Village Gamer

On October 1st and 2nd Concordia University will be presenting Games Colloquium, part of Entretiens Jacques Cartier 2011. The first day of the colloquium is open to the public and will feature four panels with academic speakers and industry representatives engaging in focused discussion on a single game. The evening will feature a keynote presentation by David Cage, founder and CEO of the Paris-based studio Quantic Dream and lead designer for Omikron: The Nomad Soul (1999), Fahrenheit (2005) and Heavy Rain (2010). This keynote is co-sponsored by the Montreal chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). Admission to Day one is free, however registration is required. Day Two is by invitation only.

As part of the 24th edition of the Entretiens Jacques Cartier, Concordia University’s Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) research centre is bringing together Canadian and French researchers as well as industry leaders in the field of digital game studies and game design. The panels will investigate and discuss the stories and their inclusion in some of the most successful video games as they continue to emerge from a fundamental concern with the medium as a means of telling and experiencing stories. This colloquium brings together academic game researchers, industry designers and students to discuss new approaches to the analysis and creation of interactive digital narratives.

By focusing attention on specific games, Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream), Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), Mass Effect 2 (Bioware), The Graveyard (Tale of Tales) and Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games), panel discussions will push beyond the simple dichotomies that have characterized past debates about narrative design such as open versus linear storylines and aesthetics versus playability. The panels will also highlight the ways that games re-frame and challenge traditional conceptions of narrative and player experience.

Please see the Games Colloquium web page for a breakdown of the complete panel schedule.