Chris Swain
My blogs
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Occupation | game designer and professor |
| Location | Los Angeles, CA, United States |
| Introduction | Chris Swain is a game designer, educator, and co-author of the textbook Game Design Workshop. Chris co-directs the EA Game Innovation Lab at USC and he’s an assistant professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. His lab projects include: • The Redistricting Game – funded by the Annenberg Center for Communication • Immune Attack – funded by NSF and created in collaboration with Brown University and the Federation of American Scientists. • The New New Deal – funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and produced in collaboration with the LA Times. • ELECT-BiLat – funded by the US Army and produced for USC ICT. Prior to coming to USC Chris was a founding member of the New York design firm R/GA Interactive. At R/GA he lead over 150 interactive products for clients that include Microsoft, Sony, Disney, Activision, America Online, Warner Brothers, PBS, Intel, Children’s Television Workshop, and many others. Chris was a co-founder of the technology start-up Spiderdance, Inc. He served on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmy’s) from 2000-2004. He started his career at the pioneering interactive firm Synapse Technologies. |
| Interests | game design, system design, interface design, game innovation, games and academia |
| Favorite movies | Games - not movies: Wii Sports, Shadow of the Collossus, Smashcourt Tennis 2, Electroplankton, WarioWare Inc., Battlefield 2, Peacemaker, Warcraft 2, Asteroids, LocoRoco, Bomberman, Worms, Guitar Hero, The Sims 2, Zelda Twilight Princess |
| Favorite music | board games - not music: Carcassonne, You're Bluffing, Shadows Over Camelot, Scotland Yard, Modern Art, Acquire, Union Pacific |
| Favorite books | Game Design Workshop, Rules of Play, A Theory of Fun, Medici Effect, Art of Innovation, Made to Stick, Tipping Point, What Videogames Have to Teach Us About Literacy and Learning |