GeorgiaTech - February 5, 2010
A panel discussion featuring Jesper Juul, Frank Lantz and John Sharp at the Art History of Games Symposium in the High Museum of Art's Rich Auditorium on the campus of the Woodruff Arts Center, in midtown Atlanta. The discussion was moderated by Christoph Kluetsch. The symposium was presented by Georgia Tech and the Savannah College of Art and Design.
John Sharp is an accomplished game designer, art historian and educator with over 20 years experience. His design work is focused on Twitter and social platform games, art games and non-digital games. His current research is focused on game design curricula for after-school programs, the history of play and the early history of computer and video games.
Dr. Sharp is a professor in the interactive design and game development and art history departments at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He also is a member of Local No. 12, a social network game collaboration; a member of The Leisure Society, an artgame collective; and a partner in Supercosm, a digital media consultancy.
Jesper Juul is an influential theorist in the field of video game studies. He is currently a visiting professor at the New York University Game Center and has been a visiting scholar in comparative media studies at MIT. He holds a Ph.D. in video game theory from the Center for Computer Games Research in Copenhagen, where he held a position as an assistant professor until mid-2007.
Dr. Juul also has worked as a designer and programmer in video game and chat development, and participated in the Indie Game Jam. He has been working with the development of video game theory since the late 1990s. His more recent work deals with the fictional aspects of video games as well. His book on video game theory, Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds, was published by the MIT Press in 2005. The book was named by designer Ernest Adams as one of the "50 Books for Everyone in the Game Industry." His recently published book, A Casual Revolution, examines how puzzle games, music games, and Nintendo Wii are bringing video games to a new audience. Juul maintains the blog, "The Ludologist," on game research and other important things.
Dr. Phil Christoph Klütsch studied Philosophy, Art History and German Literature in Freiburg, Hamburg, and Heidelberg (Germany). From 1999-2002 he worked as author, editor, and concepter for multimedia exhibitions and multimedia CD-ROM's. He received his PhD in 2006 at the University Bremen, Germany with "Computer Graphic -- Aesthetic experiments between two cultures" (Springer, Wien NewYork 2007). From 2004-2006 he worked as scientific coordinator for the interdisciplinary and international research project on Visual Hegemonies at the International University Bremen, Germany. Since 2007 he has worked as a Prof. of Art History at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). His research specializes on the connection between digital art and aesthetic theory.
Frank Lantz is creative director and co-founder of Area/Code, a New York-based developer that creates cross-media, location-based, and social network games. He has worked in the field of game development for the past 20 years. Before starting Area/Code, Lantz worked on a wide variety of games as the director of game design at Gamelab, lead game designer at Pop & Co. and creative director at R/GA Interactive.
Over the past eight years, he helped pioneer the genre of large-scale, real-world games, as one of the creators of the Big Urban Game, which turned the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul into the world's largest board game; ConQwest, which featured the first major application of semacodes in the United States; PacManhattan, a life-size version of the arcade classic created by the students in his Big Games class at NYU, and many other experiments in pervasive and urban gaming. For over 12 years, Frank has taught game design at NYU in the interactive telecommunications program and at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design. He is currently director of the NYU Game Center. His writings on games, technology and culture have appeared in a variety of publications.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Reinventing Gaming - Frank Lantz
Ted Talk - July 2010
Frank Lantz, Creative Director and co-Founder of area/code is a game designer based in New York City. He has worked in the field of game development for the past 20 years. Before starting area/code, Frank was the Director of Game Design at gameLab, a developer of online and downloadable games.
Frank has also worked as a game designer for the developer POP, where he created games for Cartoon Network, Lifetime TV, and VH1. Between 1988 and 1998, he was Creative Director at R/GA Interactive, a New York digital design company.
For over 10 years, Frank has taught game design at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, the School of Visual Arts, and the New School. His writings on games, technology and culture have appeared in a variety of publications.
