Usually constrained to the dusty confines of academic musings on aesthetics in film criticism, auteur theory contends that movies reflect the personal vision of the director (and in some cases the producer) as the work's true author. It's the idea that despite the mass of people involved with the production of a movie, elements of the "auteur's" personal stamp of style can be identified throughout their body of work.
Today, the idea of the director as the creative driving force behind films is hardly foreign to mainstream audiences. Think of Quentin Tarantino's penchant for indulgent dialogues, pop culture references, and graphic violence - and the way we've come to expect these things from the films he directs.
Over the years, this trend - to identify an individual as the primary author of a product produced by many - has extended to the game industry, where designers and producers have achieved celebrity status.
So who are the Kubricks, Lynches, and Hitchcocks of games? What are their trademarked signatures of style? And is there really such a thing as a game auteur?
