The Gamification of Interrogation
As recent events have reminded us, torture for the purposes of interrogation is a part of our cultural heritage in the United States. And, so are games. But what about the combination of the two? Games featuring harsh interrogation techniques are rare, but they’re out there. Lately, though, I’ve beenContinue Reading
The bard, with role divided
I wrote at the end of my last post about the way game designers and game players, in the analogy between narrative games and homeric epic, have certain parts of the role of the bard divided between them: the player gets the most obviously fun part of the bard’s job–combiningContinue Reading
Alternate Reality Games as Authentic History Games
Museums are increasingly turning toward alternate reality games (ARGs) as way to engage visitors and draw broader audiences to their collections. If you’re unfamiliar with the term ARG, Wikipedia’s entry provides an adequate working definition: “An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world asContinue Reading
Found in Translation: Age of Bronze
Some of you may know I’m currently working on a digital translation of Euripides’ Medea. Originally a play in the 5th century BC, it has seen itself revived many times, not only on the stage, but also in film. I am now introducing it through an even more modern mediumContinue Reading
Formulaic play
This post is about the the way the essential mechanical aspect of the ludic system called homeric epic–the re-composition of heroic tales by the elaboration of formulas and themes, recurrent elements that could be combined in infinite variety by the virtuosic performers who were perhaps called homerids–gives us a compellingContinue Reading
The Lore Keepers: Keeping Track of Who Begat Whom
A lot of players care about the histories of the fictive worlds they spend their time in. Case and point, a handful of World of Warcraft books have made it on the New York Times Bestseller list. As I have been thinking about these game world histories it strikes meContinue Reading
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The Importance of Defensive Driving for Bus Drivers As a bus driver, you are responsible for the safety of your passengers and yourself. Defensive driving is a crucial skill that can help you avoid accidents and keep everyone on board safe. In this blog post, we will discuss the importanceContinue Reading
Symposium: “Roots of Humanistic Game Criticism,” in The Lord of the Rings Online
This Thursday night at 9:30 Eastern I’ll be trying to begin something new and perhaps promising at the Video Games and Human Values Initiative: a monthly symposium (you know, a drinking party) on “Roots of Humanistic Game Criticism” inside the world of Turbine’s The Lord of the Rings OnlineContinue Reading
Dualing [sic] epics
This post picks up where my last one left off, and does the heavy oral formulaic lifting I mentioned before. If we take the phrase “Playing the Past” as loosely as I think all of us here would like, playing the past is exactly what the homeric bards were doing,Continue Reading
Tecumseh’s Curse (Chapter 1)
A True Story of Digital Heritage Hijinks and Augmented Reality Adventure Where YOU Write The Ending Chapter 1: Rebuffed! One of the most difficult tasks people can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games. —Carl Jung The year is 2008. The month is AprilContinue Reading