Ludology.org

Stuck in London

It was bound to happen. I missed my flight. It's the first time it happens to me, which now that I think is quite surprising. I did miss a ferry, but never a flight before. Flying today was obscenely expensive, so I am heading back home tomorrow morning. I guess London is not the worst city in the world to get stuck in, but I have so much work to do and I really, really want to go back home.

Libé et les jeux vidéo politiques

French newspaper Libération has published an article (in French) about political videogames, particularly those on the current US campaign. They quote Chris Crawford, Ian and yours truly and they even mention our upcoming show here in London. One minor but important correction: I did NOT work on any game, in any way, for the Republicans. I haven't done it and I'd never do it. By the way, fellow French readers, I'd never do a game for Chirac neither (well, maybe if it is for defeating Le Pen as in the previous ballotage. It's amazing how things can only get worse in politics).
The Republican Game was done by Ian, who has his reasons for working with the dark side and I respect that, but the information in the article is incorrect. But apart from that, tout va tres bien Madame la marquise!

The Center @ BBC's The World

A nice article describing life at our very own Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University in Copenhagen. The story quotes several of us and offers a good overyview of what we do down here in Denmark (the picture shows Espen, Miguel and Simon)
rWell folks, I am about to get into yet another plane, now on my way to London to meet Ian for the Videogames with an Agenda exhibit. It'll be fun, but I am getting really tired of travelling, even for short weekend trips as this one. But things are fine and I am really happy with the reception that the Cambiemos game has received so far in Uruguay. The folks at Powerful Robot did a fantastic job and pulled the game together in a record time. It's the first game ever that we did for the local market and while it is always great to see how well our other games did abroad, I guess there is nothing like a work of love for home.

Castronova @ The Ivory Tower

A new month, a new Ivory Tower. Now's the turn to Castronova to climb up and down from our shinny little tower. His offering: a deathmatch between Tolkien and Shakespeare. Read it here.

Women & Game Design

The NYTimes (Free reg. req) publishes an article about women in the game industry. It talks about the recent Women's Game Conference held in Austin, Texas. Here's a quote that may interest fellow researchers: "With a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Sweedyk is developing a course designed to encourage women to build computer games for women. The course, which Dr. Sweedyk believes is the first of its kind of the United States, will be offered beginning next semester."

New Campaign Videogame (now for the Uruguayan election)

I am pleased to announce that Powerful Robot Games just launched “Cambiemos” (Let’s Change), an official videogame for the Frente Amplio – Encuentro Progresista, the left-wing coalition running for the Presidency of Uruguay in the upcoming October 31st elections.
rThe game was designed by Gonzalo Frasca, produced and art directed by Sofia Battegazzore and built by Powerful Robot Games. To the best of our knowledge, Uruguay is now the second country in the world with official presidential campaign videogames. Not that anybody is creating a ranking, but I think that it is important to see more countries using this communicational strategy, especially developing countries such as Uruguay.
rA bit of background for non-Spanish speaking players. Uruguay is going through the worst economical crisis of its history. This small country’s economy was shattered to pieces after the Argentinean economy crumbled. This is why I opted for a collaborative puzzle design, in order to stress the fact that Uruguayans should work together to build a new country. The game also follows visually the rest of the campaign, which contrasts black and white images with colorful ones. Last, but not least, it’s the first political design that I ever worked that is not a fast-paced arcade, but rather one with a more casual, relaxed gameplay.
rFinally, I want to add that I personally support the political party that commissioned “Cambiemos”. They are likely to win this election and it would be their first chance to win the presidency, after decades of corrupt governments. The hopes are high but the tasks ahead are daunting. Time will tell how things go, but a party that favors videogames certainly ranks among the cool ones!

Games with an Agenda in London

Launching this Saturday October 16, at Curzon Soho, London. The exhibit is called "Games with an Agenda" and features works from Martin LeChevallier, Molleindustria, Newsgaming, T. Michael Keesey and both Ian and myself, who are also curating it. The exhibit is connected to the UK theatrical launch of The Corporation, a documentary on corporate practices, featuring Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky and other very dangerous people. If you want to learn more about the movie, click here. If you want to learn more about the exhibit, you can click here..
rYou can also download the poster!

Nordic Game Potential

November 26 & 27, in Malmo Sweden. The website does not specify if the language will be English, though. Pre-registration is open and registration should be open soon. Two full days of Nordic game conferencing!

Molleindustria on Indymedia

In an amazing example of fast coding, right on target game development,Molleindustria has launched Enduring Indymedia, a new game about the recent news on European police taking control over Indymedia's servers. Fun, well done, as it is now traditional with the good folks at Molleindustria.

5th Symposium on Art and Multimedia Metanarrative(s)?

5 travel scholarships for paper authors and other 5 for artists writing/creating works about issues of narrative (or not) in digital media. The place: Barcelona. The time: January 28 and 29th, 2005. The deadline: November 1st, 2004. The requirement: you have to be an enrolled Master or PhD student. The fact that Barcelone is up there on the top of the coolest places on Earth may encourage many to apply. Escape from the winter (if you are in the Northern Hemisphere, of course) and submit something! You can learn more here