Stories of Japanese Independent Game Developers: Between Motif and Narreme?

Although it is commonly accepted that the videogame was invented in North America, it gained many of the elements we associate with contemporary games, such as narrative and graphical fidelity, via Japan. The purpose of this research is to develop a sense of the ways that Japanese independent videogame developers conceive of and utilize narrative in their games in order to understand the possible implications for Aboriginal artists, developers and researchers in North America who seek to use videogames to convey both traditional stories as well as participate critically in popular videogame culture. Conducted primarily through field research in the form of interviews with developers in Kyoto, Japan and surrounding areas, and supplemented by focused research into the theory and practice of crafting game narrative this project aims to draw out relevant and transferable practices and theoretical tools for understanding and creating Aboriginal narratives in games.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jason Lewis

Student:

Partner:

Ristumeikan University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Globalink Research Award