Gameology - News, Commentary and Resources for the Game Studies Community

Game design articles

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:13:03 -0400

Does anyone know of any good articles on videogame design principles? I'm teaching a multimedia authoring course this semester, and the final project asks students to design a prototype of a videogame. Since the whole course isn't about game design, I don't want to bombard my students with a ton of reading on the subject; instead, I'd like to give them one or two articles that'll provide a basic working vocabulary. If anyone has such an article in mind, I'd love to hear about it.

2 years 50 weeks

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:54:53 -0400

In checking recent posts, I ended up on my account page on Gameology and found "Member for 2 years 50 weeks" and Zach's shows "2 years 51 weeks". That means we're coming up on a three year anniversary for Gameology! Since Gameology took over the earlier and smaller Academic-Gamers blog it's actually been even longer than three years. Three years for Gameology alone is an impressive tenure especially given videogame studies' general youth as a whole. It's still a bit early, but it's nice to see this anniversary right before the new academic year starts and brings another year of activity for Gameology.

Historical Studies of Digital Entertainment Media

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:18:09 -0400

From Henry ~~Jenkin~~Lowood's blog, the How They Got Game project will be starting up a new journal, Historical Studies of Digital Entertainment Media edited by Matteo Bittanti and Henry Lowood. Historical Studies of Digital Entertainment Media's theme for the first issue will be "Digital Games: Historical and Preservation Studies," and the journal will be openly online, published using the Open Journal System of the Public Knowledge Project. It's always great to see new journals in the field, especially new open access online journals because accessible research can have the most immediate, widest, and greatest impact and use.

MSU Meaningful Play 2008 Still Accepting Papers

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:28:58 -0400

The organizers of the 2008 Meaningful Play Conference want to remind you that the deadline for submissions is soon:

The deadline is rapidly approaching to submit a paper for Meaningful Play 2008. Papers will be accepted until July 13th, 2008 at 11:55pm Eastern Standard time. For more information, visit the Meaningful Play 2008 website at http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu

So if you like waiting until the last minute to submit things, this is it!

Refractory Journal Issue 13

Mon, 26 May 2008 22:53:51 -0400

The Refractory journal's Issue 13: Games and Metamateriality, is online. It includes an article by Gameology's own Zach Whalen.

I remember making a short film with some friends after one of them had bought an early digital video camera, and being somewhat surprised that the whole process didn't consist of lining up actors in front of the lens, having them say their lines in order and then calling it a day. There was makeup, props, continuity, sound and lighting to worry about, and scenes were shot in haphazard order. Then it was all editing, editing, editing.

Digital humanities and digital art fellowship positions at HUMlab (4 positions)

Mon, 26 May 2008 11:36:45 -0400

Two postdoctoral positions in the digital humanities and two fellowship positions in digital art are now available at HUMlab, Umeå University, Sweden from August 1, 2008 (the actual start date may be later).

The postdoctoral fellowships are one-year positions, with a possible extension of one year. The digital art fellowships are one-year positions. For the postdoc positions, applicants will be expected to have a Ph.D. in a humanities discipline (from a non-Swedish university) and a specialty in any of the following five research areas: participatory media, digital cultural heritage, digital art/architecture, electronic literature, and critical perspectives. For the digital art fellowships, applicants will be expected to have an M.F.A or the equivalent (from a non-Swedish institute/school). In exceptional cases, other areas and backgrounds can be of interest as well.

HackerTeen: Internet Blackout (Volume 1)

Thu, 22 May 2008 21:00:23 -0400

Review of "HackerTeen Volume 1: Internet Blackout" by Marcelo Marques and the HackerTeen Team

The first volume of HackerTeen, Internet Blackout, by Marcelo Marques and the HackerTeen Team was recently published in English. HackerTeen is an excellent comic for many reasons, including its entertainment and educational value. HackerTeen's story opens with a familiar story structure; an extremely gifted teenager's talents have led to trouble and now specialized education is required to apply those skills to a useful purpose. For HackerTeen, the teenager is Yago and his talents are in computing, leading Yago's parents to take him to HackerTeen, a school designed for teens talented with computers. From this familiar starting point, the story quickly departs for new territory both in terms of the comic's fiction and in terms of the real world connections. HackerTeen is a brilliant concept because the comic is about the real program and its all too realistic fiction speaks to the need for the HackerTeen program.

International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations

Sat, 17 May 2008 22:41:53 -0400

What: , ""

Deadline: Ongoing

International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (IJGCMS), www.igi-global.com/ijgcms
Editor-in-Chief: Richard E. Ferdig, Ph.D. (University of Florida)
Published: Quarterly (both in Print and Electronic form)

Official publication of the Information Resources Management Association, www.igi-global.com/ijgcms

MISSION:
IJGCMS publishes research articles, theoretical critiques, and book reviews related to the development and evaluation of games and computer-mediated simulations. One main goal of this peer-reviewed, international journal is to promote a deep conceptual and empirical understanding of the roles of electronic games and computer-mediated simulations across multiple disciplines. A second goal is to help build a significant bridge between research and practice on electronic gaming and simulations, supporting the work of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

Disruptive Technologies

Sat, 17 May 2008 14:54:52 -0400

I've started reading The Innovator's Dilemma after seeing it recommended as a business-based perspective on technological change. Early on, the book has an example of how disruptive innovations are problematic for businesses because they change the business model--costing a great deal to develop and not being saleable to the same market, so they're neglected until it's too late and the old model starts to fail (the historical emergence of personal computers with mainframes vs. personal computers in the early days when some needs could be met by both). While I haven't finished the book (or the follow-up book), I started thinking of game-related innovations that could fit the same model and it seems like the multi-touch-sensitivity of the MacBook Air and the iPhone as well as the other types of user interfaces (Nintendo DS with sound, air and Nintendo Wii with movement) are the best current examples of what's to come (or at least the best examples related to my interests since narrative, complexity, personalization, procedurality, and many other areas are also developing rapidly).

