games

CFP: Fans, Videogames and History
via http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/play-it-again/2015/01/20/cfp-fans-videogame...

Over the last two decades, a substantial amount of research has addressed the fan culture phenomenon, particularly in relation to film and television; the focus has centred on the impact that fan communities can and have had on the ‘official’ creative works that are released by film and television studios. More recently, researchers have examined the impact that the internet has played in empowering and expanding the fan network and fan communication structures, and in affecting the production, marketing and audience engagement with the fan object.

Games are now central objects of study within Fan Studies, yet to date there has been only isolated consideration of gaming’s long history of fandom, and fans’ important roles in game history and preservation. Little academic writing has focused on the impact and centrality that fan communities play — as a collective intelligence, as a pool of individual creators of games, and as interested and engaged parties in the collecting and remembering of game history.

For this anthology we seek essays that address issues that come out of the various possible configurations of the terms: fans, games, and history. We invite proposals for chapters addressing one of three broad axes:

• Historicising game fandom
• Fan contributions to game history
• Methodological reflections on studying historic game fandom

We invite abstracts of 500 words that address the relationship between game fans and history. Possible themes and issues may include but are not limited to:

• Fan communities and the preservation of games • Online communities and gamer memories • Digital fandom before the internet • Nostalgia and history • Historicising fans’ creative output • Magazines and fanzines as sources • how to ‘do’ fan history • Fans as authors of game history

Please send an abstract and brief bio to the editors by 30th April, 2015. Full papers to be submitted by 30th August 2015.

Email: playitagain@flinders.edu.au

Editors – Melanie Swalwell, Angela Ndalianis, Helen Stuckey
- See more at: http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/play-it-again/2015/01/20/cfp-fans-videogame...

Women in Games Conference: Call for Papers and Participation

Date: 31 May 2008
Venue: University of Warwick, UK
Website: www.womeningames.com

The Women In Games conference encourages research and seeks to promote careers for women within the games industry. If games are to become a true sibling medium to music and cinema, the industry needs greater balance in its audience and its workforce. The Women In Games conference takes place from 10-12th September 2008 and welcomes participants from both industry and academia, providing a forum for presentation and discussion of issues relating to all aspects of women's involvement in games, including game development, game playing and women as portrayed within games.

Although this conference is concerned with women and games please note that men are also very welcome to participate! The industry needs a meaningful dialogue between the sexes as it moves forward.

The phone chat is split into two parts & hosted on archive.org

part 1 archive.org page, where you can select the format to listen or download the mp3 via direct link

Machinima is making film in the 3D space of a computer game. By treating the game's point of view as a camera, the gamespace becomes the set, the game characters turn into film actors, and the gamer gets to be a director. During this 4-day workshop participants create their own Machinima movie under the guidance of inspired game developers and award-winning machinimamakers. They will take you through all the main technical, creative and cultural aspects of making Machinima. More info about this workshop can be found on http://www.mediamatic.net/machinima

nullarbor is a combined demoparty and game development competition. It is an event designed to bring together a community of local programmers, designers, artists and musicians that have an interest in real-time computer graphics. This is a great opportunity to get an introduction to game and demo development, meet people from the Australian industry and form new collaborative relationships with local talent. Perth is the world's most remote large city. Australia's role in the demoscene is considered just as remote, and similarly Western Australia's role in game development is also very isolated. The source of Perth's physical remoteness, and an Australian icon of isolation is the nullarbor desert. Hence, this event was set up, to celebrate the talent base available within an isolated Australia and to demostrate to the world that Australian digital content creators are the best! nullarbor takes place on Thursday the 23rd of February 2006. It starts at 9:00 am and finishes at 9:00 pm. read more or visit http://www.notrees.org/newsletter.html for details