Ian Livingston OBE will be officially opening the Games Britannia videogames education and careers festival, which is set to take place from July 2 - 8 at the MAGNA Science Adventure Centre.
Livingstone, the co-other of the Next Gen report that recently persuaded politicians to radically overhaul current ICT provision in schools, will also help facilitate a Fighting Fantasy themed workshop during the event (based on the choose-your-own-adventure style books that he wrote in the early 80s).
Livingstone said: "Interactive fiction is becoming more prevalent in games as players look for deeper, more engaging story-telling and more scope for decision-making."
"The Games Britannia festival will give children a real look at how videogames involve writing skills and story-telling to create interactive fiction. And the Fighting Fantasy workshops will promote a passion for literature and encourage sometimes reluctant readers and writers to ...read and write!"
The workshops will utilise a new interactive fiction tool called inklewriter. Co-creator Jon Ingold said: "Before founding inkle, Joe and I both worked in the video-game industry and we know first-hand the importance of events like Games Britannia, to get kids thinking about how games work and how they're made. It's a real treat for us to be involved, especially in collaboration with Ian and Fighting Fantasy. We can't wait to see what the students make with our inklewriter tool!"
Blood of the Zombies, a new Fighting Fantasy title, will also launch at the festival. Livingstone added: "It's been 30 years since the first Fighting Fantasy title was published, so this new book celebrates the success of the series. Blood of the Zombies will hopefully give a new generation of readers a taste of the original form of interactive fiction."