Jonas Heide Smiths notesblog

The ITU has just posted a number of PhD scholarships.
You may be most interested in project proposals within the Innovative Communication area; for instance Uses of online media genres in political communication.
Send forth the applications.

I’ve just published a brief essay on Game Research entitled No Medium is an Island: An essay on the Video Game and its cultural neighborhood. It makes comparisons between the cultural history of video games and that of film. The comment field at the bottom of the page is open :-)

On 5 September (15:00 – 17:00) I’ll be speaking at the ITU as part of the Game Center’s Game Lecture Series.
Title: A practical guide to winning and losing: How players deal with shame, glory, and each other
Abstract: A computer will handle the rules of a game in a fair-minded algorithmic fashion. Players, however, will [...]

Can you make them cry without tearing your hair out?
- Emotional Characters
Associate Professor Katherine Isbister, Rensselaer Politechnic Institute
Time and Place:
Thursday June 7th, 16:15-17:30. Auditorium 3, ITU.

Players’ Realm: Studies on the Culture of Videogames and Gaming which I’ve edited along with Patrick Williams has now been published. There’s info on the book’s own page and it is available at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and at other self-respecting book dealers.
I have a chapter in the book entitled Who Governs the Gamers? Political Power in [...]