Brunel Talk 2008

Yay -- what is a year between giving a presentation and letting anyone have access to it? Anyway, this is the Brunel Conference Keynote I gave from September 2008. It lacks the video and still clocks in at a 4.5 Mb Pdf, but it does cover some of the ground I am now working on related to videogames as essentially excessive. I was reminded of this when Ian Bogost gave an excellent keynote at DiGRA 2009 about videogames as 'a mess'. I am not sure how much sense it makes as slides alone. Stumbled across as I tried to finish up a presentation I am due to give next Saturday in Dublin. Busy busy busy.

[Oh, and I forgot to mention that this was an attempt at an analysis of where Spore fits in relation to Game Studies -- I am always intrigued about the process of allowing oneself to held to ransom by a quick response to games shortly after release, but so far this seems to have held up well enough.)

Nasty Bugs

I wonder if there is any relationship between the fact that the corridors are now full of returning students and I feel utterly ill? Laptop out and feverish I stumble across a developer page (!?) at a site have never heard of Softpedia.com that has a stack of my little games on it. Strange -- there is even one there that I have never taken out of WIP because it doesn't really work (a garbage sorting game titled Junk). I am well aware of the complete and total lack of control you have when you put things online, and that I have never bothered putting a licence or anything more than a vague copyright sign on my games, but it still feels odd to see things travel without being told. I guess that is what Freeware is.

Meanwhile I have been tinkering with the layout and vocabulary of Pinball Panda. hence the screenshot:



And now to bed with a fever.

Panda Postscript

So I have two more working days before I can switch on my out of office autoreply. And on Friday I taught for the last time for a while, as I have been asked to shift role away from front line teaching at least for a time. I probably won't have responsibility for a whole course again until next September/October, and that makes me a little nervous -- I like teaching, and I like students. On Friday, for example, I took a group of students from never having made a functional bit of interactive software before to having built a basic SHMUP. In about three and a half hours. What's not to like about that job?

Shooters have been a little on my mind lately. I am not a big fan (my reflexes are appropriate for my age, as I might politely say to my own parents), but I have seen Pinball Panda confront three in a row in the GMC Cage Match (a Game Maker Community bit of nonsense where members vote on two games in an online poll, with the winner going on to face a new opponent the next week) and I have a feeling that the poor little thing will lose this time (to I Have the Gun, having survived voting against Ever Scrolling Hue and Shoot 2008). A shame, but it has done well for such a casual game, whose core audience is unlikely to be the same demographic as that of the GMC.

Some random numbers: Plays (from all places) 322+8+27=357. Not bad, I feel, although minute by internet standards. Ratings: 2.7/5 (YoYo :(), 8.2/10 (64 Digits :)). Entries in Online Highscore Table: 42. Entries in Online Highscore deleted because of offensive tags: 2. Times Table Hacked: 1.

Ho ho ho, and happy holidays.

Online Pinball Panda

Pinball Panda continues to be well received, which is nice, and is currently wrestling with Erik Leppen's lovely Shoot 2008 in a Cage Match on the GMC, for those who know about such things. It does suddenly occur to me that it isn't flagged anywhere that the version sitting in the Box.net widget to the right somewhere is offline only, if you want to play the version with online highscores you will need to go to YoYo or 64Digits.

[Edit] I have just uploaded the version with online highscores to the box.net widget. That'll be the zip file rather than an exe. Remember to unzip into one folder and keep the game file in that folder as it uses a DLL to access the magic of the internet.

Panda Reviewed

I can't remember now if I was academically interested in User Generated Content before or after I started toying with Game Maker, but I have always seen it as an amateur pursuit that gives me access (and hopefully insight) into something I see as being more and more significant to commercial games. I have played around with Unreal, toyed with machinima, modded NeverWinter Nights (remade as Lilliput just by scaling -- much fun), and recently messed around inside Spore and now Little Big Planet, but I suppose my little experiments with Game Maker have been the closest thing to really making games. At some point I must write the article that all this is supposed to be informing, of course.

But sometimes it is just nice being inside the community. I missed it when it first came out, but there is a lovely little review of Pinball Panda in a community online magazine called GM Weekly (site here, issue with review here. I really like the concluding line: "a perfect casual game". Therefore am I happy. :)

Revised DiGRA 2009 CFP

Revised Call for Papers

DiGRA 2009

PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DATES FOR SUBMISSION AND DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION FOR GUARANTEED ON-CAMPUS ACCOMODATION

Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory
Brunel University, West London, United Kingdom, Tuesday 1st September -- Friday 4th September 2009

DiGRA is an organisation that embraces all aspects of game studies, and the conference aims to provide a diverse platform for discussion and a lively forum for debate. We therefore welcome papers from any discipline focused on any aspect of games, play, game culture and industry. The conference will be the fourth DiGRA conference, following Utrecht, Vancouver and Tokyo, and welcomes contributions from scholars working in any area of interest to the association. The official business of the Subject Association will also be conducted at the conference.

