Description
Book SynopsisAnastasia Salter is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media at the University of Central Florida, USA. She is the author of
What is Your Quest? From Adventure Games to Interactive Book (2014) and co-author of
Flash: Building the Interactive Web (2014). She is an editor of the
Electronic Literature Collection Vol. 3.
Trade ReviewThe first decades of digital history went by too fast, leaving many of us with false impressions, like the canard that computer games arose in an all-male engineering culture, a blithe assertion that overlooks the genius of people like Judy Malloy, Brenda Laurel, and Jane Jensen. Happily, genius has reach: transformative work leaves lasting marks on the girls and boys who grow up with it, and when we are lucky, those children turn into scholars like Anastasia Salter, whose capacity to remember and understand digital origins is rare indeed. This book is essential both to understanding the roots and condition of interactive narrative, and to recognizing the women who shaped it. * Stuart Moulthrop, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA *
The project provides a well-written and fascinating exploration of an oft-overlooked genre of video games. Anastasia Salter provides an in-depth and colorful account of Jane Jensen’s larger project and how it has helped to engender diversity in the video game industry. It is an excellent addition to an already strong series. * Shira Chess, Assistant Professor of Entertainment & Media Studies, The University of Georgia, USA *
Game theorists, media studies experts, and women’s studies scholars will find much to admire in Anastasia Salter’s new book,
Jane Jensen: Gabriel Knight, Adventure Games, Hidden Objects, whether it’s Jensen’s ground-breaking contribution to video game design or her pioneering work as a woman in a field with little gender diversity. Salter’s book unfolds in a compelling, easy tone and keeps her audience’s interest throughout her account of Jensen’s twenty-five year career in the game industry. * Dene Grigar, Professor and Director, Creative Media & Digital Culture Program, USA *
Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Preface Foreword 1 Introduction: Long Ago at Sierra 2 Being Gabriel Knight: Character and Research-driven Interactive Narrative 3 Hidden Objects: Crafting Mystery through Dazzle and Reward 4 Down Pinkerton Road: Jensen and the Adventure Game Renaissance 5 Jane Jensen: In Her Own Words 6 Legacy of a Writer-Designer Gameography Works Cited Index
