Stephen Dinehart

Stephen Dinehart
Born	Stephen Erin Dinehart IV
Alma mater	College for Creative Studies The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
Notable awards	See below

Stephen Erin Dinehart IV is a game designer, writer, and teacher known for his work in video games.^[1] Dinehart is an early transmedia storytelling and Interactive Narrative Design proponent. He created the idea of the VUP (viewer/user/player) in 2006, relating his model of transmedia development to Richard Wagner's concept of "total artwork" ("Gesamtkunstwerk") where the spectator becomes actor/player.^[2] Stephen also wrote the job description and took the first "Narrative Designer" position at THQ in 2006, the first of its kind in the interactive entertainment industry.^[3] Dinehart is a noted game writer and Narrative Designer,^[4] being alumni of companies such as THQ, Electronic Arts, Activision and others.^[5][6]

As defined by Dinehart, Interactive Narrative Design combines ludology, narratology and game design to form interactive entertainment development methodologies. It is a narratological craft which focuses on the structuralist, or literary semiotic creation of stories via viewer/user/player (VUP) navigated dataspaces.^[7] These interactive narrative experiences allow the player to witness data as navigable, participatory, and dramatic in real-time:^[8]

He was final nominee for “Best Writing for a Game Production” for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts at the 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts (2007), and the game won “Nokia Award for Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.”^[9] His MFA is from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media Division, and his BFA in Animation & Digital Media is from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.^[10]

Works

• Constantine (2005), THQ
• Cloud (2005), USC Interactive Media Division
• Journey of Jin (2006) USC Interactive Media Division
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II (2006), Electronic Arts
• Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (2007), THQ
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm (2008), THQ
• Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (2009), THQ
• F.E.A.R. 3 (2011), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Awards

• Nominated for “Best Writing in a Videogame production” for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, at the 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts (ELAN)(2007)^[11]
• Won “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming” for Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, at the 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts (ELAN)(2007)^[12]
• Won "Best Student Design Philosophy Award" Slamdance Film Festival Guerilla Gamemaker Competition for Cloud (video game)(2006)^[13]
• Winner Independent Games Festival for Cloud (video game) (2006) ^[13]
• "Internet Download Game of the Month" designation from the UK magazine Edge for Cloud (video game) (2006)^[13]

External links

• The Narrative Design Explorer
• 2007 Gamasutra Interview
• 2009 Got Game Interview

References

1. "The VUP - Transmedia and Crossmedia Convergence in a Connected World". Convergenceishere.weebly.com. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
2. "From crossmedia to transmedia: thoughts on the future of entertainment". Lunch over IP. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
3. marzo 17, 2011 (2011-03-17). "Transmedia evangelist at "Cross-media Summit": Stephen Dinehart". Cross-media.it. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
4. Human, Kevin. "ProQuest Document View - The enthymematic model of meaning-making in video games: Towards narratively designed transmedia texts". Gradworks.umi.com. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
5. "Via Gamasutra.com – Stephen Dinehart Interview | Designer Narrative". Videogamenarrative.wordpress.com. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
6. "Features - Narrative Design For Company Of Heroes: Stephen Dinehart On Writing For Games". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
7. Dinehart, Stephen E. "Defining Interactive Narrative Design 2 – The Narrative Design Explorer™". Narrativedesign.org. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
8. Dinehart, Stephen E. "What is Interactive Narrative Design? | The Narrative Design Explorer™". Narrativedesign.org. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
9. Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
10. http://news.gotgame.com/narrative-designer-interview-stephen-dinehart/34351/
11. Litten, Matt (2012-10-05). "Elan Awards: And the Nominees Are…". :. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
12. https://web.archive.org/20090929233559/http://www.gamezone.com:80/news/02_20_08_05_10PM.htm. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
13. Archived March 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.