Brenda Laurel : pioneering games for girls / Carly A. Kocurek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kocurek, Carly A., author.

Series:

Influential video game designers.

Influential video game designers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Laurel, Brenda.

Video game designers--United States--Biography.

Video game designers.

Video games for women--Authorship.

Video games for women.

Women video game designers--United States--Biography.

Women video game designers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (185 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc, 2017.

Summary:

"Brenda Laurel is best known for her work with Purple Moon, the pioneering game company she cofounded in the 1990s. Purple Moon's games were based on years of research Laurel completed in an effort to understand why computer games seemed to be of so little interest to girls. Using diverse archival sources such as trade journals, newspapers, and recorded interviews, alongside Laurel's completed games and own writings and an original interview with Laurel herself, this volume offers insight into both the early development of the games for girls movement of the 1990s and the lasting impact of Laurel's game design breakthroughs. In her work with Purple Moon, Laurel drew on her background in theatre as well as her expertise in human computer interaction and qualitative research. By relying on this interdisciplinary background, Laurel made significant contributions to our understanding of the design and development of games as a medium for emotional rehearsal and storytelling. Additionally, her dedication to research-informed design has had a longstanding impact as companies and designers increasingly rely on audience research and metrics to shape their practices. The newest in Bloomsbury's Influential Video Game Designers series, Carly Kocurek highlights the contributions of a designer whose work has had a profound impact on the development of both games for girls and empathy games."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note:

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Preface by Jennifer deWinter and Carly A. Kocurek

Forward by Brian Moriarty

1 Introduction

2 "Even if it Means Shipping Products in Pink Boxes": Research-driven Design

3 Aristotle and HCI: Computers as Theatre in Theory and Practice

4 "Friendship Adventures for Girls": A Pre-History of Emotion Games

5 In Her Own Words

6 The Dangers of Being a Crash Dummy

Gameography with Megan Boeshart Burrelle

Works Cited

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781501319792

1501319795

9781501319815

1501319817

9781501319778

1501319779

OCLC:

966310899