After missing a number of European events (sadly the Breaking the Magic Circle seminar in Tampere and the Philosophy of Games conference in Potsdam, oh well) I made it to lovely Edinburgh, for an interesting though small two days conference on “Play” - from psychology to literature to videogames, hosted by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh.
It was astonishing to see the productivity of a multi-disciplinary approach (and not just because that is “my” approach as well).
The panel to which I participated, with the presentation “Playful Culture and Glamorization of Everyday (Virtual) Life: Elements of Play in Facebook Applications” (you can download it here) went on smoothly from a presentation on adult play in psychology, to play in Situationism and artistic modding. While not everybody knew about ludus and paidia, still I wonder if such a general (and productive) discourse would have been possible in a very strict “game studies” ambiance.
I wonder also if such an approach to play can be reproduced in media studies.
Here is the full programme.

Deadline for paper proposals at Mindtrek approaching, May 31 (post-script: deadline extended to the 8th of June)

What is Mindtrek?

“MindTrek is a three day conference to explore current and emerging topics of social media, ubimedia and games. MindTrek includes a workshop day, three main tracks, plenary sessions and invited presentations. MindTrek is a leading Northern new media festival and conference series, arranged already for more than a decade, since 1997. “

CONFERENCE THEMES:

3. Games
- theoretical and analytical contributions to the study of games and play
- novel approaches to the design research of games
- discussions of gaming technologies from user- or player-centred perspectives
- studies of social play and role-play
- analyses of online, mobile, casual and cross-media gaming
- research into user-created game content
- studies of pervasive games.

Technorati Tags: Call for papers, conference

From Lance Weiler’s blog:

We launched a new cross-media project last week. “Humans vs. Vampires” is an alternate reality game that runs in conjunction with Hammer Film’s first film in 30 years. BEYOND THE RAVE is a web series that will run for the next 10 weeks. Within the episodes we’ve hidden clues and subliminal frames. Hammer and Myspace brought us in to extend the world that surrounded BTR and to create an engaging social gaming experience.Working with myspace’s new API we’ve created a game app that allows players to travel throughout myspace on a hunt for trophies and weapons. For more info visit http://myspace.com/btrgame

The web series started in April but you can see the previous episodes here

Hello, I haven’t been run over by a car in case you wondered about this long absence (nor haven’t I gotten engaged with George Clooney, who, as everybody knows, spends half of the time of the lake of Como, only 300 kilometers from where I live, what are the odds). It is deadline season again, I apologize, it will soon be over.
One of the reasons why I haven’t really advertised about this blog was because I knew the hardest times where yet to come (and indeed they have come), and I wanted to get the conditions for regular blogging before announcing official commitment. Anyway, posts coming back in two weeks, I promise. I have proof I have at least four readers, I won’t mention their names not to embarrass them I am really thankful for your interest, and I am writing this for you guys!
check out this one

Technorati Tags: personal