October 31, 2012 Eric Swain Critical Responses October ’12 Round Table Entry – Thinking on Horror It’s the end of the month and that means it’s time for BoRT. Being October, this month’s topic suitably fits the season, Fear and Loathing in Game Spaces: “Since their inception, games have explored that most primal of human emotions: fear. Whether it’s shambling zombies, ghosts, relentless killers or arachnophobia, we’ve never been short of scares. Some can’t stand horror games, while others thrive on them. Are games uniquely suited to instil fear in the player, beyond a film or a Stephen King novel? | more
September 30, 2012 Eric Swain Critical Responses September ’12 Round Table Entry – Eschewing Realism Last minute Eric as always. September’s BoRT topic, run now by Alan Williamson, theme is New Horizons. The blurb is as follows: 2K’s Chris Harmann recently said that achieving photorealism was the key to opening ‘new genres’ of games. Without discussing whether or not this is true (it isn’t), what genres or subjects have games left uncovered, and what should they be focusing on? Alternatively, if photorealism isn’t the limiting factor on the diversification and evolution of gaming experiences, what is? | more
October 31, 2009 Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts October’s ’09 Round Table Entry – Denouement: The Gameplay Slowdown Designer Denouements How can the denouement be incorporated into gameplay? In literary forms, it is most often the events that take place after the plot’s climax that form your lasting opinion of the story. A well-constructed denouement acts almost as a payoff, where protagonists and antagonists alike realize and adjust to the consequences of their actions. Serial media often ignored the denouement in favor of the cliffhanger, in order to entice viewers to return. | more
September 30, 2009 Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts September’s ’09 Round Table Entry – What Do Spatial Relationships Mean to Us Isn't That Spatial? Every video game has certain benefits and constraints in the way it represents space. Interaction fiction, arcade titles, 2D side-scrollers, isometric RPGs, and first person shooters all have advantages and disadvantages to how they deal with space-some technical in nature, some design-based. This month's topic invites you to explore the ways games have represented the spatial nature of their storyworlds and what this does for the audience experience. | more
May 31, 2009 Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts May’s ’09 Round Table Entry – The Great Wave off Kanagawa A Game Is Worth a Thousand Words: What would one of your favorite pieces of non-interactive art look like if it had been created as a game first? May's topic challenges you to imagine that the artist had been a game designer and supersede the source artwork-whether it be a painting, a sculpture, an installation, or any other piece that can be appreciated in a primarily visual way-to imagine a game that might have tried to communicate the same themes, the same message, to its audience. | more
April 30, 2009 Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts April’s ’09 Round Table Entry – Torture Taking Games Seriously, Making Game Seriously: This month's Round Table challenges you to design a game that deals with a social issue that personally troubles you. The recent months have seen controversy sweep through the video game industry. Whether people are objecting to the use of imagery widely considered to evoke racial stereotypes, or to the gameplay based on violent sexual crimes, or to the fact that anyone would complain about either topic-the discussion has been fierce. | more
March 25, 2009 Eric Swain External Sources, Recent Posts March’s ’09 Round Table Entry – Fumito Ueda About the Author: This month's topic turns the literary focus from the medium, to the author. If you submitted a post to either the January or February topics, feel free to write about the process you underwent in converting literary themes into gameplay. Did you struggle with anything in particular? Are you satisfied that your game design(s) communicated what you intended? Have subsequent comments or idea made you wish you could go back and start he process over? | more
January 31, 2009 Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts January’s ’09 Round Table Entry – Sister Carrie Putting the Game Before the Book: What would your favorite piece of literature look like if it had been created as a game first? ...rather than challenge you to imagine the conversion of your favorite literature into games, I challenge you to supersede the source literature and imagine a game that might have tried to communicate the same themes, the same message, to its audience. Better late than never. | more