Guest Lecture: Dan Pinchbeck
Posted: February 2, 2011 Filed under: Events, Guest Speaker | Tags: Dan Pinchbeck, Dear, Esther, Korsakovia, Lecture, thechineseroom Leave a comment
On the 31st January Dr Dan Pinchbeck, Reader in Computer Games at the University of Portsmouth, UK gave a lecturer for design students at the University of Wales, Newport. The lecture followed this academic’s journey from isolated fanboy battling the zombie hordes of traditionalism to an award-winning independent game developer. Dan is currently authoring a book called “ScaryDarkFastFirst: A Short and Very Bloody History of Doom”. He is Creative Director of thechineseroom, an award-winning independent game studio.
Thechineseroom’s work includes Dear Esther (2008/11), described by Gamasutra as “one of the most engaging game worlds in recent memory” and “a bold, invigorating take on interactive storytelling” by gamesTM. It won Best World/Story at IndieCade2009 and Best Upcoming Mod in 2010’s Mod of the Year competition. In 2009, they released the cult horror Korsakovia, which TotalPCGaming called “a work of stunning interactive art” and Rock, Paper, Shotgun found “absolutely terrific… brutally chilling”. PC Gamer have recently covered “The Story of Dear Esther” so far.
