James_Portnow's Recent Blog Entries

• The Ethics of Persuasive Games

  The question before us today is “Should games persuade?”

  The question before us today is “Should games persuade?” 
  
  At first glance this seems like an obvious question with an obvious answer.  Of course they should.  How else will our medium advance to take its rightful place as a meaningful and impactful art?  How else will we effect change?  But this question bears closer examination.  In today’s piece we will be looking at dangerous ground we walk by making the tacit assumption that games, like traditional media, should persuade.
  

  November 16, 2008
• Video: The Uncanny Valley

  As in-game character models become more photo-realistic, their 'artificialness becomes more obvious'. James Portnow explores the phenomenon known as "The Uncanny Valley", with a mini-video documentary.

  The video above is a collaborative work between James Portnow and Daniel Floyd discussing the Uncanny Valley.  It is based off an article by James Portnow, the full t

  November 4, 2008
• Meaningful Play Roundup
  October 13, 2008