Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt at the V&A, an exhibition not to be missed
In this article, I really wanted to share my excitement for a newly opened exhibition in London. Far from the financial sphere, let’s dive into the videogames world. This exhibition shows the backstages of videogames making, thus giving good insights about the design process itself. Moreover, it is fair to say that many designers must be in one way or another interested by videogames.
One of the perks of being a Societe Generale employee includes a V&A corporate membership. I used that to visit the exhibition on a Friday night, when it is less crowded and I got in whereas it was normally fully booked. I will try to highlight as many aspects as possible of the exhibition — without spoiling it for you. It goes without saying that you have to visit it yourself as my videogames interests can be different from yours.
So is it only about videogames?
The exhibition is divided into 4 areas dedicated to the design process in videogames, disruptors in the industry, online gaming and arcade games.
The videogames displayed are recent and very different from one another. They all constitute landmarks in the industry, as they all brought something very unique. I will highlight those that drew my attention, either because I knew them or because their creation process caught my interest.
Videogames require many skills and many methods that are used in the design industry. For instance, you get the chance to see many moodboards that actually inspired some games or storytelling, as well as many other techniques. During the creation of our design website, we also worked on moodboards that were basically inspirational websites.
In that exhibition, a large place is given to design as it is one of the 3 pillars: Design/Play/Disrupt. It is also the first area you get to explore and design insights are given through videogames use cases.
Journey
Journey’s inception is interesting as a bunch of designers gathered as they were feeling there was something lacking in the industry: emotions were not fully expressed and in most cases not really peaceful. Journey takes place in a desert where you start as a robbed traveler. You can see other players alongside but your interactions with them are really restricted to simply following each other to indicate which path to take.
Design-wise, a hacked Nintendo DS was notably used as a drawing tool — remember that was before drawing on an iPad became a thing — to sketch some beaches on-site and fully seize the light’s variations and reflections.
The Last of Us
First released on PS3, and then remastered for PS4, this game belongs to the action-adventure survival horror category. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world where a mutated parasite took control of humans. As Joel, you have to protect Ellie, whom might constitute a cure for humanity.
I had a particular interest for this timeline which depicts how the story is organised through time and seasons. A particular importance is given to seasons, as they structure the story and constitute changing elements in this grey-ish universe. We face a real story board, here like in a movie. Fun fact: to best reproduce zombies’ behavior, the game designers imitated in videos how infected humans would behave. As everybody wanted to take part, it ended-up in a short film featuring many people who worked on the game.
Splatoon 2
Splatoon is a one-of-a-kind videogame as it has a very specific universe. Just like The Last of Us, it is a post-apocalyptic game, but with a different vibe! Of course it is a third-person shooting game but what makes it special is that it is very peculiar and not comparable to any other Nintendo game. As an Inkling — a creature that can morph in a human or a squid — the goal is to cover as much surface as possible with your own ink to win an area over your ennemies.
Even though I tried the game before the exhibition, I didn’t really feel a real connection to Splatoon’s universe. The exhibition really rose my interest around this game as it is very detailed and it helped me understand the graphic choices, around characters’ clothing for instance. I can definitely say that this exhibition made me want to buy this game.
No Man’s Sky
This game is all about uncovering the secrets of the universe by roaming it for survival and trade. As other players are roaming it too, they see the same universe you see and can have an impact on it.
I kept on seeing my better half playing this game without really getting it. It is actually amazing to see how many planets and ecosystems are being generated randomly, although not everything can be perfect from scratch. Therefore, some people had to intervene and watch over 18 quintillion of procedurally generated planets to fine-tune some of them texture and color-wise.
Consume me
This game is alternative in many ways. First of all, it is the only one that is still under development. It also targets somewhat of a niche-market as compared to the blockbusters displayed. This game is about monitoring a 16-year-old diet and sheds a light on eating disorders. Cute imagery is used to create a special bond with players and tackle the serious issue of body image and dieting.
I found the moodboards for this game very captivating as they include objects that you wouldn’t imagine in a moodboard like tsum tsum — these little Japanese collectible stuffed toys — or a Tamagotchi.
I really liked that this exhibition sheds light on indie-games that appear to be off the beaten path when it comes to visual aesthetics. Not only that but this exhibition also highlights players creations and communities around games.
Gaming communities and arcade games breakout area
The part about gaming communities and players online is mostly a gigantic screen where you can see the result of gamers’ creative minds. It ranges from crazy creations on Minecraft to competitions watched in South Korean stadiums where thousands of people support the most talented gamers.
The breakout area part is full of arcade games and other ways of interacting with a game that can be really different from a regular controller. This is the part that you really have to see and try for yourself as it is a lot of fun.
Videogames as a disruption medium
I also enjoyed this part of the exhibition because it addresses controversial subjects that are denounced by the digital and videogame industry.
For instance, I found it very interesting that coding is only available in English and you don’t even realise it! Some people like Ramsey Nasser denounce it thanks to قلب , a functional programming language using Arabic only.
Some other issues are raised like “Why are videogames so white?” or “Are videogames for girls?”. There is also a videogame called Phone Story, which exposes the hard and dangerous labour that still exists to produce phones. It uses mini-games that depict several production stages to make you realise how painful and risky it can be for your phone to be assembled.
This exhibition will get to stay in the V&A for quite some time, luckily for people who work on it: some parts of it are literally massive like this retro-game Bush Bash, which is made of half a car and came all the way from Australia to entertain us.
So if you happen to be in London, make sure to pass by this exhibition before it closes on 24th February.
And yes I have treated myself to a coding book in the exhibition shop. It is very relevant in my professional life since I am learning HTML and CSS in order to fully master our design system.
I hope you enjoyed this article — sorry if the images make it heavy to load — as I wanted to share as much as possible without spoiling you. Please feel free to share your thoughts about this V&A exhibition with me 😊
