Ken Eklund Explained

Ken Eklund
Pseudonym:Writerguy
Birth Date:17 May 1957
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, United States
Occupation:Game designer, game experience designer
Alma Mater:Santa Clara University

Ken Eklund (born May 17, 1957) is an American game and experience designer known as Writerguy. He is perhaps most famous for World Without Oil, an early "serious game" in the alternate reality game genre[1] he created and ran in 2007.[2] His recent projects "explore the positive social effects of collaborative experiences and open-ended, creative play.[3] "

Philosophy

Eklund creates immersive games that intend to have a socially relevant, transformative effect[4] and to be informal learning experiences[5] and crowdsourcing for good.[6] Much of his recent transmedia[7] work explores how contributing to 'authentic fictions' (real-seeming yet fictional stories) engages people directly in real-world issues by allowing them to have fun collaborating on storymaking, positive solutions and action.[8] By creating "barely fictional" gameful situations he creates a new kind of space for negotiating reality, where the candor afforded by interacting with fictional characters presenting the reality of social issues is seemingly more impactful than the realities themselves.[9]

As an artist, Eklund's emphasis on response plus respect for diversity "charges notions of the 'vox pop' with an appealing edge as a tool for transformation 'from the inside'.[10] He speaks on how to use alternate reality experiences and other playful "what if?" spaces in pursuit of serious goals[11] and the potential for gamelike activities to help solve global problems.[12]

Works

Awards and honors

Date Award
2022Peabody Award for World Without Oil project[15] [16]
2014 The Webby Awards finalistCategory: Net Art for FutureCoast [17]
2011 22nd Annual MUSE Awards Category: Games and Augmented Reality Award: Silver for Giskin Anomaly[18]
2008 South by Southwest Interactive - Award for Activism for World Without Oil[19]
2008 The Webby Awards, finalist, Games category, for World Without Oil[20]
2008
2008 Stockholm Challenge, Honorable Mention, for World Without Oil[21]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ITVS Press Release for "World Without Oil". Independent Television Service (ITVS).
  2. Book: McGonigal, Jane. Reality Is Broken. limited. 2011. The Penguin Press. 978-1-59420-285-8. 304, 305, 310.
  3. Web site: LunchtimeTalk: Ken Eklund on Transmedia For Change. Watershed. 2 September 2013.
  4. Web site: Weiler. Lance. Culture Hacker: An Interview with Ken Eklund. Workbook Project. 4 September 2013. March 3, 2009.
  5. Web site: ARGs in the Service of Education - interview with Ken Eklund. THINKtransmedia. 4 September 2013. 29 November 2010.
  6. Web site: Möller. Patrick. 15 Questions to Ken Eklund. ARG-Reporter.de. 4 September 2013. 15 July 2009.
  7. Web site: Rees. Diane. Transmedia: A new instructional literacy. Instructional Design Fusions. 4 September 2013. February 3, 2012.
  8. Web site: British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Ken Eklund presents "Play It Live It Shape It: Exploring Authentic Fiction". 4 September 2013. May 2, 2013.
  9. Book: Atkinson, Sarah. Beyond the screen: Emerging cinema and engaging audiences.. 2014. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. 978-1-62356-637-1. 163, 164.
  10. Web site: Alston. Adam. Listening Post: Alternate reality games, ecology and the popular voice. Interventions. Contemporary Theatre Review. July 13, 2016. October 6, 2015.
  11. Web site: Games For Learning Institute at NYU . 8th Annual Games for Change Festival . gamesforchange.org . 4 September 2013 . June 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402152023/http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2011/speakers/ken-eklund/ . 2 April 2015 .
  12. Web site: Butterworth. Alex. State of Play. BBC Radio. 4 September 2013. May 2013 .
  13. Michael Andersen "Reinventing Education For The Disaffected With Ed Zed Omega" Wired Aug 21, 2012 https://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/08/ed-zed-omega-rethinking-education
  14. Mike Janssen, "With young actors, Localore’s interactive Ed Zed Omega critiques education system" Current.org, November 2, 2012http://www.current.org/2012/11/with-young-actors-localores-interactive-ed-zed-omega-critiques-education-system
  15. Web site: Corvallis man's game simulation of a global oil crisis wins a Peabody . 2024-02-06 . opb . en.
  16. Web site: MEDIA . MID-VALLEY . 2022-06-23 . Corvallis man wins Peabody Award . 2024-02-06 . Corvallis Gazette-Times . en.
  17. Web site: Yearly Archives: 2014 The Webby Awards . 2024-02-06 . www.webbyawards.com.
  18. Web site: 2018-05-03 . 2011 MUSE Award Winners . 2024-02-06 . American Alliance of Museums . en-US.
  19. Web site: ITVS Interactive's World Without Oil, an Alternate Reality Game Wins "Activism" Award at SXSW Web Awards ITVS . 2024-02-06 . itvs.org . en.
  20. Web site: NEW Webby Gallery + Index . 2024-02-06 . NEW Webby Gallery + Index . en.
  21. Web site: 2010-05-08 . World Without Oil Stockholm Challenge Event 2008 . 2024-02-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100508051809/http://event.stockholmchallenge.org/project/2008/Environment/World-Without-Oil . 2010-05-08 .

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