Frank Lantz, Creative Director and co-Founder of area/code is a game designer based in New York City. He has worked in the field of game development for the past 20 years. Before starting area/code, Frank was the Director of Game Design at gameLab, a developer of online and downloadable games.
Frank has also worked as a game designer for the developer POP, where he created games for Cartoon Network, Lifetime TV, and VH1. Between 1988 and 1998, he was Creative Director at R/GA Interactive, a New York digital design company.
For over 10 years, Frank has taught game design at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, the School of Visual Arts, and the New School. His writings on games, technology and culture have appeared in a variety of publications.
Visual Design Animation & Gaming - Avrim Katzman
Ted Talk - November 2010
For over 25 years Avrim Katzman has been the senior professor in the internationally renowned Computer Animation Program at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning as well as the founding Director and principal investigator of Sheridan's first research institute, the Visualization Design Institute. He teaches Game Design and Theory, and Game Development, in the Communications Culture and Information Technology Program, a joint program with the University of Toronto, and is the curriculum architect of Sheridan's Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Game Design.
Prof. Katzman's current research focuses on the use of video games to improve cognitive functioning in older adults and the application of game technologies to feature film production.
For over 25 years Avrim Katzman has been the senior professor in the internationally renowned Computer Animation Program at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning as well as the founding Director and principal investigator of Sheridan's first research institute, the Visualization Design Institute. He teaches Game Design and Theory, and Game Development, in the Communications Culture and Information Technology Program, a joint program with the University of Toronto, and is the curriculum architect of Sheridan's Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Game Design.
Prof. Katzman's current research focuses on the use of video games to improve cognitive functioning in older adults and the application of game technologies to feature film production.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Death in Games - Julian Dibbell
GLS 11 - IT University of Copenhagen - April 4, 2011
Much has been written about violence and video games, but what about death? And more specifically: What about dying? Players do a lot of killing in games, but the truth — and it’s a truth that’s under-recognized — is that they do at least as much dying. From Space War’s exploding rocket ships to the dramatic agonies of the fragged Halo shooter, the story of video games can be understood as a 50-year saga of players dying over and over without end. This talk will put that history of game death in the spotlight, considering both its cultural and personal meanings and its implications for the past and future of game design.
Julian Dibbellis an author and technology journalist with a particular interest in social systems within online communities. Dibbell has chronicled the evolution of online worlds for Wired Magazine, and has written about his attempt to make a living playing MMORPGs in the book Play Money: or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot. Dibbell is also a founder of the academic gaming research blog Terra Nova.
Much has been written about violence and video games, but what about death? And more specifically: What about dying? Players do a lot of killing in games, but the truth — and it’s a truth that’s under-recognized — is that they do at least as much dying. From Space War’s exploding rocket ships to the dramatic agonies of the fragged Halo shooter, the story of video games can be understood as a 50-year saga of players dying over and over without end. This talk will put that history of game death in the spotlight, considering both its cultural and personal meanings and its implications for the past and future of game design.
Julian Dibbellis an author and technology journalist with a particular interest in social systems within online communities. Dibbell has chronicled the evolution of online worlds for Wired Magazine, and has written about his attempt to make a living playing MMORPGs in the book Play Money: or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot. Dibbell is also a founder of the academic gaming research blog Terra Nova.
This Might Sting a Little - Tobias Wrigstad
GLS 02 - IT University of Copenhagen - Spring 2010
Tobias Wrigstad talks about roleplaying and game design.
Tobias Wrigstad is a assistant professor at the Department of Information Technology at Uppsala University and before that, was a professor at the Department for Computer and Systems Science at Stockholm University. He has a PhD from Royal Institute of Technology.
Tobias Wrigstad talks about roleplaying and game design.
Tobias Wrigstad is a assistant professor at the Department of Information Technology at Uppsala University and before that, was a professor at the Department for Computer and Systems Science at Stockholm University. He has a PhD from Royal Institute of Technology.
