Jonas Heide Smiths notesblog» ITU

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Jonas Heide Smith — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:47:20 +0000

… min sporadiske og let sprogforvirrede weblog. Jeg har en ph.d. i spil fra IT-Universitetet i København, er til stadighed på sporet af de nye medier og bliver underligt træt når folk bruger “skal” som infinitiv.

Det er blevet til 365 indlæg siden 2004. På det seneste er jeg dog gået lidt mikro ovre på Facebook.

jonas@autofire.dk

Lignende indlæg:

Facebook: Vi er blevet hypersociale

Facebook is upon us (11/12/2007)

As we may watch (28/09/2006)

PhD scholarship in level design available (20/10/2005)

Rudersdal.dk: Megadebatsiden (01/04/2009)

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Understanding Video Games now in stores

Jonas Heide Smith — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:31:27 +0000

The video games text-book which I have co-written with Susana Tosca and Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen has now left the printers and reached the virtual shelves of Amazon.com.
The book is so interesting that it actually has a (somewhat rudimentary) Companion Website featuring the book’s brief introduction chapter.

If you’re in Denmark, here’s a list of fine web book stores that will be happy to ship the book to you.

If you’re in the UK, you can get it directly from Routledge.

It’s 16.99 UK Pounds / 29.95 USD, took some time to write, and we do hope you buy it :-)

Lignende indlæg:

Our video game text book gets an extra life

The package has been delivered… I repeat… (28/02/2005)

Videogame doctors (04/03/2005)

Players’ Realm anthology launched (05/04/2007)

Dr. Egenfeldt I presume? (27/05/2005)

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Playful politics

Jonas Heide Smith — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:50:47 +0000

A parliamentary election is almost upon is here in modest-sized Denmark. The current right-of-center government, supported by the nationalist Danish People’s Party, is being challenged by a left-of-center axis. With Christian Democrats unlikely to reach the (non-taxing) cut-off of 2% and our most left-wing party balancing on that same edge. Also, Helle Thorning-Schmidt – leader of the Social Democrats – could theoretically be the country’s first female prime minister.

Anyway, much has been said (not least in my course on Digital Rhetorics) about the esteemed candidates’ use of online media (for instance by knowledgeable colleague Lisbeth Klastrup). So let us instead focus on that less-dominant genre the political game.

We know how Howard Dean laid the foundations, and how former colleague Gonzalo Frasca helped the president of Uruguay (if we don’t know, we may want to read Ian Bogost’s recent book Persuasive Games).
In present day Denmark, however, political video games do not exactly overwhelm the politically curious citizen. But I have found a couple of specimens:

Overbudsbold: Made by a team of ITU students for DR. The player chooses a leader of a political party and an opponent to engage in a type of tennis in which the “ball” is a money bag growing bigger each time it is pushed over the net. The game comments on the tendency for candidates to attempt to top one another in promises. The idea, I believe, is that this practice is nothing but a silly game. Overbudsbold stands apart from the crowd in my opinion by being actually fun to play in its own right.

Så’ det ud: The youth branch of the Liberal party (in government) have published a game in which you (as current minister) place opposition leaders in a catapult and fling them as far as you can. No political statement is being made, to put it mildly. It’s slightly odd that the “heroes” are as caricatured as the opposition here, since no other attempts are being made at fairness.

Kampvalg is a game made by game developers Press Play. Here (as in Overbudsbold) two party leaders face of. But Press Play have exhanged Pong for Tekken in terms of inspiration. The player must attack the opponent using a small selection of aggressive moves.

Finally, ValgSpil ’07 is another developer showcase. Here you, as the player, must “survive a press meeting”, answering questions from reporters in an attempt to keep the general opinion on your side. The argument seems to be that party leaders face difficult a difficult challenge of presenting their policies without estranging voter groups.

In summary, only one game (“Så’ det ud”) with a political stance. The others hint/claim that politics is war – and, in the case of Overbudsbold, a rather silly exercise.
A somewhat underwhelming collection, perhaps. Did I leave out anything worthwhile?

Happy voting tomorrow, and may the best candidate obtain the highest score!

