Art of Gaming

Art of Gaming: Juegos de terror

An entire genre of video games have only one goal: to frighten us. What are the techniques used to scare us silly, and what can they teach us about our own anxieties? Melek chats to Benjamin Rostalski as they attempt to survive Resident Evil, Slender and Dead by Daylight.

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Horror Games

What are the techniques that horror games use to scare us silly, and what can they teach us about our own anxieties?

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What happens when cinema meets video games? Trinity investigates with scriptwriter Jean-Luc Cano by playing ‘Life is Strange’, ‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’ and ‘Beyond: Two Souls’.

Lights, Cameras, Action!

What happens when cinema meets video games? Trinity investigates with scriptwriter Jean-Luc Cano. 

Melek visits VR developers Illusion Walk at their Berlin offices and tries out the latest in virtual reality gaming technology.

Virtual Reality

Melek visits tries out the latest in VR gaming technology at Illusion Walk in Berlin.

Open world games such as ‘Grand Theft Auto’ offer an immense territory for the player to explore. But is this just an illusion of liberty? Trinity and Sébastien Genvo explore ‘Skyrim’, ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ and ‘Shadow of the Colossus’.

Open Worlds

Open world games offer an immense territory for players to explore. But is this just an illusion of liberty?

Melek and Dennis Niewerth, sociologist and consultant at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, dive in and explore worlds of water in video games.

Water

Melek and Dennis Niewerth dive in and explore worlds of water in video games.

Why do people play sports video games instead of going outside and playing real sports? Trinity and e-sports commentator Brak play ‘Kick Off Revival’, ‘NBA 2k18’ and ‘Top Spin 4’.

Virtual Ball Games

Why do people play sports video games instead of going outside and playing real sports?

Melek Balgün and games designer Anjin Anhut test out combat games with titles such as ‘Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting’, ‘Nidhogg 2’ and the atypical game ‘Johann Sebastian Joust’.

Fighting Games

Melek Balgün and games designer Anjin Anhut focus on combat games.

Do we play video games in the same way around the world? Trinity along with gaming blogger Diraen explore video games made by different cultures: They play “Gravity Rush”, “Dynasty Warriors 8” and “Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan”.

Around the World

Trinity along with gaming blogger Diraen explore video games made by different cultures.

How are dreams represented in video games? Melek and gaming critic Stephan Greitemeier play ‘Dream’, ‘The Dream Machine’ and ‘The Evil Within 2’, entering unnerving sleeping worlds that sometimes turn into nightmares.

Dream of Virtual Sheep

How are dreams represented in video games?

Doors can be scary in games such as ‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Silent Hill: The Room’. What lies behind these mysterious portals? Trinity plays and discusses their significance with gaming writer Jean Zeid.

Hold the Door

Doors in can be scary in games such as ‘Resident Evil’’. What lies behind these portals?

In some games, the text isn't just a signpost that signals a change in the action. It's integrated into the very nature of the game itself. Melek plays games that challenge our perception of the role of text in her video game alongside her guest, Lisa Gotto, a media sociologist.

Typographic Video Gaming

What happens when the game is text and text is the game? 

The goal of the platform games is clear: get from one end to the other - from left to right - without dying. Do this enough times and you'll reach a boss, before making it to another level and the cycle starts all over again. But despite how simple the formula sounds, it's actually a genre full of some of the hardest video games, such as Cuphead and Super Meat Boy. Even with Super Mario or Inside, you know you'll have to see your avatar die on a regular basis.

Jump 'n' Run

Playing a platform game like Super Mario means that you have to be OK with the fact that you'll watch your avatar die on a regular basis

Melek Balgün plays "Anno 1404", "World of Warcraft" and "That Dragon, Cancer" with Andreas Lange, and interviews Tobias Knoll about how players perceive religion in games.

Melek Balgün interviews Tobias Knoll about how players perceive religion in video games.

Religion Art of Gaming

It seems that nearly all computer games are based on capitalist ideology, always collecting and amassing possessions whether they be gold coins, apples or weapons. With philosopher Mathieu Triclot, Trinity explores the political ideology of video games.

Capitalism

Always amassing things whether it is gold coins, apples or weapons.... Are all video games capitalist?

Two lines and a dot were enough for Pong to conquer the video game world. Melek Balgün looks at minimalist games Duet, Hook, Necrosphere and Limbo with specialist researcher Sebastian Standke

As simple as that

Melek Balgün looks at minimalist games Duet, Hook, Necrosphere and Limbo with researcher Sebastian Standke.

