Digital Bards: interactive media and the evolution of storytelling

Digital Bards: interactive media and the evolution of storytelling

Print media was itself a revolution of earlier oral storytelling practices, and today we see digital media and videogames in particular challenging traditional notions of what storytelling even is. New paradigms have been developed over the last few decades of game development many of which have not filtered back into academia, and new interactive structures are causing debate within games themselves as well. In this talk we will discuss how games have approached storytelling in a variety of frameworks ranging from linear narratives to telling massively multiplayer stories for tens of thousands of interactive participants simultaneously, and we’ll look to the future that is rapidly taking form on a tablet or phone near you. Writing will never be the same — again.

Raphael “Raph” R. Koster, veteran game designer, entrepreneur, theorist and author of the best-selling book Theory of Fun for Game Design will visit The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series, Oct. 9-11.

During his two day visit to the UAH campus, Koster will conduct several student lectures, and give the public address “Digital Bards: Interactive Media and the Evolution of Storytelling,” at 7 p.m., in the Chan Auditorium. The evening talk is free and open to the public. Koster’s visit is hosted by the Departments of English and Art, Art History and Design. The UAH Distinguished Speaker Series is co-sponsored by the UAH Faculty Senate and the Office of the Provost.