By: Matt
Russ Stearman is our guest host for the second episode of Overlap’s pilot season. Here’s his introduction to the event which takes place on 11th October in Sheffield. There’s more info at our announcement for Overlap S0E2.
This Tuesday we’re looking at ‘The Secret Agent’ of stories and videogames. We’ll be exploring the idea of who’s controlling who and to what effect. Based on the title, you might be mistaken for thinking it’s a look at the stories of a certain Mr Bond and his ilk, foiling world terrorism and certain destruction. I’m sure there’s a whole other talk about the portrayal of super spies in games, but my inspiration comes from a different (although equally explosive) source.
Read the rest of this entry »
By: Rob
Following the hugely successful and only slightly uproarious Episode 1, the second in Overlap’s pilot season of live events investigating new and forgotten forms of storytelling, ‘The Secret Agent’, will take place in Sheffield, UK on Tuesday October 11th from 7.30pm.
Read the rest of this entry »
By: Rob
Luridly splashed across the headlines of 14 years, Grand Theft Auto has evolved from the exploits of a literally faceless psychopath engaged in a ‘race n chase’ for a crime lord to the ambitious tale of a Serbian emigre in New York-alike Liberty City. Mouthy, assured and occasionally inspired, the scripts of the main storylines would brighten the corners of all but the gutsiest of B-movies. But here, in this most influential of videogames, they’re a sideshow. The true Rockstars of Grand Theft Auto are neither the celestially-named producers nor the sidewalking, starry-eyed avatars. They’re the players.
Read the rest of this entry »
By: Rob
Crowdsourced plots, spontaneous story creation and the vandalism of a rug that really tied the room together are all under investigation in Overlap’s examination of Storytelling games this August.
From TV shows that never were and Lovecraftian insane asylum pen pals to Citizens-Band Radio horror and Polish child soldiers in WW2 storygames’ live inception, design and delivery offer startlingly rich and terrifyingly immersive narratives that put players in the maw of story. They’re as underrepresented and misunderstood as they are intriguing however and we’re delighted to welcome Steampower Publishing owner and White Dwarf Editor Andrew Kenrick to Overlap for an introduction to this quietly revolutionary form of storytelling.
Covering the medium’s origins in pen-and-paper roleplaying games as well as principles of play, standout systems and possible futures, Andrew will also look at Fiasco - a new storygame based around the ‘Small Time Caper Gone Wrong’ movies that are the Coen Brothers’ weapon of choice. There’ll be a chance to explore classic bowling noir ‘The Big Lebowski’ from inside the Dude’s head with a brief interactive ‘trip’, before taking a look at how the medium’s tools can augment the toolkit of any storyteller.
This is a ranging and skillset-enlarging look at a strange and beautiful platform. We’d love you to join us.
Our tale begins in Sheffield, in the intimate surroundings of the GIST Lab, just two minutes from Sheffield train station, from 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. You can order tickets using the form below or by visiting the event page on Eventbrite. It’s free.
By: Matt
Photo: Dave De Hetre via Flickr
Setting a scene in a tight space can be hard; limits in form or length are often-encountered challenges when adapting content for different platforms. If you want an economical example of scene-setting, you could do worse than listen to the song ”Hotel California”.
Read the rest of this entry »
By: Rob
This Wednesday at 8pm GMT, Matt and myself will be repeatedly falling through an orangery to our doom on Jet Set Willy Online. It’s our first Overlap Gamesquat and we’re dropping in on Ovine‘s multiplayer version of Matthew Smith’s classic for a game and a chat about whatever storytelling subjects are on your minds. You’re invited.
Jet Set Willy‘s plot might be a simple one, but the stories it produced in its players still ring as loud as a miner’s hangover. For a decent proportion of kids growing up in the UK during the eighties the attic bug (which, incredibly, was a result of an in-game arrow which flew beyond the ZX Spectrum’s video memory to smash into game data), code card, POKE’s, April showers and apocryphal yacht trips were their first experience of everything from hacking and user-generated content to story remixing and fan fiction.
Lots to talk about just on JSW, then, but you can think of Willy’s mansion as the setting more than the subject – we’ll be chatting about all sorts and it’s really just a chance to say hi, shoot the breeze about storytelling and struggle to jump over pirouetting kangaroos.
If this sounds like fun, download the client then look for the ‘Overlap’ game on the JSWo homepage from 8pm Wednesday. Feel free to bob us a line in the comments if you’re coming along.
By: Rob
Frank Rose’s book The Art of Immersion
is ostensibly a field guide to new storytelling across the web, film and TV. Featuring explorations of landmarks from Grand Theft Auto’s Liberty City to Mulholland Drive’s ink black asphalt, it’s an attempt to work out where we are and where we might go as storytellers and audiences alike.
All the same, charting this new landscape is a little like mapping sandcastles on a beach. One of the few defining characteristics of new story forms such as ARGs is their mayfly-like lifespan. Happenings such as The Dark Knight’s Why So Serious – which saw players descending on New York bakeries to pick up layer cakes as part of a recruitment drive for the Joker’s gang – are devoured by fans before the icing is even set. Even the millennia-old granite of Lost’s colossal four-toed statue quickly crumbled upon its discovery by the show’s marrow-sucking audience.
Smartly, The Art of Immersion avoids the need for FIFA or Madden-like iterations by remembering it’s a book. There’s a hero in game designer Will Wright and his brave and foolhardy war cry of ‘support the user’s story’, while Immersion’s narrative line cuts through the Dickenian morass of platforms with airport thriller gleam.
Our interview with Frank, recorded before his keynote at Sheffield Doc/Fest earlier this month, looked at the part he played in the tale as well as offering a chance to discuss games, stories and the places in between.
Read the rest of this entry »
By: Matt
Last month, Rockstar released its gritty detective game LA Noire. Accompanied by an anthology of short stories, the console game sold itself on its use of narrative, 1940s setting and the talent involved in its creation. With a cast including Mad Men’s Aaron Staton, Heroes’ Greg Grunberg and Fringe’s John Noble, many of the game’s 400 actors are recognisable from their television roles in both voice and appearance. However, one of the game’s largest innovations is its use of “MotionScan”, a new form of facial motion capture. The technology can reproduce nuances in performances that previous systems are unable to – crucial to a game where body language is used to detect the truthfulness of suspects’ testimonies.
LA Noire isn’t new in its attempt to combine traditional performance with gameplay; voice acting has long been ubiquitous in the videogames. There is also a long history of interactive dramas, movies and cut scenes attempting to close the gap between between games and film. Over three decades, this use of performance has influenced opinions on how games fit with more traditional media.
Read the rest of this entry »
