Dr. Kevin Harrigan is a founding member of the Games Institute, the director of the Knowledge Translation Stream at UWaterloo, and contact person for the Gambling Research Lab. Dr. Harrigan's present research focuses on promoting healthier gambling by developing methods to make gamblers aware of their statistical odds.
This week on FPS, we have a commentary from Matthew Schwager that approaches Silent Hill 2 as a game about mapping and uses that lens to explore its themes of trauma and the influence butoh, the Japanese dance of shadows, had on the game's design.
This week in First Person Scholar, Andrew Bailey contributes an essay examining hauntological remediation in Resident Evil 7 and P.T.
This week in First Person Scholar, Dylan Armitage from the University of Calgary contributes an essay on the use of sound in Dark Souls and how it affects the player experience.
“When Dark Souls does use music, it uses it to say something about the space which it occupies as well as the characters and expected actions within those spaces.”
Read the full essay here.
Recently, Neil Randall, director of the Games Institute, and Dr. Lennart Nacke director of the HCI Games Group, were quoted in several articles by The Waterloo Record and WIRED. The articles address the decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify “gaming disorder” a mental health condition.
This week, on First Person Scholar, Chris Lombardo discusses how Shovel Knight helped him understand and work through his depression.
Biometrics: The Machine Inside exhibit, gives visitors at the Ontario Science Centre a hands-on look at the natural engineering that drives human and animal movement.