This concept trailer combined with the fact that the game is…
This concept trailer combined with the fact that the game is from the awesome CD Projekt RED (creators of The Witcher video games) gives me very high hopes for this game. I can’t wait to see more.
Game homepage.
Remixed: the derivative nature of creativity and our failure to recognize it.
The last episode of the Everything is a Remix video series is now online. Kirby Ferguson’s excellent documentary, covering the history and art of remixes, is a must see. The concept of remixes is nothing new, but the legal attacks that have abounded in recent years are. The derision remixes now receive from mainstream media could cause […]
Emerson’s ‘In the Cut’ is a mini-masterclass in video editing. Watch it.
Every media platform has its own language. For video part of that is the art of editing. Jim Emerson is breaking down editing technique and theory in exquisite detail in his series on Press Play. It’s well worth the watch. When working to tell stories over multiple mediums, it’s important to create content to keep the strengths, traditions […]
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Dead Space 2 and the value of multiple simultaneous perspectives
Image used under Fair Use from EA
By integrating choice and multiple user-controlled view-points into the game, Dead Space 2 provides a refreshing alternative to traditional video game cutscenes.
In the extraordinarily crowded field of video games, many seek attention through cutscenes of increasing complexity or realism. I found it somewhat ironic then that Dead Space’s particular unique treatment of cutscenes was mostly ignored.
Despite increasing complexity, user interactions with cutscenes, excluding quicktime events since there are whole games based around just that mechanic, have been pretty limited. You have two choices with a rare third. Choice 1: Skip. Choice 2: Watch. Then some games, oddly, allow you to fast-forward through them.
As a result, video game players and participants in video media in general tend to present two types of video. You can skip this or you are not allowed to skip this. Video games, television, web videos, heck, video advertising in general all subscribe to this binary choice.
The problem is perspective. For almost all video engagements, only one point of perspective is presented and one line of narrative. Participants are only presented with the whole of the screen and its single focus. Despite our allegiance to single viewpoint video the technology (starting with …