Okay, Pong didn’t make the most profound of philosophical statements. But it sure was a heck of a lot of fun! Remember those days of early gaming? Come to think of it, many of our technological developments in the communications field manifest in answer to the human need for entertainment. For example, it’s believed that the first item published by Gutenberg’s press was a German poem around the year 1450. As these innovations mature, the messages they convey both broaden and deepen. We’ve seen it happen in print, film, radio and television.
Kellee Santiago is someone who says that time has come for the video game. She says games are at a point where they are able to give people meaningful, enriching experiences that have the potential to inspire them to make the world they live in a better place. Kellee is co-founder and president of thatgamecompany. She talked to Nora about the power of video games as a medium of communication.
A shorter version of this interview will air on a future episode of Spark, but you can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 30:17]
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Thank you!! thatgamecompany is my favourite game producers. They make non-violent experiential games that I can share with my kids, or just have a nice place to just be virtually. I very highly recommend Flow or Flower to old gamers disillusioned with FPS and tired cliches. The intro Flower level is just a nice summer's day, reminds me of sitting in the fields of my grandparents farm when I was a kid, but with a great soundtrack.
I keep thinking I should probably comment on this, but I just can't think of anything enlightening to say. The type of emotions and opinions thatgamecompany evokes just isn't one that uses, well, words. Though, please make more interviews like this. There isn't very much media on video games out there, from the developer end and on the critical culture end. More is better.
Perhaps you could interview Notch? He made one very simple game that seems to be all the rage these days, both on the awesome end, and on the philosophical one — however unintentional. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJMqzVnrI7g)