I will be at Super MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival) this weekend, Jan. 4-7, Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, MD, talking about two of my favorite things: writing and video games.
I will be participating in two panels:
The Retro Aesthetic and the Power of Abstraction
Friday Jan. 5, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
MAGES1 – Chesapeake G, H, I
Panelists: Vince Kuyatt, Luke Johnston, Oliver Surpless, E.C. Myers
Despite the gains in graphical capabilities, games continue to turn to the faux 8 and 16 bit aesthetics. Why is this, and how does this form impact our playing experience? Why is it that games like Five Nights at Freddy’s intentionally switch between 8-bit and 3D rendering for specific moments, and what effects does this create in the player? How would games like Lone Survivor, Undertale and Beat Cop function differently with a different aesthetic. What can we learn about using the retro aesthetic to create a powerful response in our players? Come listen to a panel discuss our favorite examples of retro game design, and why we continue to love this aesthetic.
Gaming Writers: Translating Gaming Culture Onto the Page
Sunday, Jan 7, 10-11 a.m.
FORGE – Baltimore 3, 4
Panelists: Meg Eden, TE Carter, Luke Johnston, Lynn Almengor, E.C. Myers
Writers will describe how games and gaming culture have inspired their original projects, how they break and subvert stereotypes about gaming culture, and why they turned to writing as a medium for translating their gaming experiences.
Let me know if you’ll be attending, and if you’d like to meet up, the best way to contact me is through Twitter. (I know, I can’t believe I wrote that either, but it’s true.)