First Person Podcast Episode 13

Pigeon is a Verb: Recent Trends in First Person Shooters

Alexandra Orlando, Chris Lawrence, Rob Parker, Pierson Browne, Shawn Dorey

This month we talk the latest trends in First Person Shooters with Rob, Chris, Shawn and Pierson with a focus on the games Titanfall 2, Doom, Battlefield One and Overwatch and I swear I only mention D.Va once! We focus on the narratives by first talking about how we as academics dedicate our time to story modes in games. What are some of the popular narratives in first person shooters and what is experiential difference between the stories we tell about gameplay? Do first person shooters need a single player campaign at all? This and pigeons in this months podcast. Continue Reading →

Interview with Brianna Wu

Software Engineer, Game Developer, Feminist Warrior

Alexandra Orlando

On November 1st and 2nd Brianna Wu visited University of Waterloo as part of the HeforShe campaign to talk with students and professors about women in tech initiatives, Gamergate and feminism in the games industry. I was able to steal her away from her busy itinerary to discuss the role of academic institutions and publishing in the tech world, as well as some of her missions while she is here in Waterloo. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 12

Horror Games with Special Guest Michael Lutz

Alexandra Orlando, Betsy Brey, Rob Parker, and Michael Lutz 1 Comment

This month on the First Person Podcast Betsy, Rob and I are joined by our first-ever special guest Michael Lutz to discuss some of the latest trends in horror games including indie horror, glitch horror, interactive fiction and VR. What is the role of jump scares in the modern horror game? What kind of fears does glitch horror prey on? Is P.T. really a failed project and how might Resident Evil 7 be following in its footsteps? We also talk to Michael about his work and how he manages to balance his academic and creative projects. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 11

Procedurally Generated Feels: No Man's Sky

Alexandra Orlando, Rob Parker, Shawn Dorey, Justin Carptenter 1 Comment

In this first episode of the term, we discuss the highly controversial game No Man’s Sky. We go in depth with the early and more recent marketing of the game and how Hello Game’s relationship with Sony helped and hindered the development process of the game. We also talk about our personal experiences with the game, how the procedurality is executed in comparison to similar games. We close out the episode with a discussion about how games scholars and media archeologists might want to approach a game like this. Continue Reading →

Book Review

8th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling

Antranig Sarian

The word “Interactive” is a much abused and rarely defined buzzword. Espen Aarseth notes this in his 1996 book Cybertext where he observes how the word “Interactive” is more of a marketing term with little academic depth, a slogan that brings to mind “computer screens, user freedom, and personalized media, while denoting nothing”.1 More recently, Miguel Sicart in Against Procedurality has criticised a trend within game studies to unduly fetishize the digital and structural aspect of games. 2 Nowhere are these trends more apparent than in the recently published conference proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. The term “Interactive Digital Storytelling” is supposed to tie the papers together, but does so with little definitional cohesiveness: signifying branching paths, collaborative fiction, digital spaces, authoring tools and simulation games all at once. This reflects a worrying trend in game studies, a trend which fetishizes the digital while neglecting to explore the theoretical implications of the games that are actually being discussed. Continue Reading →

Environment as Narratives

Firewatch Analysis

Jude Baril-Bédard

Firewatch is a narrative first-person game released in 2016 by indie studio Campo Santo. In this game, the player embodies Henry, a middle-aged man spending the summer of 1989 working as a fire lookout in the Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming. Studying Firewatch provides insight into the relationship between environment design and narrative experiences, since the latter is supported or emphasized by the former. Gameplay restricts players’ movement to a mountaintop, where they walk between trees and on top of rocky formations. I will unpack my shifting emotional response to the environment as I explored it. I felt the initial novelty and the awe induced by its technical prowess quickly subsided, creating in me a spectrum of affects. As the overarching narratives imposed themselves and interfaced with my reception of the game, they colored my reading, shining a new light on my surroundings. Continue Reading →