Andy Kelly and Other Places

摘要

Games are usually made for players to interact within an established set of rules and context. Increasingly, participants find themselves fascinated within these worlds, intrigued far more by surroundings than by any sort of systematic play. Visually alluring environments, crafted uniquely with rich detail and morion subtleties, beckon the participant forth into these 'other places'. In this way, the construct of the creator can also become a space for which one might repurpose game play for personal or shared exploration. Convergent Media guru Henry Jenkins (2013) notes that world-building traces back to the works of science fiction, fantasy and philosophy, becoming more recently 'founda-tional to discussions of transmedia storytelling'. He points towards Mark J. P. Wolfe's (2012) book, Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation, as illustrative of that practice; for instance, in the case where 'adventure games and games with a three-dimensional environment often emphasize exploration and navigation of the game's world, making them an important part of the player's experience' (2013: 30). One begins to understand how game worlds become shared spaces, beyond mere market franchising, for creative play. Jenkins points us towards Derek Johnson (2013:149) for an elaboration on the concept of 'world-sharing', in essence how worlds are manufactured and merchandized for movies, television shows to games, ultimately creating fan culture and emergent kingdoms. Here, I also employ the term to underscore the significance of these spaces for both gamers and tourists. It is through the 'captured art' of Andy Kelly (2016a), the focus of JGVW's machinima producer spotlight this issue, that one begins to experience the 'life pulse' of the game world, focusing only on the non-diegetic elements, provoking entrance into these new Other Places for world exploration. It is within this frame that my interview with him becomes relevant to appreciating these spaces as metaphors of human and technological potential, extensions of our dreams and thoughts. But first some context about the series.