Personal Game Design - Nicklas Nygren
GLS 01 - IT University of Copenhagen - Spring 2010
Game design lecture featuring Nicklas Nygren.
Nicklas Nygren (born 6 January 1983), better known by the handle "Nifflas", is a video game developer. He is known for his freeware games Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the the experimental game B.U.T.T.O.N., and is currently developing software for indie publisher/developer Nicalis. He currently lives in Umeå, Sweden.
Game design lecture featuring Nicklas Nygren.
Nicklas Nygren (born 6 January 1983), better known by the handle "Nifflas", is a video game developer. He is known for his freeware games Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the the experimental game B.U.T.T.O.N., and is currently developing software for indie publisher/developer Nicalis. He currently lives in Umeå, Sweden.
Boston Post Mortem: Artificial Intelligence Panel
Boston Post Mortem - November 10, 2009
The November meeting of the Boston Post Mortem (IGDA Boston), featured a panel of AI experts talking about challenges in artificial intelligence. The panel worked on the AI for games such as Halo 2 and 3, BioShock, SWAT 4, F.E.A.R., and No One Lives Forever 2.
- John Abercrombie
John Abercrombie was the AI Lead on BIOSHOCK and SWAT 4 and is now the Lead Programmer on 2K Boston’s unannounced title. He graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in Computer Science in 2000, and has worked at Irrational Games / 2K Boston ever since.
- Damián Isla
Damián Isla has been working on and writing about game technology for almost a decade. Recently, he helped found Moonshot Games, a studio dedicated to the creation of downloadable games with triple-A production values and technology. Before Moonshot, Damián was AI and Gameplay engineering lead at Bungie Studios, where he was responsible for the AI for the mega-hit first-person shooters Halo 2 and Halo 3.
An expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence for Games, Damián has spoken on games, AI and character technology at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), at the AI and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE), and at Siggraph, and is a frequent speaker at the Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Before joining the industry, Damián earned a Masters Degree at the M.I.T. Media Lab, where he did research on learning and behavior for synthetic characters. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science, also from M.I.T.
- Jeff Orkin
Jeff Orkin is a PhD candidate in the Cognitive Machines Group at the MIT Media Lab. Jeff’s research focuses on Artificial Intelligence for characters that learn to communicate and collaborate by observing humans playing online multiplayer games.
Prior to enrolling at the Media Lab, Jeff developed several generations of AI systems in the game industry. As a Senior Engineer at Monolith Productions, Jeff focused on goal-oriented autonomous character behavior and planning, while developing AI systems for the award winning titles No One Lives Forever 2 and F.E.A.R.
Jeff is a Contributing Author and Section Editor of the AI Game Programming Wisdom book series, has presented at the Game Developer’s Conference, the AI and Interactive Digital Entertainment conference (AIIDE), and the Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Sytems (AAMAS) conference, and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Washington and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Tufts University with a minor in Studio Art.
The November meeting of the Boston Post Mortem (IGDA Boston), featured a panel of AI experts talking about challenges in artificial intelligence. The panel worked on the AI for games such as Halo 2 and 3, BioShock, SWAT 4, F.E.A.R., and No One Lives Forever 2.
- John Abercrombie
John Abercrombie was the AI Lead on BIOSHOCK and SWAT 4 and is now the Lead Programmer on 2K Boston’s unannounced title. He graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in Computer Science in 2000, and has worked at Irrational Games / 2K Boston ever since.
- Damián Isla
Damián Isla has been working on and writing about game technology for almost a decade. Recently, he helped found Moonshot Games, a studio dedicated to the creation of downloadable games with triple-A production values and technology. Before Moonshot, Damián was AI and Gameplay engineering lead at Bungie Studios, where he was responsible for the AI for the mega-hit first-person shooters Halo 2 and Halo 3.
An expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence for Games, Damián has spoken on games, AI and character technology at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), at the AI and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE), and at Siggraph, and is a frequent speaker at the Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Before joining the industry, Damián earned a Masters Degree at the M.I.T. Media Lab, where he did research on learning and behavior for synthetic characters. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science, also from M.I.T.
- Jeff Orkin
Jeff Orkin is a PhD candidate in the Cognitive Machines Group at the MIT Media Lab. Jeff’s research focuses on Artificial Intelligence for characters that learn to communicate and collaborate by observing humans playing online multiplayer games.
Prior to enrolling at the Media Lab, Jeff developed several generations of AI systems in the game industry. As a Senior Engineer at Monolith Productions, Jeff focused on goal-oriented autonomous character behavior and planning, while developing AI systems for the award winning titles No One Lives Forever 2 and F.E.A.R.
Jeff is a Contributing Author and Section Editor of the AI Game Programming Wisdom book series, has presented at the Game Developer’s Conference, the AI and Interactive Digital Entertainment conference (AIIDE), and the Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Sytems (AAMAS) conference, and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Washington and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Tufts University with a minor in Studio Art.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Meaningful Play: Getting Gamification Right
Google Tech Talk - January 24, 2011
Foursquare, GetGlue, Nike+, Badgeville: From reading news to fulfilling your hearts' desires, more and more "gameified" applications and "gamification" vendors doll out points and badges to users, promising anything from increased user engagement and retention to plain mind control. While some hold that adding such game elements to non-game applications opens a new decade of design, others criticize current implementations as shallow "pointsification" and overselling of a new digital snake oil. What lessons do games really offer for user experience design? Which criticisms are valid? And what can designers interested in "gameifying" an application do to steer clear of the worst pitfalls? In this talk, researcher and designer Sebastian Deterding provides an overview of the current gamification movement, its most troubling blind spots, the motivational powers of games, and how to design for a playful experience that is truly meaningful to its users.
Sebastian Deterding is a user experience designer and game researcher at the University of Hamburg, Germany, where he currently pursues a PhD on the motivational psychology of gameified applications. He speaks and publishes internationally on gamification, social games, and the social contexts of video games at events such as the Gamification Summit, Gamescom, reboot, Playful, or DiGRA. His work has been covered by The Guardian, the LA Times, The New Scientist, EDGE Magazine, and Fast Company's Co.Design. He co-hosts the Gamification Workshop at this year's CHI conference in Vancouver. Web: codingconduct.cc Twitter: @dingstweets
Foursquare, GetGlue, Nike+, Badgeville: From reading news to fulfilling your hearts' desires, more and more "gameified" applications and "gamification" vendors doll out points and badges to users, promising anything from increased user engagement and retention to plain mind control. While some hold that adding such game elements to non-game applications opens a new decade of design, others criticize current implementations as shallow "pointsification" and overselling of a new digital snake oil. What lessons do games really offer for user experience design? Which criticisms are valid? And what can designers interested in "gameifying" an application do to steer clear of the worst pitfalls? In this talk, researcher and designer Sebastian Deterding provides an overview of the current gamification movement, its most troubling blind spots, the motivational powers of games, and how to design for a playful experience that is truly meaningful to its users.
Sebastian Deterding is a user experience designer and game researcher at the University of Hamburg, Germany, where he currently pursues a PhD on the motivational psychology of gameified applications. He speaks and publishes internationally on gamification, social games, and the social contexts of video games at events such as the Gamification Summit, Gamescom, reboot, Playful, or DiGRA. His work has been covered by The Guardian, the LA Times, The New Scientist, EDGE Magazine, and Fast Company's Co.Design. He co-hosts the Gamification Workshop at this year's CHI conference in Vancouver. Web: codingconduct.cc Twitter: @dingstweets
Are Video Games Art? - Kellee Santiago - Ted Talk
Ted Talk - July, 2010
Game innovator Kellee Santiago insists that games are more than entertainment. They are art. As a student in the MFA Interactive Media program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Kellee's research focused on game design, interactive narrative, and physical and gestural interfaces for digital media. She has produced and managed a number of interactive projects including "I'm Gonna Kill the President! A Federal Offense" at PS122, and "The Angel Project" at Lincoln Center. While at USC, she teamed up with fellow student Jenova Chen to develop the student-created game, "Cloud." The critically acclaimed game led them to found their own studio, thatgamecompany, which landed a three game deal with Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. to develop downloadable games for Playstation Network. thatgamecompany's mission is to create games that push the possibilities of what games can communicate.
