Abstract
In this article, the author describes a design method for independent game production in historical and situated terms, as “woodshedding” in the interest of shaping “eloquent potential” for the end-user. The author draws on musical performance and jazz history to articulate a design methodology for independent game design, wherein tensions and constraints related to hardware and software limits, on one hand, and story and playability in reception, on the other, are resolved in the creation of a playable, expressive “story instrument.” The author describes the concrete challenges involved in designing games as an independent, explaining how initial enthusiasm for the Wii platform led to the choice of another gesturally oriented platform, the Apple iPhone, for a line of playable stories called “Opertoons.” (Adapted from the transcript of a lecture given at the University of California, Riverside)
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