York Times bestselling author (2009's The Gathering Storm and 2010's Towers of Midnight) is actually helping to craft video game stories. Sanderson, who is writing multiple science fiction projects and has seen two of his books optioned by Hollywood (Mistborn by Paloppa Pictures and Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by DreamWorks Animation), has been collaborating over the past three years with Chair Entertainment on the iOS game, Infinity Blade.

????The first two mobile games in this action franchise, which blends elements of fantasy with science fiction, have sold over 11 million copies worldwide and generated more than $60 million in revenue. This feat is especially noteworthy given that Chair Entertainment charges $6 for the game at a time when many mobile offerings are free-to-play. Donald Mustard, a co-founder of Chair Entertainment, reached out to Sanderson early on through a mutual friend to ask the author if he'd like to collaborate on this franchise.

????"We got together and brainstormed, and the idea was that I would write a book that would be a sequel to the first Infinity Blade game," said Sanderson, who lives in Salt Lake City not far from the game studio. "It was exciting because the Infinity Blade game had all these hooks for a story, but the game itself did not have much of a story. That gave me a lot of freedom to explore the world more deeply and actually make a cohesive setting out of it."

????The result was the bestselling eBook, Infinity Blade: Awakening, which debuted at No. 1 on iBooks. The title has remained on the fantasy top-seller charts since releasing on Oct. 4, 2011. That book gave fans a rich transmedia experience while Chair was at work on Infinity Blade II. Sanderson said his book took the game's story in much different directions than the development team had originally envisioned, which allowed the game makers to explore more than just the addictive swiped-based tablet and mobile gameplay experience.

????"The characters that I added in the book became main characters for the game, and Chair extrapolated that and took things in a direction and tossed story back to me for the second book," said Sanderson, who likened this cross-media creative experience to juggling chainsaws. "At the end of Infinity Blade II they left the characters in this terrible situation, and I had to deal with that. We brainstorm on all of this stuff, and we work together, but it's been a blast to see how what I do for a book influences what they do for a game and then to be influenced by that to make the next book."

????The second eBook, Infinity Blade: Redemption, which has received strong pre-orders, was released this Tuesday and has already hit the top spot on iBooks' fantasy chart and is No. 2 of all iBooks. This type of collaboration is unique in the growing mobile games business. While the traditional model of having a book turned into a movie and then a console game remains the norm (Sanderson's own Mistborn book is being developed as a game), this type of collaboration between a bestselling author and a mobile game studio is unique. Mustard said the proliferation of tablets and mobile devices has opened up the opportunity for fans to explore worlds in different ways on the same screen.