The first person perspective allows the player to truly embody the character and immerse themselves in the game.

First Person Perspective

Video game photographer Martin Geisler shows us with examples from “Skyrim”, “the Hunter” and “Squad” that photography within gameplay has become as art form.

In-Game Photography

Video game photographer Martin Geisler shows us that photography within gameplay has become as art form.

Love is a major theme running through all art forms. From the medieval chivalry of ‘The Witcher 3’ to the consumerist world of  ‘The Sims’, how is it represented in gaming?

Love is a Game

Love is a major theme running through all art forms. How is it represented in gaming?

Don’t play with your food! we were all told as children. In video games from Pac-man to the latest survival titles like “Don’t Starve”, the opposite is true.

Eat it!

Don’t play with your food! we were told as children. But with video games we always have...

How does it feel to cross deserts, prairies or forests in a virtual environment? Melek and her guest play ‘Red Dead Redemption’, ‘Firewatch’ and ‘Flame and Flood’ and discuss how nature is represented in art, films, and gaming.

Nature

Melek and her guest play ‘Red Dead Redemption’, ‘Firewatch’ and ‘Flame and Flood’ and discuss how nature is represented.

Female representation in video games has long been a source of frustration for female gamers. Protagonists were almost always male with female characters often reduced to sexual objects. Things have changed since Lara Croft and “Horizon Zero Dawn”.

Women as Heroes

Female representation in video games has long been a source of frustration for female gamers. 

Why are racing games so popular? Sports science researcher, Nicolas Besombes, is Trinity’s guest in this episode all about speed. Featured titles are “Sonic Mania” and two racing classics: “Gran Turismo” and “Wipeout”.

Go Fast

Sports science researcher Nicolas Besombes is Trinity’s guest in this episode all about our need for speed.

In the human mind monsters have always existed, finding representation in myths and sagas all over the world.  But what is our peculiar fascination with terrifying beasts in video gaming?

Monsters

Monsters haunt the human mind. What is our peculiar fascination with them in video gaming?

Why are there so many birds in video games? This episode of Art of Gaming is going to find out with a survey of the best bird-theme games.

Birds in Gaming

Why are there so many birds in video games?

The multiplayer mode in gaming lets you play against your family, your friends, and even people you've never met before. How does playing against a real person change how you view the game, and how you play?

Versus

How does playing against a real person change how you view the game?

Do video games make us lonely? This is what the media often implies. And yet today, it's impossible to be a good MMORPG player without also beign in a team. Many games require effective cooperation to advance to the next level. So, are video games actually a way of improving our social skills?

Team Spirit

Trinity and Thomas Gaon, a psychologist, cheerfully kill each other in Call of Duty 4, and then team up to destroy their enemies. Sounds healthy to you? In this episode, Trinity tries to understand why we enjoy killing characters in video games so much.

The Act of Killing

In this episode, Trinity tries to understand why we enjoy killing characters in video games so much

Video games are often full of action and face-to-face showdowns. But sometimes they can also leave the player alone with his thoughts, giving him or her a sensation of solitude and the space for introspection. Melek analyses the genre with three loneliness experts: an ESA astronaut trainer, a philosopher and a media specialist.

Melek analyses loneliness with three loneliness experts: an ESA astronaut trainer, a philosopher and a media specialist

Art of Gaming - Loneliness

Some video games created the soundtrack to the childhood of a generation. Who can forget the catchy Tetris music, the hopping theme of Super Mario Bros, or the intro of PacMan? Since then, video game music has become more and more cinematic. Author Damien Mecheri and Trinity trace the development of music throughout the history of gaming.

Let The Music Play

Some video games created the soundtrack to the childhood of a generation

Some worlds in games seem lifeless, but for most games, background characters are part of what makes the games so vibrant and convincing. Though powered by an algorithm, these characters can come to feel like friends. Via Bioshock: Infinite, Transistor and Gears of War 3, Melek and her guest Jonathan Harth, a sociologist, analyse the different forms that these characters can take.

Ghost in the Machine

For most games, background characters are part of what makes the games so vibrant and convincing

Can video games, just like movies, be comedies? Usul and Trinity analyse how humour works in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and The Stanley Parable. The burlesque, irony, or the absurd, often take centre stage in these types of games. It's what makes them worth playing.