Lignende indlæg:

TL Taylor: Play Between Worlds

Games and gamers (28/06/2005)

PhD scholarships available at ITU (23/08/2007)

CFP: Nordic Game 2006 (23/06/2006)

The triumphant return of… media studies (11/10/2005)

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Game rhetoric

Jonas Heide Smith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:53:42 +0000

I didn’t see it coming a few years back but I’m taking an interest in the persuasive powers of games (but then who isn’t? :-))
In that regard, I’ve strewn a few thoughts across my research group blog.

Lignende indlæg:

New article on videogames and economic game theory

CFP: Nordic Game 2006 (23/06/2006)

Persuasive Games reviewed (02/10/2007)

Never underestimate the power of Atari Today (11/10/2006)

Game Lecture at ITU tomorrow: Can you make them cry without tearing your hair out? (06/06/2007)

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Advanced Game Theory guest lecture slides

Jonas Heide Smith — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:10:07 +0000

I just guest lectured for Espen and Ollis Advanced Game Theory class on Game Theory (appropriately). And just to fortify my position on the cutting edge of technology, here are the slides:

Lignende indlæg:

The reliability of the Zahavis

The power of expectations (22/11/2004)

Players’ Realm anthology launched (05/04/2007)

Dr. Egenfeldt I presume? (27/05/2005)

Understanding Video Games now in stores (07/03/2008)

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End of level for Gonzalo Frasca

Jonas Heide Smith — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:05:39 +0000

Former Urugayan ITU resident and PhD program co-sufferer Gonzalo Frasca just (yesterday) told the world how games, play, and rhetorics are connected thus earning himself the non-refundable title of PhD.
Because of exams I could only attend the esteemed candidate’s presentation (thus missing out on the subsequent Q&A fun) but what I heard seemed both coherent and science-like. I cannot be more specific since I was concentrating on taking low-quality pictures with my clumsy phone.

Congratulations, Dr.

Lignende indlæg:

Dr. Egenfeldt I presume?

PhD scholarship in level design available (20/10/2005)

PhD Scholarship in MMORPG development available (28/07/2005)

PhD defense completed – get ready (09/12/2006)

Sing, O goddess (24/09/2006)

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PhD scholarships available at ITU

Jonas Heide Smith — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 08:50:40 +0000

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.

Lignende indlæg:

PhD Scholarship in MMORPG development available

Game Research summit at ITU, 6 December (01/12/2006)

Gonzalo at Copenhagen University tommorow (25/05/2005)

As we may watch (28/09/2006)

Video games – passion, practice & fresh perspectives workshop at ITU in August (14/06/2005)

Del:

My ITU Game Lecture on 5 Sep

Jonas Heide Smith — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:52:47 +0000

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 not. To players, interaction during play (and how to deal with victory and defeat) entails a complex negotiation of social norms. Based on empirical data on multi-player gaming, this talk will explore how players handle competition, collaboration, shame, and glory as they strive to achieve the game goals.

Lignende indlæg:

Game Lecture at ITU tomorrow: Can you make them cry without tearing your hair out?

New article on videogames and economic game theory (28/12/2006)

Game Research summit at ITU, 6 December (01/12/2006)

Game lecture: Aki Järvinen to speak at ITU tomorrow (11/10/2006)

Paper on role-playing game communication out (21/11/2006)

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Game Lecture at ITU tomorrow: Can you make them cry without tearing your hair out?

Jonas Heide Smith — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:56:25 +0000

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.

About the talk:
Have you been hearing more about how important emotion is for reaching a bigger audience and taking full advantage of new platforms in game design? This talk focuses on one key area of games that can add emotional impact: characters. Working from a foundation in understanding the psychology of the player, this talk presents some essential challenges and opportunities in character design that come along with the rise of procedural animation, better processors that can handle more complex AI, and new input devices (such as Nintendos DS touch pad and Wii controller) that provide richer opportunity for player expression.

