Page 78 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

78side (Jaakko Stenros 2011), but also the disruptive nature of games as ludic artefacts, even though this discipline, like many other design subcategories, ought to uctuate between logical and creative reasoning, the analytical and the generative, the objective and the subjective, and reason and speculation. In this respect the work of digital artists (and of creators in general in all elds of the arts) will be signi cant and will contribute to the modes, manners and processes of designing present and future digital games which, as well as entertaining, fun, relaxing and imaginative, o er a new vehicle for creative expression – designs that are shaped as instruments of conceptual thought or even tools for social change. In the eld of experimental games we are already witnessing designs produced under these creative parameters which are reshaping and transforming contemporary gaming culture. Albeit from the fringes, these creations will progressively contaminate the industry in a positive way and, through their particularities, will help the medium mature and evolve, as has occurred in the past in other culture industries.The work of digital artists and creators in all elds will be signi cant and will contribute to the modes, manners and processes of designing digital games.R&D&I, from lab to market. Risk, innovation and bringing back diversity in gamingCountries like Sweden and Canada have already started up non-pro t initiatives to encouragethe inclusion of other sensibilities in the cultural industry of videogames. Examples are the Canadian incubator Pixelles, which encourages women to become involved in this new emerging medium, and the accelerator programme for game developers Stugan, consisting of a two- month stay in a remote Swedish cabin promoted and funded by videogame industry professionals. Modest state funding is available for the creation of alternative games stemming from initiativeswith little nancial muscle but a great deal of commitment and sel ess devotion, such as those produced this year by the Arsgames association or most of the masterclasses and free workshops on creating experimental games taught by the Encuentros de Diseño y Cultura Digital #EDCD.In countries where the industry already draws from risky and innovative creative sources, there are alternative funding models to those of the traditional distributors. An example is Indie Fund, a new means of funding for innovative projects, which has been set up by independent designers who have achieved commercial success for their games, such as Jonathan Blow (Braid, 2004) and Kellee Santiago (Journey, 2012).The academic eld of research in art andthe humanities has given rise to signi cant videogame development studios such as The Chinese Room as spino s. Indeed, its two most important projects, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (Fig. 7) and Dear Esther (2012), started out as functional prototypes as part of the research on narrative design in videogames at Portsmouth University and have been developed under the aegis of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council under its scheme for transferring knowledge to culture sectors.Universities and ne arts faculties such as HKU University of the Arts Utrecht are running game design programmes from an artistic, creative and experimental approach together with other local initiatives such as the Dutch Game Garden, a powerful Dutch videogame industry that has given rise to prominent studios such as Vlambeer (Ridiculous Fishing, 2013, Nuclear Throne, 2015).Promoting and supporting creative gaming experiences as opposed to conventional games, as a mechanism for fostering modes of creation open to new audiences.The way forward is clear and entails promoting and supporting creative gaming experiences above other more conventional practices asVIDEOGAME DESIGN AND DISRUPTIVE PRAXIS · LARA SÁNCHEZ COTERÓNSmart Culture: Impact of the Internet on Artistic Creation