Art of Gaming

Art of Gaming: l'acqua nei videgiochi

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

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

Water

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

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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?

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.

Loneliness

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

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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A Polish cyber elf, a Ukrainian DJ on the front line, a militant Russian grandmother, and Belarusian hackers... On the face of it, they have little in common. And yet they are all resisting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fighting back on different fronts.

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A Polish cyber elf, a Ukrainian DJ on the front line, a militant Russian grandmother, and Belarusian hackers...They are all resisting the Russian invasion of Ukraine on different fronts.

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Discover contemporary cycling culture in three European cities: Berlin, the unofficial capital of vintage racing bikes. London, where cycle-cafés also hold speed dating evenings and Amsterdam where cyclists stand out from the crowd with style.

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Discover contemporary cycling culture in three European cities: Berlin, London and Amsterdam.

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Since its invention in the 19th century, the bicycle has allowed Western women to move around independently. Today, it is the turn of women in Arab countries to discover its power. Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist.

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Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist

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Why do the works of the Italian painter Caravaggio exude such violence? The answer is to be found in the eventful life of the artist, who just couldn't stay out of trouble and met a sticky end.

Caravaggio, Genius - and Killer?

Caravaggio just couldn't stay out of trouble and met a sticky end

Dee Koala and Dope Saint Jude are young rappers from the Cape region of South Africa. Dope decided to move to London to pursue her musical career whilst Dee has stayed in her local community.

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If the truth is the first victim of war, many voices are trying to defend it in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere. Alternative culture programme Tracks goes east to meet journalists and artists from Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia who have a different perspective on the war in Ukraine. On the programme: propaganda and counter-propaganda in times of conflict.

Propaganda and Truth

lternative culture programme "Tracks" goes east to meet journalists and artists from Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia who have a different perspective on the war in Ukraine

Russian artists have two choices: silence, or exile. There's been a mass creative exodus in recent weeks, including Russian rap stars like Face and Oxxxymiron. Art rockers IC3PEAK post protest videos that would get them arrested in Russia. TikTok star Nikita Sass bravely continues to post his opinion and stays. Few dare to do that.

Russian Artists Against the War

Russian artists have two choices: silence, or exile

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Why does the European Union allow deadly pesticides banned at home to be exported to developing countries? Brazil, especially, uses large quantities of harmful pesticides imported from Europe with terrible effects on the population’s health.

Why does the European Union allow deadly pesticides banned at home to be exported to developing countries? 

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Anglo-French guitarist Laura Cox presents the Scorpions, probably the most successful German rock band ever, headlining at Hellfest 2022. For more than five decades the German five-piece has been producing international hits and have sold more than 100 million records.

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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?

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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?

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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.

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The philanthropic foundation set up by US billionaire Bill Gates quietly co-finances experiments with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in several African countries. In the age of philanthropic capitalism, billionaires "save the world" and make money in the process. But who is helped the most, ordinary Africans or the food industry?

 In the age of philanthropic capitalism, billionaires "save the world" and make money in the process. An investigation into GM experiments in Africa.

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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

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Since the 1990s, total insect biomass has declined by 75 percent. The rapid decline affects all food chains: fish and birds can no longer find enough to eat and are becoming fewer and fewer. Studies show that neonicotinoids used in pesticides aren't just destroying the insect popualtion, but also affect human health.

Since the 1990s, total insect biomass has declined by 75 percent

How Chemical Giants Destroyed our Ecosystem

Some six million people have already fled Ukraine. Among them, 730,000 Ukrainian refugees passed through humanitarian corridors that take them deep into enemy territory. Now they are huddled in isolated camps in the middle of the Russian countryside and many want to leave the country as quickly as possible.

Some 730,000 Ukrainian refugees are cooped up in isolated camps in the middle of the Russian countryside

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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.

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

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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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

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Water

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Art of Gaming

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