Articles and writings

This page displays miscellaneous articles and writings produced for several occasions: magazines, cultural events, etc.
 
 

Research talk – From Theme to Gameplay


I was honored to be invited by the OMNSH (Observatoire des Mondes Numériques en Sciences Humaines – Observatory of Numeric Worlds in Human Science), an association of researchers in game and multimedia, to give a talk with friend and former co-worker Olivier Robert.

I spoke about the link between theme and gameplay in videogame: stating that the uniqueness of our medium compared to other media is interactivity, I proceeded to propose that, in a game aiming to convey a feeling or message to the player, the game should use interactivity (ie what is defined by its game design) as a leading means to convey those (as opposed to using interactivity for the only sake of creating “fun”). Only then does it fully exploit the uniqueness of the gaming medium, and thus only then is it in the proper sense a ‘game’ in the expressive meaning of the term.

Taking the example of Ico, one of the first and most renowned games to put the gameplay at the core of its emotional experience, I did a short analysis of how the macro and micro gameplay loop express the very theme of the game: the bond with another being. Then I studied a single game action (namely the fairly common action of “attack”) to analyze how every aspect of it could be charged with meaning to help convey that message.

Working on this talk was a real eye-opener for me: allowing me to think about what defines our medium and its potential, it further strengthened my motivation to create meaningful and coherent gameplay rules that will harmoniously merge with the narrative elements to fully convey the overarching theme of the game. Thanks to Olivier Robert and the OMNSH guys for giving me this opportunity!
 

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Interview – The job of a Game Designer


I was given the opportunity to present the work of Game Designer to a multimedia-themed blog. This interview presents the job along with some of my views on it and on the domain of video game in general. You can find it in its original context here or download it here in PDF version.

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Interview – The job of a Game Designer

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Xulux – Chrono Cross


The following article was published in Xulux – philosophical magazine by students of the Philosophy and Concept section of E-Art Sup Institut. It deals about precise philosophical notions (Modernity, Alterity, Sacred, and Transcendance) and tries to analyse how they are exposed throughout the game Chrono Cross.

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Xulux – Chrono Cross
 

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