Game innovator Kellee Santiago insists that games are more than entertainment. They are art. As a student in the MFA Interactive Media program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Kellee's research focused on game design, interactive narrative, and physical and gestural interfaces for digital media. She has produced and managed a number of interactive projects including "I'm Gonna Kill the President! A Federal Offense" at PS122, and "The Angel Project" at Lincoln Center. While at USC, she teamed up with fellow student Jenova Chen to develop the student-created game, "Cloud." The critically acclaimed game led them to found their own studio, thatgamecompany, which landed a three game deal with Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. to develop downloadable games for Playstation Network. thatgamecompany's mission is to create games that push the possibilities of what games can communicate.
Game Concepts - Brandon Boyer - GDC 2011
GDC 2011 - March 2, 2011
Microtalk about new contexts for play and games.
Brandon Boyer's wild, pure, simple life has seen him acting as artist, programmer, and indie record label head, as well as writer, columnist and editor for outlets like Edge magazine, Gamasutra, Offworld and Boing Boing. He was recently named Chairman of the Independent Games Festival, the world's largest and most influential yearly showcase of indie games, where he is leading the organization into its thirteenth year.
Microtalk about new contexts for play and games.
Brandon Boyer's wild, pure, simple life has seen him acting as artist, programmer, and indie record label head, as well as writer, columnist and editor for outlets like Edge magazine, Gamasutra, Offworld and Boing Boing. He was recently named Chairman of the Independent Games Festival, the world's largest and most influential yearly showcase of indie games, where he is leading the organization into its thirteenth year.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Small Man Game Rand - Brandon Boyer - GDC 2010
GDC 2010
Brandon Boyer's wild, pure, simple life has seen him acting as artist, programmer, and indie record label head, as well as writer, columnist and editor for outlets like Edge magazine, Gamasutra, Offworld and Boing Boing. He was recently named Chairman of the Independent Games Festival, the world's largest and most influential yearly showcase of indie games, where he is leading the organization into its thirteenth year.
Brandon Boyer's wild, pure, simple life has seen him acting as artist, programmer, and indie record label head, as well as writer, columnist and editor for outlets like Edge magazine, Gamasutra, Offworld and Boing Boing. He was recently named Chairman of the Independent Games Festival, the world's largest and most influential yearly showcase of indie games, where he is leading the organization into its thirteenth year.
You're Stealing it Wrong: 30 Years of Inter-Pirate Battles
Jason Scott is a computer historian and plot-writer for computer games, employed by THQ/Volition, whose credits include the 1999 FreeSpace 2.
Historian Jason Scott walks through the many-years story of software piracy and touches on the tired debates before going into a completely different direction - the interesting, informative, hilarious and occasionally obscene world of inter-pirate-group battles. A multi-media extravaganza of threats, CSI-level accusations and evidence trails, decades of insider lingo, and demonstrations of how the more things change, the more they still have to keep their ratios up.
Historian Jason Scott walks through the many-years story of software piracy and touches on the tired debates before going into a completely different direction - the interesting, informative, hilarious and occasionally obscene world of inter-pirate-group battles. A multi-media extravaganza of threats, CSI-level accusations and evidence trails, decades of insider lingo, and demonstrations of how the more things change, the more they still have to keep their ratios up.
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