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Kara – A Short Story by Quantic Dream

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March 21, 2012
A Video
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I’m going to begin with this: what you’re about to watch is running in real-time on a Playstation 3. Normally, that statement is a fanboy signal that this demonstration features graphics impressive enough to also convey doubt at whether or not they’re pre-rendered, Hollywood-style CGI. This time, the reason I’m stating that upfront is because what you’re about to see isn’t a video game, and doesn’t mean to be, but was born from the platform.

The history of storytelling in video games is…checkered. For every Uncharted and Mass Effect series, there are a litany of plots so thinly transparent that they rival the cellophane the game came in. But as with any emerging medium, the art comes from unexpected places. Video games’ own attempts at storytelling led to the birth of Machinima, for instance. A focus on the emotions brought about by gameplay itself birthed games like REZ and Flower. It’s a cycle destined to continue repeating itself that art begets technology which further begets art.

So what you’re about to see is a short story about the future – in so many different ways; the future of storytelling, the future of gaming, the future of machines, and even – potentially – the future of humanity.

Evolution Visualized

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September 22, 2011
A Video
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Wonderfully hypnotic and stunning to witness, this music video for Rendezvous ‘The Murph’ is “a fairytale version of our history as a species.” The animation merges science and technology into the story of how life evolved, painting a brilliantly techno-colored picture of how small and fortunate we “evolved humans” really are.

Everything is a Remix – Part 3: The Elements of Creativity

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June 22, 2011
A Video
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Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

“Creativity isn’t magic,” is how Kirby Ferguson describes the new episode in his four-part series Everything Is A Remix. While parts one and two dealt with music and film respectively, this episode delves into something a little more esoteric in its implications: technological innovation. Kirby describes how we got from early digital and analog technology to the modern world; showing how technological innovation functions as a byproduct of being remixed and reinnovated.

Some of you may remember that we posted on the last installment of this series. Full disclosure, I’ll probably post every subsequent one as well – it just ticks so many geeky boxes in the list of my interests. I also appreciate how interesting he makes what could otherwise be fairly dry material. Yes, not everyone wants to see how Xerox influenced the Apple Lisa, or how Henry Ford (re)invented the automotive assembly line, but somehow Kirby has the ability to take topics that flit across varying divergent interest groups and tie them all together into a tightly-wound bundle of fascination. It’s like Kirby took everything I loved about the old James BUrke series Connections, added some of his own personality and insights into the equation, and made it feel new again.

Funny how that happens.