I want to include a case study of Genova Chen in my thesis. I really admire his work and his journey on game development. I think he achieve both business success and artistic success with his work. Also I’m interested in his non-binary theory in his game.
Here’s my notes
Information about Genova Chen:
As a co-founder, Chen Xinghan founded thatgamecompany game company, which has successively launched CLOUD, FlOw , FLOWER , JOURNEY and SKY . All these 5 excellent games that are artistic, caring and enhance players’ emotional experience.
In the process, Chen Xinghan set multiple records. FlOw was the most downloaded game on Sony PSN in 2007 and was collected by MoMA (New York Museum of Modern Art); FLOWER broke the PSN North American first-week download record and was collected by the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC).
In 2013, JOURNEY won six awards including “Best Download Game”, “Best Visual Art”, and “Best Game Design” at the GDC Game Developers Conference. In the same year, it won the Grammy Award for Best Video Soundtrack. Nominated. In the end, JOURNEY won more than 180 awards and broke two Guinness records (the most awarded independent game in the world and the most acclaimed PS4 art game).
Compared with literature, painting and even movies, the history of games is not that long. But Chen Xinghan also regards games as artistic creation. He said: “Whether a game can be elevated from ‘popcorn’ to a ‘classic across the ages’, to me, is the key to making adults respect the game. A good work of art often has an emotional impact. After the audience, let the audience introspect and become their own growth.”
No matter what the subject matter is, from adventure to social interaction, the most distinctive feature of Chen Xinghan’s game works is “emotion”: using beautiful pictures, fascinating situations or stories, and gameplay and tasks that encourage interaction, players can achieve a unique The relationship of interdependence and help teaches us how to get along with others and ourselves, and ultimately achieve emotional healing.