Visiting Assistant Professor in Professional Writing

Thu, 08 May 2008 14:54:54 -0400

Visiting Assistant Professor in Professional Writing Position, U of Central Florida, Department of English, PO Box 161346 Orlando FL 32816

The Department of English at the University of Central Florida seeks a Visiting Assistant Professor specializing in Professional Writing to be employed at our Southern region campus. The non-tenure track position requires a PhD in English, Rhetoric/Composition, or a related field with specialization in technical and/or professional communication from an accredited institution and the ability to teach undergraduate and graduate courses. Position begins August 2008. Teaching load is 4/4. Possible assignments will include courses in our online Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing and our online M.A. in Technical Communication as well as our undergraduate professional writing and technical communication courses. Face-to-face courses and office hours will be primarily on UCF's Southern region campus in Cocoa. Must have expertise in developing and teaching web-based courses or be willing to teach online after receiving training on campus.

Grand Thesis... ah I can't bring myself to finish this pun

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:48:07 -0400

Now I realise that videogame academia isn't about spruiking specific products - Anatomy of the FPS anyone? - but Grand Theft Auto IV has just come out! Just what grad students and academics need in addition to papers, teaching and unwritten theses.

Even for those of us who aren't playing/researching the GTA IV, it's fascinating how hard it is to avoid the game's cultural splash damage. Within hours of the release, I saw online videos of people doing stupid things in Liberty City or hunting out Easter Eggs. Apparently the in-game radio stations are pitch-perfect parodies of grating deejays and cretinous shock-jocks as well as the mellifluous , expansively liberal tones of NPR's All Things Considered (the latter interview also interesting for those who want to hear Lazlo Jones' take on Stravinsky).

GTA IV has prised open existing issues surrounding videogames, and thrown up new ones. Concerns about violence and sex, of course, are doing the rounds; but also their converse - Australia, which lacks a 18+ designation for games, has a censored version appearing in shops (apparently New Zealand also has to suffer the indignity). Does the increasing realism of games such as GTA IV affect the status of sexuality and violence within them? How do we read the portrayal of race and the function of stereotypes in such a text? Is there any political potential to the vicious satire, or is it simply symptomatic of consumer culture's morbid self-obsession? Does the success of this iteration highlight a growing preference for sandbox style game design over more tightly structured advancement through virtual space and time? What are some of the most interesting peripheral cultural forms arising from the game and how does the fan culture work? Is there more to this all than succès de scandale?

So are any Gameologists hanging out in Liberty City? What are your thoughts?

Video Game Canon

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:05:54 -0400

A little over a year ago the NY Times and various other media outlets and blogs reported on Henry Lowood, Warren Spector, Steve Meretzky, Mario Bittanti, and Christopher Grant's list of the ten most important games of all time.

Many referred to it as the creation of the first video game canon.

Certainly we are all aware of the problems of creating any kind of canon yet I think we all recognize their usefulness as well---if only as the subject of critique.

Gameology on Twitter

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:20:35 -0400

A few Gameology folks are on Twitter. Thus far, I've found Zach and Matt B., and I'm on it too, but I'll be looking to find others, and hopefully those not on will join. I'd previously abstained from microblogging/twittering because I thought it was too short and quick to be as useful as I wanted, but it's all I have time for lately and that makes it much more useful than the alternative. Plus, it's fun right now and anything fun is especially nice at the end of the semester and with the ever-rising heat of summer. It's more fun with more people so those with the time should join and follow their Gameology friends.

Research Software and Tools

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:12:49 -0400

The time for Ph.D. exam preparation is fast approaching (I really should start this summer) and I have been trying to develop strategies for successful note taking, organization, research, and scheduling.

I was initially inspired by D. Travers Scott's blog courageously chronicling his exam reading. After some more searching I stumbled across David Parry's excellent blog discussing a variety of different tech tools for academics, Academhack.

So far I have gotten a hold of EndNote on the recommendation of a colleague, but have yet to really play around with it. I have been told it is incredibly helpful in terms of managing and implementing citations.

Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:10:32 -0400

What: Journal, "Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds"

Deadline: 1 May 2008

The Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds is a peer-refereed, international journal which focuses on theoretical and applied, empirical, critical, rhetorical, creative, economic and professional approaches to the study of electronic games across platforms and genres as well as ludic and serious online environments such as Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games and Second Life. The Journal aims at researchers and professionals working in and researching creative new media and entertainment software around the globe and seeks to document, harmonise, juxtapose and critically evaluate cutting-edge market trends, technological developments, as well as socio-cultural, political, economic and psychological concerns. It informs its readers about recent events such as conferences, and features long articles, short papers, poster abstracts, interviews, reports and reviews of relevant new publications, websites, virtual environments and electronic artefacts.