Agenda

When we think about media that captures the world around us, we tend to think of photography, film, or literature - but rarely video games. Through the process of making "despelote", a slice-of-life soccer game set in 2001 Quito, Ecuador, Julián Cordero has come to believe that video games are a perfect vessel for capturing the real world. He talks about how using 3D scans, improvised dialogue, archival footage and ambient sound recordings create a world that feels lived-in. Drawing from personal memories and real places, the game becomes a collage of time, space, and feeling. It feels incredibly inspiring to conceive video games as an unexpected medium for documenting reality, to make games by stepping out of the computer and into the real world.

Takeaway

People will learn about techniques for documenting the real world through games, using tools like 3D scanning, ambience field recording, and improvised dialogue. Attendees will engage with new perspectives on how games can capture time, place and memory.

Intended Audience

This talk is for game designers interested in grounding their work in the real world. It is also for anyone curious about using video games as a medium for memory and documentary.