Ludology.org

The Academic Sims

The Sims go to college. A new, Sims 2 University expansion pack will be launched. Check out the screenshots. I wonder if they'll take my upcoming game design course here at ITU.

Jobs: Game/New Media scholar for Singapore

(via fibreculture) Information and Communications Mgt Programme at the National University of Singapore (www.fas.nus.edu.sg/icm) is looking for a Visiting Senior Fellow / Visiting Associate Professor in New Media Theory / Interactive Media on a 3-year contract. The position is also open to those who are looking for a sabbatical location (up to 1 year). A PhD in a relevant field is required. Responsibilities would include curriculum development and teaching in the area of interactive media studies, gaming and cyberculture, as well as supervision of graduate students and development of existing research links with other relevant faculties (engineering, architecture and computing). (more...)

Critical Simulation, by Will Wright

Excerpt from Design Research, edited by Brenda Laurel.
rBrenda Laurel: Do you see yourself as putting values into your games?
rWill Wright: I'm actually much more interested in building a vessel that players put their own values in. With Sim City, a lot of people on the message boards would attack our liberal bias on the transportation level, and I thought that was great, not because they didn't like the way our assumptions worked, but because they had to be very clear about what their assumptions were. And Sim City became a point of reference, a landmark, that they could then discuss: "Oh I think this city is too liberal in the way taxes are done." Or "I don't think so, I think it's realistic compared to where I live." Someone who's at odds with you [sic] model has to crystallize what their own assumptions are. The in becomes a form where people can come together and talk about what the issues are and how they feel about them, how they related to where they live and how their lives are experienced. Players can use the game as a tool for communicating with other people.

Japan Galore!

And you were looking for a good excuse to attend to the Tokyo Game Show 2005! Well, look no more. And actually, this is not really an excuse, but a full reason on its own! Because the ICEC 2005 Conference is taking place in Sanda, Japan, on September 19-21. The fist ICEC conference (called IWEC) took place outside Tokyo a few years ago and was a fantastic experience.
rSanda is close to Kobe (go to Kobe and visit the Earthquake museum, trust me) and Osaka, and really close to Kyoto, one of the most beautiful cities in Japan.
rAs I said, the conference is well scheduled, since the Tokyo Game Show takes place this year from the 16th (press only) to the 18th of September (no web page up yet, even though these dates are official).
rNow, the important part. Here's the ICEC 2005 call for papers. Deadline for full papers is March 25th (same date for demos and posters).
rSee you in Japan!

Real World Doesn't Use a Joystick

Remember when you played Tetris and afterwards your mind went on autopilot for hours, playing the game even though the machine was off? Well, it's happening to Katamari Damacy players (at least that's what Wired is reporting). You know it's a great article when they quote Robin! Btw, the CTRL+Z thing that they mention at the very end of the article, I used to get that all the time... I need a vacation from my machines.

ITU wants you!

I thought I posted about this before, but now I can't find the post. Weird. Anyway, the IT University of Copenhagen has 10 open PhD scholarships and the deadline is March 1st 2005 at noon (you gotta love the 'noon' requirement. 14:37 would be much more poetic, though). Those 10 open positions are going to be shared among all departments. This means that if you want to do your PhD in computer games and/or digital arts and communication, you definitively should consider applying. Sure, the climate sucks and so does the food, but we offer an amazing team of people, excellent pay for being a PhD and a funky new building (these of course are not official claims, but a sincere ludological service for all of you, oh faithful readers). Here's the data that you want.

In memoriam: Hugo Frasca

My uncle Hugo died this morning in Uruguay. He had been sick for many years now, so his death was not unexpected but nonetheless it is an enormous loss. As I grew up, uncle Hugo was the only within my close family who mastered the English language and that proved to be quite important with my relationship with games. He shared my early passion for videogames and spent hours playing with me on the ZX Spectrum, translating most of the texts on the screen for me. Actually, he did not play much himself, but stayed by my side, watching me playing, coaching or making strategical suggestions. Now that I think about it, I probably had my first talks on videogame theory with him, since we shared an enormous curiosity on what could be done with computers and entertainment. He used to be an actor and he lived many years in Buenos Aires, where he worked for Editorial Atlántida, a big publishing company. This meant that I got plenty of books from him, and I am so grateful for them. Also like my dad, he was a film buff (it runs in the family) and we watched plenty of old films together.
rI learnt an awful lot from him. Strangely, I just did a google search on his name and didn't get any results. No big deal, no need of page hits to remember him. He may be gone now, but he won't be forgotten.

One thousand pieces

Here's an article describing the findings of researchers at the University of Bath, dealing with strategies for collaborative solving of jigsaw puzzles. Interesting.

BBC on Casual Gaming

The BBC reports on "casual gaming" taking off.

Playing the Past: Deadline Extended

The deadline for the Playing the Past Conference has been extended until January 31st. The conference will be held in Gainesville, Florida, on March 18-19 and features Mary Flanagan and Ian Bogost as keynoters.