Meredith Wilson is participating in rural flight, virtually speaking. As young people from Appalachia increasingly move out of the region, Meredith Wilson has done something strange: moved to rural Virginia to make virtual reality video games.
Meredith Wilson is a public health epidemiologist turned video game developer who was a participant in Oculus Launchpad 2017. Wilson used to do public health research at Virginia Tech's Biocomplexity Institute, designing mobile games about diseases that were literally going viral, and appears to have been permanently infected with the game development bug. She's the founder and lead game designer for Bedhouse Games, a small independent video game studio based out of rural Virginia that is currently developing a GearVR science fiction flight simulation-esque video game.
While not originally from the Appalachian region, Wilson's work, as well as the way she works, has been impacted by her experience living there. From the types of characters she designs, to how she thinks about the relationship between ethics and education, and even her opinion on eating rabbit, Appalachia has clearly had an impact on this tenderfoot transplant.
This episode is part three of "Playing Appalachia", a series of conversations with Appalachian and Appalachian adjacent gamers and game makers. To start at the beginning, check out Ep. 18: What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia with Dr. Elizabeth Catte. You can also take a listen to our conversation with Cardboard Computer about Kentucky Route Zero, their game set in rural Kentucky, to learn more about the relationship between magical realism and Appalachia.
Stuff We Mentioned...
VR.5
Games for Change Summit
Kiya
Epidemiology
Virus Tracker
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Descent
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
Alien (film)
Battle of Blair Mountain
"Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, VA
The "Harvey Weinsteins of Science"
@darbianSRL (a Super Mario speedrunner)
JD (The Broad)
Website: GamingBroadly.com
Twitter: @JayDeeCepticon
Instagram: @JayDeeCepticon
Meredith Wilson (The Cast)
Website: BedhouseGames.com
Twitter: @papermantis
Gaming Broad(cast) is the official podcast of GamingBroadly.com. Thank you to everyone who has liked, subscribed, and commented about Gaming Broad(cast) on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow this podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Stitcher, Google Music, or subscribe directly using our RSS feed. Want some gamey goodness in your email inbox? Sign up for some occasional(ly) playful newsletter updates. Thanks to Ben Cohn for the music for this episode!
Ep. 27: Savepoint (The Game's Not Over Yet)
Ep. 26: Appalachians Play Everquest, II (Playing Appalachia Part 7)
Ep. 25: Death Mountain Lifestyle (Playing Appalachia Part 6)
Ep. 24: Gaming Religion (Live Recording from SXSW 2018)
Ep. 23: The Streamers of Madison County (Playing Appalachia Part 5)
Ep. 22: Modding Appalachia (Playing Appalachia Part 4)
Ep. 20: #ReclaimTheBasement (Live Recording from PAX South 2018)
Ep. 19: Kentucky Route Zero and the Route to Appalachia (Playing Appalachia Part 2)
Ep. 18: What Games Are Getting Right About Appalachia (Playing Appalachia Part 1)
Ep. 17: Triple A Blues (Developer Doldrums Part 3)
Ep. 16: Long Distance Bromance (Developer Doldrums Part 2)
Ep. 15: Grief, Game Development, and the Emotional Significance of Oatmeal (Developer Doldrums Part 1)
Ep. 14: The Violent Femmes of Women's Rugby (Violence & Video Games Part 5)
Ep. 13: The Unbearable Anxiety of Tweeting (Violence & Video Games Part 4)
Ep. 12: Why Are You Afraid of Virtual Reality? (Violence & Video Games Part 3)
Ep. 11: Why Are You So Angry? (Violence & Video Games Part 2)
Ep. 10: Moral Combat--Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong (Violence & Video Games Part 1)
Ep. 09: Improv Games and the Art of Failure (Video Games with People Who Don't Like Playing Video Games Part 4)
Ep. 08: Learning the Language of Rules vs. Creativity (Video Games with People Who Don't Like Playing Video Games Part 3)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Survival Horror Podcast
The Zelda Cast
The GlockN9ne Show
Rune-Cast
Core Loop - Video Game Talk