About
Jeff Watson is an artist, designer, and Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Games at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
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Category Archives: Blog
Distant Early Warning
In 1969, Marshall McLuhan published Distant Early Warning, a playing card deck his estate describes as “a problem-solving device.” The deck was a part of the DEW Line Newsletter project (a “startling, shocking Early Warning System for our era of … Continue reading
Cyberpunk: Past and Future
This Friday, Geoff Long and I will run a collaborative storytelling workshop during Cyberpunk: Past and Future, a special event at USC Visions & Voices co-curated by professors Henry Jenkins, Scott Fisher, and Howard Rodman. Later, we’ll be publishing some … Continue reading
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Tagged bruce sterling, co-creation, cyberpunk, futures, geoff long, howard rodman, scott fisher, visions and voices, workshops, worldbuilding
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What Hockey Wants: Drama, Narrative, and Sports
My paper, “What Hockey Wants: Drama, Narrative, and Sports,” was published this month (just in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs) in Well Played Journal from ETC Press. The paper draws on game studies, literary theory, psychology, and other disciplines … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged drama, encoded narrative, games, hockey, ludonarrativity, narrative, sports, well played, writing
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GDC Vault – Teaching Games with Games 2
GDC 2015 Education Summit Panel featuring Celia Pearce, Jeff Watson, Eric Zimmerman, Andy Nealen, Brenda Romero, and Tracy Fullerton. Moderated by Colleen Macklin and John Sharp. Viewable for free on GDC Vault. One of our best tools for teaching games … Continue reading
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Tagged andy nealen, brenda romero, colleen macklin, eric zimmerman, john sharp, tracy fullerton
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Worldbuilding at Berlinale Talents 2015
As entertainment properties become increasingly spatialized and nonlinear, spreading across diverse platforms, contexts, and modes, how might they benefit if the ways in which they are developed were to undergo similar changes? What alternative approaches exist to the traditionally linear … Continue reading
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Tagged alex mcdowell, berlin, berlinale talents, bruno setola, juan diaz, process design, rilao, worldbuilding
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Syllabus: Documentary and Activist Games (CTIN-499)
Filmmaker John Grierson famously described documentary cinema as “the creative treatment of actuality.” Documentary films can illuminate unseen processes, broaden our awareness of the past and present, and challenge us to make a better future. How might games achieve similar … Continue reading
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Tagged activism, courses, ctin-499, documentary, game design, games, imgd, serious games, usc
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The IndieCade Award
The IndieCade Award is a peer-to-peer award-giving game played at the IndieCade International Festival of Independent Games. Designer/game director/all-around-genius Gabe Smedresman describes the game as follows: The Indiecade Award is a recognition that festival attendees can award to each other … Continue reading
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Tagged acrylic cubes, awards, gabe smedresman, gifting, indiecade, indiecade award, laser cutting, mattie brice
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Homily for a Game Jam
The following remarks were delivered at the USC MEGA Game Jam on September 12, 2014. I’m going to keep my remarks short tonight so that you can get on to doing what you came here to do. This is a … Continue reading
Syllabus: Survey of Interactive Media (CTCS-505)
The tangled relationship between theory and practice presents us with something of a chicken-and-egg problem. On the one hand, we could say that all action emerges out of theory: we observe the world, generate various hypotheses about how things might … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Courses
Tagged ctcs-505, game studies, games, graduate, imgd, interactive, praxis, sca, theory, theory-practice, usc
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Syllabus: Introduction to Interactive Entertainment (CTIN-190)
The rapid rise in the power and accessibility of digital technology has made possible myriad new forms of entertainment, artistic expression, and socio-political engagement. Among these new forms, videogames and other kinds of interactive entertainment offer artists and designers unprecedented … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Courses
Tagged ctin-190, entertainment, game studies, games, imgd, interactive, sca, undergraduate, usc
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