Playtest
Someone forwarded along an email announcement about the Playtest group that is meeting at Georgia State and it seemed worthwhile enough for you that I figured I would pass it along — we didn’t really get into this directly, but circled around the fact that both Gone Home and Dear Esther are fundamentally about trauma.
If any of you attends this event tomorrow and writes up a blog post about it, I’ll give you extra credit points.
Additionally, this group at Georgia State is seeking proposals for future presentations. I know some of you are particularly interested in gaming and the new center at Georgia State, Creative Media Industries Institute, is an interesting resource. If any of you are interested in putting together a proposal, come talk with me about it. Again, I’ll offer extra credit (lots of extra credit) if a team from this class puts on a presentation with the Playtest group.
Next Session of Playtest: February 3
Playtest would like to remind everyone that our next session will be Wednesday, February 3, in Troy Moore Library on the 23rd floor of 25 Park Place, GSU, from 3:00-4:00 PM.
For this week’s session, “Trauma Narratives in Video Games,” Jennifer Olive will lead a discussion on how trauma studies intersects with videogames. How does trauma get represented in videogames? What is the purpose of including trauma in these games? The games for play and discussion will be Tetris, The Walking Dead, and Papo and Yo.
If you haven’t heard of Playtest, it is a weekly hour-long meet-up supported by the Creative Media Industries Institute and the New and Emerging Media Initiative that discusses and explores game mechanics, concepts, and experiences in a comfortable and critical setting. More information about Playtest, including how to propose a session, can be found on our website.
Playtest sessions are open to GSU and non-GSU students, staff, and faculty as well as game developers, critics, and anyone with a serious interest in game design or development; so, please feel free to share this e-mail announcement with your students, colleagues, and friends.
I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact myself (jolive1@gsu.edu) or Cameron Kunzelman (ckunzelman1@gsu.edu) via e-mail if you have any questions.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We look forward to seeing you at our next session of Playtest!