The Conference invites the following proposals for consideration:

Individual or Collaborative Papers
Panels
Workshops
Posters

Initial selection will be through the peer review of both full papers and abstracts of 500-700 words in all categories. Selection of presentations will be proportionate to the submissions received, and no distinction will be made between papers selected from abstract or full paper review. Panel and Workshop proposals should include abstracts for the contributions of all participants.

Individual or collaborative papers – addressing topics relevant to the wide remit of DiGRA (including therefore industry, education, political, social, theoretical concerns appropriate to the association). Presentations should be limited to 15-20 mins.

Panel proposals – 3 – 4 papers which address a common theme, a common research method, a shared conceptual issue etc.

Workshops – proposals are invited for 2 – 3 hour workshops that address a range of themes relevant to the aims of the association. Workshops that are particularly targeted at a wide audience are most welcome.

Poster sessions – presentations of work in progress in the format are most welcome and will be showcased throughout the event.

The conference committee are also interested in including featured symposia/colloquia to address particular ‘late-breaking’ research projects or issue-based topics (an example might be a colloquia based around Wii research or a symposium based around Women in Games. Please contact a member of the conference organising committee with any expressions of interest.

Graduate student participation

In order to support graduate students and early career researchers the conference will focus on graduate student issues on its opening day, 1st September 2009. The conference organizers seek appropriate mentors to work with those addressing common themes/topics/issues in graduate roundtables.


Strands

Please also indicate your preference for consideration in one of the following broad strands:

Games Culture
Games and Commerce
Games Aesthetics
Games Education
Games Design
Games and Theory

Key Dates

Deadline for all submissions for presentation at the conference (includes full papers, abstracts and workshop/panel/symposia proposals): Friday 6 March 5pm GMT

Deadline for full papers for inclusion in digital proceedings: Friday 26 June 2009 5pm GMT

Notification of acceptance: June 1 2009

Deadline for booking on-campus accommodation June 30 2009

Conference Dates: 1-4th September 2009

Abstracts should be of 500-700 words and include an indicative bibliography. Full paper submissions may be of up to 6,000 words, not including bibliography. Full details of the submissions procedure, including the method of electronic submission, will be published here and on other forums as soon as possible.

All contributions must be original, unpublished work. The conference language is English, and papers, abstracts and other proposals should be written in English.

Delegates are also advised that individuals will be limited to one paper presentation and one other form of presentation to allow space and time for the largest number of participants.


About the Conference Location

Brunel University is located conveniently near Heathrow Airport and is on the London Tube system. A range of affordable accommodation is available on campus, including 1500 en suite rooms all on one campus, 400 standard bedrooms, 8 holiday flats (5-7 persons per flat), 51 specially adapted rooms for people with disabilities, plus hotel standard rooms in the Lancaster Suite. The Brunel Conference Centre boasts 22 theatres, 29 classrooms and 5 seminar rooms all presented to the highest standard. The following are also available: Free car parking (on application); Full office support for photocopying, faxing, internet and word processing (on application); Comprehensive range of audio visual and media services; Mini market; Pharmacy; Banking facilities; Reference library; Sports Facilities; Fitness Suite; Medical centre; 24 hour security; Self service cafeteria; Licensed bars and cafes. There are also a range of restaurants, cinemas and shopping in Uxbridge town.

Local attractions

Historic Windsor & Eton -Windsor Castle, Legoland and shopping are just 20 minutes drive away London - Central London and West End are easily accessed by bus or Underground. Historic Oxford is a 40 minute bus ride away.

The Conference Organisers

The conference is being hosted by a consortium consisting of Brunel University, University of the West of England and the University of Wales, Newport.

Tanya Krzywinska, Professor of Screen Media, Brunel University
Helen Kennedy, University of the West of England
Barry Atkins, University of Wales Reader in Computer Games Design

Available Now

So, for anyone who might be interested Pinball Panda now sits in the Box.net widget on the right.

Spent a time today after work playing Left 4 Dead, which was unexpected fun. The premise doesn't grab me half as much as the actual experience. No idea what it would be like long term, and after it comes out of demo, but this was a surprisingly satisfying experience. If I could only now cure my phobi of going online with real people I might even buy the full thing.

And I heart LBP. Even though I like shooting zombies, LBP is the FUTURE I tell you.