Playground Play & Games

Short Radio 4 series presented by Michael Rosen about play and games in the school playground. Yesterday's episode revisited the work of Opie that we briefly discussed in the seminar a few weeks ago. Well worth a listen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/peopleintheplayground/pip/oh7p6/

All the Internet's a Game

GameLayers wants to turn Web browsing into a massive game.

Read the article at MIT Technology Review.

Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition

See the link on the title: Guinness World Records now covers game-related records, too. Among others there is a record of 'First Ever Gaming Clan', 'Most Succesful Film Based on a Video Game' and 'The best Civilization player'.

forthcoming events

The Performance and Screen Media Research Group at University of Wales, Newport's seminar series (including one in conjunction with the Play Research Group). Let me know if you are interested in going to any of these - and we'll let you all know if we can offer a lift:

19th March 2008 1700-1900
Room H8 Rathmell
Internal Research Seminar – A response to Geoffrey Batchen “Electricity Made Visible”
Re-animating the Dead - Helen Sear
Bringing the Body back into Play - Emma Westecott
Chair: David Surman

2nd April 2008 1900-2100
Bush House, Top Floor of Arnolfini Building, Bristol
External Speaker in collaboration with UWE
Larissa Hjorth, Lecturer Digital Art, Games Program at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
[Title TBC, but relating to her work with Technology Culture in South East Asia]

16th April 2008 1700-1900
Room H8 Rathmell
External SpeakerDr Diane Carr, Institute of Education, London
[Title TBC, but related to her work with Machinima]

30th April 20081700-1800
Room H8 Rathmell
Reading Group: Widescreen Aesthetics and Mise en Scene Criticism Velvet Light Trap No 21 Summer 1985 David Bordwell [available for download on http://idisk.mac.com/shenerd-Public?view=web]

A Teaser (and an ad)

Referring to our excellent presentations on the borders of play today, here is a sentence from the prologue of our forthcoming book, Extending Experiences: "Chapters in Part 2, Bordering Play, address the forms of computer game play which somehow, either practically or conceptually break out from the ”magic circle”". Sounds familiar? The layout of the book was just finished and the book was sent to the publisher earlier this week. I will tell you when it is out...

Haptics - More than Just a Vibrating Controller

R.I.P. Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, also known as the father of Dungeons & Dragons games, and therefore the 'grandfather' of MMORPGs and alike, has died at the age of 69. Wired news writes: "Gygax went well beyond the role of game developer and became an icon to gamers, appearing as himself in episodes of Futurama and Code Monkeys and participating in discussions on roleplaying-related message boards".

It is heartbreaking to follow the player commentary on his death here. And how many there are mourning online within this community! Like someone writes on the forum: "All and every gamers in the world are mourning this week". I am also sure Gary would be happy about the kind humour that is been shared on a sad moment.

meet pivotal games

Meet Pivotal Games 1 April 6-8pm Pervasive Media Studio

A Creative Technology Network event: Bath based Pivotal Games are looking to recruit talented individuals for a range of positions - from concept artists to programmers.

At this evening event, Art Manager David Cullinane, will introduce Pivotal, present demos of their games, and give attendees the chance to hear more about the opportunities available.
To book a place, please go to:
http://www.creativetechnologynetwork.co.uk/item/142/93/245/3

Sharkrunners

"Sharkrunners, designed for Discovery Channel's 20th Anniversary Shark Week, is a persistent game of oceanic exploration and high stakes shark research. Players take on the role of marine biologists who seek to learn as much as possible about sharks through advanced observation techniques.

In the game, players control their ships, but the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units attached to their fins. Real-world telemetry data provides the position and movement of actual great white sharks in the game, so every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in the real world.

Ships in the game move in real-time, so players receive email and/or SMS alerts during the day when their boat is within range of an encounter. Players login, choose crewmembers and an approach technique, and then collect various data from the nearby sharks.

Play now!"

(http://www.playareacode.com/work/sharkrunners/)