Shenmue's Beautiful Closed World and Other Things
Thoughts on Shenmue III and introducing WAMTNG
Dear friends,
It's been a while since we've sent out a newsletter - for no other reason than we've been incredibly busy but on projects we're not allowed to talk about. Nonetheless, we thought it might be worth mentioning a few things...
The Beautiful Closed World of Shemue III
Since it's been a long time since I've written a game critique, I thought I would share this one, which discusses how Shenmue - far from being an 'open world', is in fact a closed world. And its narrative design benefits greatly because of it. This is the most-shared post at ihobo.com in many years, and definitely worth reading for fans of Shenmue or anyone with an interest in narrative design. You can read the entire piece over at ihobo.com.
To Boldly Go Where You've Probably Been Before... Only Differently
Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, science fiction, or special effects, please join me in my three year adventure at the WAMTNG Substack, looking at the Words (W), Acting Roles (A), and Models (M) of this seminal sci-fi show. You can see what it's all about by going to the website, but it would be most appreciated if you could sign up for the newsletter. As intelligent - and a little snarky! - discussion about a less-than-current show, this is pretty niche, and could use all the support it could get.
Another Spurious Achievement for Chris
This year, I was invited to be Chair of the Philosophy and Theory of Play & Games track at DiGRA 2022. The Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) is something I have a long relationship with, but given that I have recently disavowed all universities and have no academic positions anywhere*, this marks the very first time DiGRA has appointed an industry professional to a conference chair position.
Hope this newsletter finds everyone well, and hope to have a new game project of our own to share with you in a future newsletter.
Until next time!
Chris and the ihobo games team
*Actually, I am still on the editorial board for the International Journal of Play, but that's a different story!