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With over 30 years of combined success in marketing,
advertising, game research, and design, Persuasive Games
is the natural choice of leading advocacy groups and lifestyle brands who want
to communicate effectively through electronic games. Our games influence
players to take action through gameplay. Games communicate differently than
other media; they not only deliver messages, but also simulate experiences.
While often thought to be just a leisure activity, games can also become
rhetorical tools.
At Persuasive Games, our clients take advantage of
our rapid development cycles and competitive cost structures that make your
project a success from the start.
Think games are just for fun? Think again.
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| Executive Bios
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Ian Bogost, Ph.D. - Founding Partner, Game Design |
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Dr. Ian Bogost is a videogame designer, critic, and researcher. He is Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Founding Partner at Persuasive Games LLC. His research and writing considers videogames as an expressive medium, and his creative practice focuses on games about social and political issues.
Bogost is author of Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism (MIT Press 2006), recently listed among "50 books for everyone in the game industry," and of Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames (MIT Press 2007), along with several other books and many other writings. He is a popular speaker and widely considered an influential thinker and doer in the videogame industry and research community.
In his role as Lead Designer at Persuasive Games, Bogost's work has covered topics as varied as airport security, disaffected workers, the petroleum industry, suburban errands, and tort reform. His games have been played by millions of people and exhibited internationally at venues including Laboral Centro de Arte (Madrid), Fournos Centre for Digital Culture (Athens), Eyebeam Center (New York), Slamdance Guerilla Game Festival (Park City), the Israeli Center for Digital Art (Holon) and The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne).
Bogost has recently co-authord a book on the Atari 2600 along with a number of new videogames for that platform. He is also completing a game about the politics of nutrition, commissioned by PBS and the iTVS, and designing editorial "newsgames" in a groundbreaking game publishing relationship with the New York Times.
Bogost holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from the University of Southern California, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UCLA. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children. Bogost's personal website is http://www.bogost.com.
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Gerard LaFond - Founding Parnter, Strategy |
Gerard LaFond - Co-Founder, Partner, Persuasive Games
Mr. LaFond co-founded Persuasive Games to produce videogames that make you think. In four short years, Persuasive Games has produced over 30 games for political campaigns, social causes, corporate training and most recently a series of games based on current events featured monthly on the NYTimes.com. Persuasive Games's forthcoming game “Fatworld†in partnership with PBS, will be released in the Fall of 2007. Persuasive Games has produced award winning work for: Cisco Systems, Domino's Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery, CNN, the New York Times, Shockwave, Best Buy, and many others.
Mr. LaFond's background includes producing webisodes for Fox TV shows and founding his own advertising agency, red TANGENT. Prior to Persuasive Games, Mr. LaFond was VP of Marketing and Business Development for the award winning interactive agency Media Revolution and was formerly the General Manager of Citysearch.com. Mr. LaFond is a sought after speaker on the subject of serious videogames, marketing, and interactive entertainment. He has been featured numerous times on NPR, and guest lectured at both UCLA and USC. Mr. LaFond holds an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of California, Riverside and a graduate degree in Management from Azusa Pacific University.
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Alejandro Quarto - Partner, Software Development/General Manager |
Alejandro Miguel Quarto joined Persuasive Games Latin America, S.A. in 2006 as General Manager. In his role, Mr. Quarto is responsible for software development and testing, as well as studio management and strategy.
Prior to joining to Persuasive Games, Mr. Quarto started his career in interactive entertainment as a freelance programmer using different object-oriented programming tools specifically specializing in Macromedia Flash, Shockwave, and Java development platforms among others. In 2002 Mr. Quarto co-founded Platico Games! in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While at Platico Games Studio, Mr. Quarto produced a wide variety of video game projects including: advergames, educational games, and multiplayer games oriented to big communities.
These games have been developed for clients such as: Claxson Interactive Group, Budweiser, Mattel, Turbo Video Brazil, Canal 13 (TV) Argentina, and FM HIT in Chile.
In additional to working as producer at Platico Games Studio, Mr. Quarto has worked as a lead engineer at Persuasive Games prior to joining its team. In this position he designed and developed video games under Dr. Ian Bogost's directives.
Platico Games Studio was acquired by Persuasive Games Latin America, S.A. in 2006.
Quarto is currently teaching about Flash development, in an institute located in Buenos Aires. In his role as instructor, he teach how to develop webs and games, for online content.
As developer, he is an active contributor in communities like actionscript.org. and also he research and write examples and tutorials about Flash developent. Alejandro Quarto's personal blog is http://www.alejandroquarto.com
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Nicolas Massi - Partner, Art Direction |
Nicolas Massi oversees Persuasive Games' art direction, creative and production departments for Persuasive Games clients.
Prior to joining Persuasive Games, Mr. Massi began his career over six years ago as a freelance graphic designer and new media consultant. He has designed and developed a variety of projects, including: corporate web sites, CD-Roms, Flash and print projects.
In 2002 Mr. Massi co-founded Platico Games Studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While at Platico Games Studio, Mr Massi worked as art director and interactive designer, specifically focused on video games projects, including: advergames and educational games. These games have been developed for clients such as: Toyota, Turner Broadcasting, Nestlé, Grupo Clarín, 47Street, CMTV among others. Additionally, Mr. Massi has worked as an Art Director at Persuasive Games from 2003 through 2006. Massi is also a co-founder of ADVA (Argentine Game Developers Association).
Platico Games Studio was acquired by Persuasive Games Latin America, S.A. in 2006.
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