This month’s Symposium topic is Half-Life. Our discussion will be led by Patrick Holleman, who says:

Half-Life is an odd and wonderful game that stands astride two eras in videogame history.  Its release begins the era in which Western videogames (and the FPS in particular) would become ascendant.  It is, without a doubt, the most beloved single player FPS of all time, in a genre where multiplayer is king.  The game demonstrates a clear mastery of previous (Japanese) game design trends, and a clearly conscious step away from them.  In a sense, it is like Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony in its self-conscious manipulation and transcendence of what had come before it.  Although the FPS isn’t exactly VGHVI’s bread and butter, I think it will be interesting for all of us to take a look at how polished and relevant the game feels despite the explosive growth of games in the FPS genre in the post-Half-Life era.

Discussion will be on Thursday, September 4 at 9:30pm EDT / 6:30pm PDT, and will take place over Skype; see you then!