Humour

Usul and Trinity analyse how humour works in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and The Stanley Parable

Video games, unlike other forms of art, have to integrate instructions into the game. But how do you integrate instructions creatively, without being overbearing but still getting the message across? Melek talks through the issues with Jörg Friedrich, a game designer, as they play Spelunky, Warcraft 3 and Far Cry.

Tutorials

How do you integrate instructions creatively, without being overbearing but still getting the message across?

In literature and cinema, it is often the bad guys who captivate us the most. In video games, you can actually become them: the iconic Dark Vader (Star Wars: the Force Unleashed), a violent psychopath (Man Hunt), or even an immigration officer (Paper Please). Trinity and Yann Leroux plunge into the dark side of video games.

Bad Guys

In literature and cinema, it is often the bad guys who captivate us the most. In video games, you can actually become them

Above, below, left, right. Our sense of direction comes naturally to us. But how do you create this sense of realistic, physical space in video games? And if gravity is optional, how can a game mantain a sense of realism?

Orientation

How do you create a sense of realistic, physical space in video games?

History is a playground for game designers. Sybile Collas (Narrative designer) and Trinity go back to WW1 in Battlefield 1, rewrite history with Wolfenstein: The New Order, and discover an imagined history in Bioshock Infinite. Utopia, dystopia or uchrony, why these genres so compelling?

Alternate History

History is a playground for game designers

When we think about sex in video games, we think of the classic Leisure Suit Larry, or the crude representations that are a reward for the player rather than a part of the plot. Some games take a different approach. Melek discusses sex in gaming with gaming journalist Nina Kiel and sexologist Jan Winter.

Sex in Video Games

Melek discusses sex in gaming with gaming journalist Nina Kiel and sexologist Jan Winter

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Tempelhof, Berlin’s disused airport close to the city centre has been housing refugees in a welcome centre since 2015. A focus on residents’ daily lives of waiting for applications to be processed and for dreams to become reality.

Berlin Tempelhof

Tempelhof, Berlin’s disused airport close to the city centre has been housing refugees in a welcome centre since 2015. A focus on residents’ daily lives of waiting for applications to be processed and for dreams to be made reality.

Field of Dreams

Four women comic book artists from the Arab World, Tunisian Nadia Khiari, Lebanese Lena Merhej, Moroccan Zainab Fasiki and Egyptian Deena Mohamed open the doors of their studios and tell us about their experiences and their struggles. Ten years after the beginning of the Arab Spring how can they express themselves in the medium as Arab women?

Four women comic book artists from the Arab World open the doors of their studios and tell us about their experiences and their struggles. 

4 Arab Women Comic Book Artists

A look at the tormented life of Clara Haskil (1895-1960), and the dazzling purity and fluidity of her unique sound. Her 10 year professional career was short but disproportionately influential.

The Magic of Interpretation

A look at the tormented life of Clara Haskil (1895-1960)

Clara Haskil

Since 1945 the democracies of Europe have lived in peace. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shattered our ideas of peace. Can we still dream of paradise and a future free of violence? Twist explores these ideas in Berlin and at the Venice Biennale.

Paradise Lost?

Can we still dream of paradise and a future free of violence? Twist explores these ideas in Berlin and at the Venice Biennale.

Twist

Triple Grammy Award Winner Angélique Kidjo was born in Benin. Her musical roots lie between South African music and Jimi Hendrix. Y'akoto has Ghanaian roots and grew up in Hamburg. And Nneka came to Germany aged 18, the daughter of a Nigerian father and German mother. Each woman explores each of her cultures, and uses them as a source for their unique sound.

Angélique Kidjo, Nneka, Y'akoto

Each woman explores each of her cultures, and uses them as a source for their unique sound

Soul Ladies

Is Saint Thomas' touching of Jesus' wounds homoerotic? It's certainly in stark contrast to Mary Magdalene, who is told not to touch him and spends the rest of her life living in a cave.

The incredulity of Saint Thomas - Caravaggio

Is Saint Thomas' touching of Jesus' wounds homoerotic?

Look but Don't Touch

As a show of solidarity, Europe is displaying the colours of Ukraine, a country whose desire for democracy and freedom is perceived as a danger by Vladimir Putin's Russia. The pursuit of freedom is the subject of this episode of Twist. A desire shared by artists from all over the world.

The Pursuit of Freedom

The pursuit of freedom is the subject of this episode of Twist. A desire shared by artists from all over the world.

An author once described this work as a portrait of a woman done by a painter who had forgotten to paint the feet, legs, thighs, stomach, hips, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and head. 

