Story Engines: A Public Program on Storytelling and Computer Games

Location: Stanford University
Time: Friday, February 6, from 9 am to 5 pm

This conference, inspired by the Fictional Worlds, Virtual Experiences: Storytelling and Computer Games exhibition, brings together scholars and game developers to present current thinking about the place of storytelling in computer and video games.

Open to the public, no admission fee; no reservations, open seating
Fairchild Auditorium, 291 Campus Drive, near the Cantor Arts Center at the Stanford Medical Center
Call 650-725-3155 for information

9am
Introduction and Master of Ceremonies
Tim Lenoir

9:15-10:30am
Morning Session I:
Keeping It Real: Performance and Realism
Henry Lowood, Stanford University. On narrative in historical/military simulations.
Jane McGonigal, UC Berkeley. From her work on gameplay in everyday spaces.

10:45am-noon
Morning Session II:
Embodiment: What's It Like to be in a Digital Narrative?
Scott Bukatman, Stanford University.
Casey Alt, Stanford University. On the space of the digital narrative in early narrative game genres.

Lunch Break

1:15-2:30pm
Communities and Characters
Kevin O'Hara, Sony Online Entertainment. How player communities shape and contribute to the story worlds of online games.
Katherine Isbister, Stanford University. From her work on character development in computer and video games.

Coffee Break

3:15-5:15pm
The Big Picture: Do Games Need Stories?
Haden Blackman, LucasArts
Warren Spector, Ion Storm
Will Wright, Maxis/EA