Stephen Dinehart

Stephen Erin Dinehart IV is a game designer, writer, and teacher, best known for his work in video games.^[1] Dinehart is an early proponent of transmedia storytelling and interactive narrative design. He created the idea of the VUP (viewer/user/player) in 2006, relating his model of transmedia development to Richard Wagner's concept of "total artwork" ("Gesamtkunstwerk") where the spectator becomes actor/player.^[2] Stephen also wrote the job description and took the first "Narrative Designer" position at THQ in 2006, the first of its kind in the interactive entertainment industry.^[3] Dinehart is a noted game writer and Narrative Designer,^[4] being alumni of companies such as THQ, Electronic Arts, Activision and others.^[5][6]

As defined by Dinehart, Interactive Narrative Design combines ludology, narratology and game design to form interactive entertainment development methodologies. It is a narratological craft which focuses on the structuralist, or literary semiotic creation of stories via viewer/user/player (VUP) navigated dataspaces.^[7] These interactive narrative experiences allow the player to witness data as navigable, participatory, and dramatic in real-time:^[8]

He was final nominee for “Best Writing for a Game Production” for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts at the 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts (2007), and the game won “Nokia Award for Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.”^[9] His MFA is from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media Division, and his BFA in Animation & Digital Media is from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.^[10]

Works

• Constantine (2005), THQ
• Cloud (2005), USC Interactive Media Division
• Journey of Jin (2006) USC Interactive Media Division
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II (2006), Electronic Arts
• Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (2007), THQ
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm (2008), THQ
• Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (2009), THQ
• F.E.A.R. 3 (2011), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Awards

• Nominated for “Best Writing in a Videogame production” for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, at the 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts (ELAN)(2007)^[11]
• Won “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming” for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, at the 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts (ELAN)(2007)^[12]
• Won "Best Student Design Philosophy Award" Slamdance Film Festival Guerilla Gamemaker Competition for Cloud (video game)(2006)^[13]
• Winner Independent Games Festival for Cloud (video game) (2006) ^[13]
• "Internet Download Game of the Month" designation from the UK magazine Edge for Cloud (video game) (2006)^[13]

External links

• The Narrative Design Explorer
• 2007 Gamasutra Interview
• 2009 Got Game Interview

References

1. ↑ "The VUP - Transmedia and Crossmedia Convergence in a Connected World". Convergenceishere.weebly.com. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
2. ↑ "From crossmedia to transmedia: thoughts on the future of entertainment". Lunch over IP. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
3. ↑ marzo 17, 2011 (2011-03-17). "Transmedia evangelist at "Cross-media Summit": Stephen Dinehart". Cross-media.it. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
4. ↑ Human, Kevin. "ProQuest Document View - The enthymematic model of meaning-making in video games: Towards narratively designed transmedia texts". Gradworks.umi.com. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
5. ↑ "Via Gamasutra.com – Stephen Dinehart Interview | Designer Narrative". Videogamenarrative.wordpress.com. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
6. ↑ "Features - Narrative Design For Company Of Heroes: Stephen Dinehart On Writing For Games". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
7. ↑ Dinehart, Stephen E. "Defining Interactive Narrative Design 2 – The Narrative Design Explorer™". Narrativedesign.org. Retrieved 2010-09-02. 
8. ↑ Dinehart, Stephen E. "What is Interactive Narrative Design? | The Narrative Design Explorer™". Narrativedesign.org. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
9. ↑ Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
10. ↑ http://news.gotgame.com/narrative-designer-interview-stephen-dinehart/34351/
11. ↑ Litten, Matt (2012-10-05). "Elan Awards: And the Nominees Are…". :. Retrieved 2013-02-18. 
12. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090929233559/http://www.gamezone.com/news/02_20_08_05_10PM.htm. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2010.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
13. 1 2 3 Archived March 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.