In the final panel debate of Journalism.co.uk’s news:rewired event in June, the nouveau niche, Philip Trippenbach, an interactive producer and games designer, declared to our delegates that “video games are the future of journalism”.
It’s important for us to realise that games are a medium just like text and pictures. As complex data sets become more and more available, the interactivity around it becomes more important – video games are a great way of doing that.
In this way, ‘games’ could provide an opportunity to do something different with data, something which really draws the reader into the news and involves them in the creation or impact of the story. It touches on many of the key terms in journalism today – interactivity, personalisation, engagement.