b.tween mscape design competition - initial observations
Some first impressions having viewed the five selected entry presentations:
It is interesting to see (and I think also good to see), that none of the finalists are professional game designers - there are three new media artists, a graphic designer and a lecturer. OK, so the competition is "exploding narratives" but all but Hazel chose to incorporate an element of competition into their work.
4/5 entrants were male. This surprises me as at the last mscape conference there seemed as many female delegates as there were male.
I wasn't bowled over by the designs. There were lots of nice ideas here and throughout the competition but none of them were especially innovate or made me feel especially excited. None of them challenged my concept of narrative. I feel as if the medium is capable of more.
Finally a big THUMBS UP (and I know I'm always banging on about this but...), all the winners had designed experiences that could be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their physical ability. Hooray!!!