Chris Lawrence

First Person Podcast Episode 25: Game(s) of the Year(s)

Another Year, Not Another Award Show.

First Person Scholar

In our January 2018 podcast, Betsy, Chris, Will and Justin discuss their picks for games of the year, with a twist: categories ranged from the social (“Fine, stop yelling I’ll play it award”) to the academic (“game that made me rethink my research”). FPS has previously experimented with alternative formats for game of the year awards before, asking podcast participants last year to focus on the games that resonated with them most and to reflect critically on the awards themselves in the year before. Stick around for the end of this year’s podcast, when the FPS crew each discuss their one true game of the year. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 23

Surveilling Stealth Action Games

Jason Lajoie, Betsy Brey, Chris Lawrence, Will Fast, and Pierson Browne

What makes a stealth action game? Among the titles discussed in this podcast, including (and predominantly) the Metal Gear Solid series, Assassin’s Creed, Hitman, Splinter Cell, Batman: Arkham Asylum and, to some extent, Horizon Zero Dawn, a distinction was placed between stealth as a procedural mechanic baked into all aspects of the game design and stealth as an additional option afforded to players. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 21

Love Live the Queen: Love Nikki and the politics of playing dress-up

Jason Lajoie, Betsy Brey, Rob Parker, Elise Vist, Chris Lawrence

Confession: the subject for this podcast was selected without my having the first clue as to its contents. Before the start of this month I had never heard of Love Nikki-Dress UP Queen (2017), knew almost as little about mobile games (does one go to the Pokemon, or is it that the Pokemon go with you?), and I certainly was unfamiliar with any controversy involving Love Nikki’s procedural dress-up competition mechanics. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 17

Isometric RPGs with Special Guest Cameron Kunzelman

Alexandra Orlando, Rob Parker, Chris Lawrence, Cameron Kunzelman

This month on the First Person Podcast, special guest Cameron Kunzelman joins Chris, Rob, and I to talk isometric RPGs.  How and why has the genre persisted after all these years? What function does long form textual narrative have in today’s… Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 14

One True Game: Keep Remastering

Alexandra Orlando, Chris Lawrence, Betsy Brey, Alex Fleck. Rob Parker, Phil Miletic, Justin Carpenter

At First Person Scholar, we do Game of the Year differently. The rampant chaos of end of term and the general lack of time and funds that graduate students have means that getting through many of the latest releases is nearly impossible. Instead, we focus on the games we spent the most time with and the ones that the had the biggest impact on us in 2016. Continue Reading →

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 →