GDC 2013: “Talking to the Player – How Cultural Currents Shape and Level Design”
April 24, 2013 · Print This Article
I have posted a full recording of my 2013 GDC game design lecture. It’s called “Talking to the Player – How Cultural Currents Shape and Level Design” and examines in detail how video games are the perfect expression of our current cultural values. It also gives some hands-on advice on everyday problems faced by level and narrative designers.
You can watch it on YouTube or download the fully annotated slides (45mb).
[...] This video by Matthias Worch is superb, an explanation of the communication gap that was exposed so sharply by “A Letter to Leigh.” [...]
[...] 2013 GDC game design lecture above is called Talking to the Player – How Cultural Currents Shape and Level Design, and its by Mathias Worch. Its interesting core point is looking at videogames as a form of [...]
[...] http://www.worch.com/2013/04/24/talking-to-the-player-how-cultural-currents-shape-and-level-design/. Game designer Mathias Worch touches on some of the topics raised by Powers and Carr. Specifically, Worch traces the history of communication and how the linear mindset cultivated by print has “rewired our brains.” Like Worch, I believe that the changes brought on by the digital age are returning us to some of the characteristics of an oral society and that this more closely corresponds with the way our brains actually work. At the same time, Worch demonstrates how the current digital age has the potential to combine elements from print and oral culture. Powers and Carr provide an important caution that we should be mindful of how technology can usurp our will and hinder our thinking. Just as we should be cognizant of the dangers of technology, though, we should also be mindful of other cultural influences that detract from optimal living, such as workaholism and lack of holistic balance, that contribute to the choices we make about how to use computers in our lives. [...]
[...] Koster suggests "Talking to the Player – How Cultural Currents Shape and Level Design" by Matthias Worch, a 50-minute video of a talk originally delivered at GDC 2013. Raph thinks "it [...]