The Origin of the World by Gustave Courbet

The earthquakes that shook central Italy in 2016 were catastrophic for its cultural heritage. Hundreds of churches collapsed burying untold numbers of priceless artworks in the rubble. Work to save and restore this cultural heritage is a long and arduous task.

Rescuing Italy’s Cultural Heart

After the Quake

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Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish perform at Hellfest 2022.

Hellfest 2022

Nightwish

Just a few weeks before the release of their new album, The Sick and the Dying… and the Dead! Thrash metal stars Megadeth perform at Hellfest 2022.

Megadeth

Dutch band Epica returns to Hellfest to present Omega, a new album showing off their inimitable symphonic heavy metal sound.

Epica

Drockick Murphys are perhaps the most Irish of American bands. The Bostonians baptize their new album Turn Up That Dial at Hellfest 2022.

Dropkick Murphys

Punk rock fans note: The Offspring have released a new album: The Californians perform tracks from their latest work at Hellfest, Let the Bad Times Roll.

The Offspring

In Europe, the last primary forests are found almost exclusively in the mountains in the east or south-east of the continent. These virgin forests have never been exploited or cut down, and have remained as they have always been. Few studies have been done on this forests, which are presumably havens of biodiversity. We go on a research trip to the Dinaric Alps in Albania.

The Green Lungs of Europe

We go on a research trip to the Dinaric Alps in Albania

Geo Reportage

Brazilian cult band Sepultura is back at Hellfest! They unleash their intense thrash metal in front of a white-hot audience.

Sepultura

According to the latest calculations by the OECD, South Korean women could live to be over 92 years old on average in 2070, and men over 89. That would be a world record. What's the secret?

South Korea: An Obsession With Health

South Koreans are on track to be the longest-lived people in the world

ARTE Reportage

JInjer are Ukraine’s official ambassadors of metal. Led by the voice and charisma of singer Tatiana Shmayluk, they are bringing their special blend of progressive groove metal to the world.

Jinjer

Known for their incandescent, fiery performances, Swedish black metal band Watain perform their pyrotechnics at Hellfest 2022.

Watain

Hellfest invites a heavyweight of crossover and thrash metal: Los Angeles natives Suicidal Tendencies make the main stage tremble!

Suicidal Tendencies

With their latest album Soul on Fire, The Last Internationale brings a rebellious spirit to the main stage of Hellfest 2022.

The Last Internationale

As soon as weightlessness sets in in Earth orbit, everything floats, including bodily fluids. Most astronauts suffer from space sickness – similar to seasickness. You get sick, your eyes go crazy, your face swells up, your legs get longer and after a few sleepless nights (there is no day or night in space) many astronauts get severe back pain. Space researchers are trying to understand how the human body reacts without gravity. Could we need it to live?

Are We Ready for Mars?

What would happen to our bodies if we were all suddenly exposed to weightlessness in space?

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland. Once German East Prussia, it is now home to 1 million Russian citizens. What is life like in this small territory now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began?

Kaliningrad: Putin's Enclave

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland and is now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began.

The trio led by Matthew Bellamy is one of the most explosive and creative forces in rock music over the past two decades. There is no one else quite like Muse. Be impressed by their committed performance at Berlin’s Tempelhof Sounds Festival.

Tempelhof Sounds 2022

 There is no one else quite like Muse. Be impressed by their committed performance at Berlin’s Tempelhof Sounds Festival.

Muse

What does it mean to be a man in the modern world? Jan goes in search of answers on the streets of Berlin where he meets barbecue grillers, American football players and queer foresters.

Be a Man! - But How?

Streetphilosophy

Yazidi women box in a gym in the heart of a refugee camp in northern Iraq. To recover their sense of dignity and self-confidence, they train in self-defense. They are survivors of horrific abuse, having been kidnapped and used as sex slaves under IS rule.

Iraq: Return to Sinjar

Yazidi women box in a gym in the heart of a refugee camp to recover their sense of dignity and self-confidence.

Pittsburgh punk band Anti-Flag have been going strong since the late 1980s. They bring their anthemic sound at Hellfest 2022.

Anti-Flag

According to the myth, the Greeks managed to enter the city of Troy by building a wooden horse in which was hidden Greek soldiers. How much of this story is based on actual historical events? And if the story is true, was it even a horse?

The Mystery of the Trojan Horse

On the French Caribbean island of Martinique , large-scale use of insecticides caused serious damage. But the earth is being revitalised by several initiatives inspired by age-old agricultural practices. 

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