Bio:
Katherine is Director of the Games Research Lab at Rensselaer (RPI),
where she has worked to build an undergraduate major in game design,
as well as a robust program of games-related research. She developed
and taught a course at Stanford University on the Design of
Characters for Games, before joining RPI’s faculty. She received her
Ph.D. from Stanford, with a focus on using ideas from social
psychology to design better, more effective interactive characters.
Katherine recently completed a book entitled: Better Game Characters
by Design: A Psychological Approach, which was nominated for a Game
Developer Magazine Front Line award in 2006. She has published work
in a wide variety of venues, and has given invited talks at research
and academic venues including Sony research labs in Japan, Banff
Centre in Canada, IBM, the Royal Institute of Technology in
Stockholm, and others.

Lignende indlæg:

Game lecture: Aki Järvinen to speak at ITU tomorrow

Game Research summit at ITU, 6 December (01/12/2006)

Jane McGonigal lectures at ITU, 30 November (27/11/2006)

First European symposium on Computer Games and Emotions (23/11/2006)

Game positions offered (09/02/2007)

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Sex is the origin of virtual law

Jonas Heide Smith — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 11:43:57 +0000

Linden Lab has recently announced its zero tolerance policy on

Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors; real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of sexual violence including rape, real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of extreme or graphic violence, and other broadly offensive content…

promising that transgressions

will be swiftly met with a variety of sanctions, including termination of accounts, closure of groups, removal of content, and loss of land

Many are seeing this as the beginning of clear restrictions on user freedom, i.e. an escalation of rule-based governance.

If this indeeds proves a turning point, we are seeing a rather obvious parallel to the development in LambdaMoo, where the actions of one virtual rapist led to strong restrictions on (accepted) in-game behaviour.

It is also comparable to what happened in MicroMUSE, nicely described by Anna DuVal Smith in her Problems of Conflict Management in Virtual Communities (from which I allow myself to quote at length):

Swagger was a teenager who built an Orgasm Room filled with sex objects to which he apparently invited female users for online sex. When a director discovered this, Swagger was summarily nuked (the MicroMUSE term for complete removal of the character and all its virtual property from the database). Swagger returned as a guest and complained about his treatment on the public channel (a medium of mass communication similar to a citizens-band radio channel). He was successful in raising the support of various citizens and staff who believed that he should not have been terminated without an opportunity to defend himself. Two staff cooperated in the re-creation of Swagger’s character. At this point, the director whose action had been countermanded objected. A vote of the Executive Board (a body composed of all directors) affirmed the director’s original action. Swagger was nuked again, and informed that he had been exiled for a period of two months, after which he could petition for readmission.

Before Swagger’s exile by the Executive Board, there was a town meeting presided over by yet a third staff member. About forty people, including Swagger, attended and discussed restrictions on citizen speech, governance and the justice system. Sentiment was expressed for the election (rather than the appointment) of administrators and/or other means of providing citizen input to the governing body. The attendees also complained about the lack of a meaningful system of justice, alleging power abuse by directors, no opportunity for the accused to defend himself, no trial by jury, and no code of laws (the latter was untrue as everyone was emailed a list of rules upon registration). Shortly thereafter, an unmoderated, open-subscription mailing list was initiated upon which citizens aired their complaints about MicroMUSE and posted various items of general interest, such as the transcript of the town meeting.

One month later, a new Charter was adopted, creating a complex system of governance which included a Citizens Council with a nonvoting representative on the new primary governing body (Advisory Board), and a role for appointed voting advisors who might or might not have technical powers. The 1993 Charter also elaborated and codified the procedure for dealing with rule violations, but did not contain all elements of due process systems sought by the dissidents, such as peer jury trials. It did, however, promulgate the limited right of appeal first granted to Swagger. At about the same time, some of the more disaffected citizens mounted their own MUSE, dubbing it “AntiMicroMuse,” upon which virulent attitudes towards MicroMUSE administrators were expressed. This MUSE was enormously successful for a brief spell, but it was operated in violation of the policy of its system administrator’s university, so was short-lived.

The biggest threat to the dream of online utopia is sex?

Lignende indlæg:

Garrg makes the front page

They rigged the game (14/11/2004)

Second Life, some thoughts (01/03/2007)

TL Taylor: Play Between Worlds (25/04/2006)

A brief history of cooperation in multiplayer games (17/12/2004)

Del: