G&S lecture Tue 6.2.07 Eric Zimmerman

In next Games and Storytelling lecture 6th Feb at 5:15-7 pm. we'll have Eric Zimmerman talking about“Gaming Literacy: Game Design as Model for Literacy in the 21st Century”

Venue: University of Art and Design Helsinki, Media Centre Lume, Sampo auditorium, Hämeentie 135 C. Videoconference venue in Tampere: University of Tampere, lecture hall 1096, PinniB, Kanslerinrinne 1.

In his lecture Eric Zimmerman will talk about how game design can be seen as a model for an emerging set of literacies that are centered on systems, play, and design.

Eric Zimmerman has been working in the game industry for more than twelve years. He is the co-founder and CEO of Gamelab, a game development company based in New York City that focuses on experimental and innovative games. Gamelab creates and self-publishes award-winning singleplayer and multiplayer games that are distributed online, on mobile phones, and through retail, including the hit downloadable game Diner Dash. Pre-Gamelab titles include SiSSYFiGHT 2000 and the PC title Gearheads. Eric has taught courses at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and Parsons School of Design. He has lectured and published extensively about game design and game culture and is the co-author with Katie Salen of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (MIT Press, 2004) and The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology (MIT Press, 2006), as well as the co-editor with Amy Scholder of RE:PLAY: Game Design and Game Culture (Peter Lang Press, 2004).

The lecture is in English.

Free admittance.

Welcome!

More information:

Web pages: http://www.gamesandstorytelling.net/

Association to represent Finnish Game Developer Companies

NEOGAMES ANNOUNCES: It´s time to establish Association to represent Finnish Game Developer Companies. Meeting in RTI auditorium in Pasila Radiokatu 5 D monday 5.2 at 15.00.

Idea about association representing Finnish Game Developer Companies has been discussed several years. Because of the recent years economical growth of Finnish Game Industry and the rise of creative industries generally it seems that now is an appropriate time to actually do something to this matter. Join us in founding meeting of Finnish Game Developers Association (working title). The founding meeting is held 5.2 .at 15.00 in Pasila Radiokatu 5D.

More information on the spot. and also from Neogames website: http://www.neogames.fi/tiedotteet.htm (in Finnish) Meeting is hosted by Neogames

Nour Khrais' lecture in G&S on Tue 16.1 at 17:15

Nour Khrais' lecture in Games and Storytelling on Tue 16 Jan at 17:15 "Mobile game "glocalization"" on the basis of the experiences of Nour Khrais' game company experiences on the Middle East and European market:

http://www.gamesandstorytelling.net/Khrais-lecture-2007.html

Venue: University of Art and Design Helsinki, Media Centre Lume, Sampo auditorium. Videoconference venue in Tampere: University of Tampere, lecture hall 1096, PinniB, Kanslerinrinne 1.

Nour Khrais is founder and general manager of Maysalward R&D (MRD) Mr Khrais has over 6 years of experience in Mobile Value Added Services in International business environment both from the VAS platform infrastructures and Service provider Side. Prior to forming Maysalward R&D and in early 1999 Mr Khrais Joined ACOTEL/Info2cell Content Business Development Team where shortly he was nominated to be head of the Team operating between Dubai and Jordan offices covering the Middle East and North Africa Market and focusing in developing value added services for the operators in the region. In 2001 Khrais decided to explore a new experience and Joined SWAPCOM France a leader in Mobile Infrastructure VAS platforms where KHRAIS was responsible for the Middle East Market launching successfully for Al JAZEERA TV NETWORK their Mobile Platform AL JAZEERA MOBILE. Nov 2003 a dream comes true and Maysalward R&D was founded under the vision of Mr Khairs who decided to launch a Mobile Content Hub to the first Mobile Game Developer in the Middle East Region offering unique and localized content targeting the Middle East Europe and Latin American Markets. Nour Khairs is based between operational offices in Strasbourg, Dubai and Jordan and he holds a Master of Business Administration and Bsc of Agriculture Engineering. His passion for Games and entertainment enforced with strong business vision and management in mobile value added services guarantee the success and uniqueness of product and services production.

Free admittance.

Welcome!

The lecture is in English. Further information: Juhani Tenhunen juhani.tenhunen at lume.fi

http://www.gamesandstorytelling.net

G&S lecture Wed 13.12. Beth Kolko: "Playing Off the Beaten Path"

Please notice that we have the next Games and Storytelling lectureexceptionally on Wednesday, December 13th at 5:15-7 pm.

Professor Beth Kolko's lecture is titled 'Playing Off the Beaten Path'.

Venue: Tampere: University of Tampere, lecture hall 1096, PinniB, Kanslerinrinne 1. Videoconference venue in University of Art and Design Helsinki, Media Centre Lume, Sampo auditorium.

As games and gaming systems become increasingly sophisticated, they also grow increasingly pervasive, both in terms of geography and the terrain of everyday life. In many less developed regions that are resource and infrastructure constrained, games have a remarkable presence. In the public access spaces that dominate Internet and computer access in such regions, children fill Internet cafes playing bootlegged games in foreign languages, teenagers cobble together city-wide LANs to play MMOs, and self-taught programmers try their hand at creating local game content. This talk discusses what gaming looks like in places like Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Cambodia, and elsewhere. Based on several years of fieldwork about general patterns of technology usage in developing regions, this talk focuses on patterns of gaming, the general ecology of information and communication and information technology, and how individuals interested in games leverage scarce local resources to build local gaming communities.

Beth Kolko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Technical Communication at the University of Washington where she leads the Design for Digital Inclusion group and Digital Games Research group.

She has been studying the intersection of technology and communication since 1990, beginning with work on text-based virtual communities and moving to include visual representations of users in online environments and issues related to community fragmentation online. That work was tied to her long-term interests in how identity and diversity impact people?s use of technology.

Her current research explores how design and culture play a role in people?s adoption and adaptation of technologies. She travels with some regularity, studying diverse populations and how they adopt and adapt information and communications technologies (ICTs). In recent years she has conducted field studies in Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Hong Kong, and she has also done short visits to Greece, India, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, and throughout Europe. Her games work is situated under the broader umbrella of her Design for Digital Inclusion project, which applies theory-based analyses of culture and technology in order to examine how technology is used in diverse settings. The goal of this project is to demonstrate how technologists, social scientists, and humanities scholars can collaborate to think more broadly about how to create devices, software, and services to better meet the needs of users. She is the co-editor of Race in Cyberspace, editor of Virtual Publics, and the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters.

Free admittance.

Welcome!

More information:

Web pages: http://www.gamesandstorytelling.net/

Application is open for Games and Storytelling workshops

Application is open for the Games and Storytelling workshops.The workshops will be given in Helsinki and Tampere 5-9 Feb 2007 and 23-27 Apr 2007. Please apply latest 4 December 2007 via e-mail: registration@gamesandstorytelling.net

You can apply for the workshops with either a game or interactive storytelling concept, or with a research plan, and a CV. Rather than sending in large files as attachments, you should preferably provide URL links in your email applications.

(Please note: your game or interactive storytelling concept, or research plan, will not necessarily be used in the workshop, but is rather used to provide further information about your previous experience; it is used both for evaluation and as your background information for the workshop leader.)

Selection will be based on previous studies, career and diversity in the workshops. Selections will be conducted by the Games and Storytelling steering group. Central criteria of selection is applicant's capability to bring forward a believable new perspective to games and new media in the concept.

Application deadline for the workshops (Eric Zimmerman, 5 - 9 Feb 2007 and Larry Friedlander, 23 - 27 Apr 2007) is December 4, 2006. Applicants will receive an acceptance decision by 15 Dec 2006.

More information: http://www.gamesandstorytelling.net registration@gamesandstorytelling.net