I Love Hockey

I know this is completely random, but I have always loved hockey. Grew up watching it with my father.  Go to as many games as I can afford. Living in Montreal, there is no better place to love hockey with our beloved Montreal Canadiens. The city buses have scrolling messages of congratulations to the ‘les canadiens’; houses and apartments have Habs flags in their windows, cars have flags on them; shopping malls adorn the Habs logo on their entrance doors, and the Bell Center sold out in 1hour (21,000 people) to watch game 7 on the jumbotron while their team battles it out in Pittsburgh. I love hockey. I love Montreal!

Pure Pwnage

Thanks to a glitch in my tv programming (which is accidentally giving me ALL digital channels for free – well, with a few exceptions /wink /wink) I saw a commercial for the show Pure Pwnage on Showcase.  After checking out the tagline, it seems like I am a few years late for the party – but better late than never right? Here is the teaser:

Jeremy is a leet gamer, but he still lives in his mom’s basement. His n00b brother Kyle, an aspiring filmmaker, documents Jeremy’s life as he is forced to get off his ass and get a “real” job.

The Pure Pwnage web series has been spanking TV since 2004. Now that the show is an Internet phenomenon with millions of fans worldwide, it’s time to pwn TV as well. Pure Pwnage on Showcase is the next step for this universe of uber gamers.

While it seems to be riddled with every stereotype out there, looks campy enough to be funny.

DefiCardio 25: Fundraiser

I don’t usually solicit for things, but this is a great cause.

I am participating in a 25 hour relay at my gym (EnergieCardio Plateau Mont-Royal) to raise funds for Operation Enfant Soleil & Fonds Josée Lavigueur. Here is a brief note on their objectives:

Since 1999, the great Énergie Cardio team has been committed to supporting Opération Enfant Soleil, a non-profit organization that raises funds to foster the development of quality paediatric care for all children in Quebec. Our mission is to promote health and the health of children is particularly close to our hearts.

Wishing to increase our support for this cause and to target disease prevention in particular, in 2006 Énergie Cardio, in cooperation with Opération Enfant Soleil, established the Josée Lavigueur Fund, whose mission is to prevent illnesses in children through physical activity. From now on, all funds raised by Énergie Cardio and donated to Opération Enfant Soleil will be used to achieve this mission.

In nine years, thanks to the participation of our 1,600 employees and the generosity of our 140,000 members, Énergie Cardio has donated over $700,000 to Opération Enfant Soleil.

Here are a few more details on how the funds have been used in the past.

I have a donation page if anyone wishes to contribute to my participation, and more importantly, a great cause.

CFP: UNDERSTANDING MACHINIMA: essays on filmmaking in virtual worlds

UNDERSTANDING MACHINIMA: essays on filmmaking in virtual worlds

Call for Papers

Deadline: 30 August 2010

Submissions are invited for an edited book with the working title
Understanding Machinima: essays on filmmaking in virtual worlds. Machinima
– referring to “filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment,
often using 3D video-game technologies” as well as works which use this
animation technique, including videos recorded in computer games or
virtual worlds (see also http://www.youtube.com/user/machinima) – is
challenging the notion of the moving image in numerous media contexts,
such as video games, animation, digital cinema and virtual worlds.

Continue reading “CFP: UNDERSTANDING MACHINIMA: essays on filmmaking in virtual worlds”

Geek or Nerd

That has always been a debate in our household. My partner – who is an avid gamer and sci-fi consumer, classifies himself as a geek within this debate (this might come as a shock to those who know him). He always classifies me as a nerd (due to my book-reading, academic ways). He has often held some sort of hierarchical sense of superiority in this argument – that geeks surpass nerds … I always found that funny. In times where we have sought mediation in this debate, I have had many people ask me what the difference is (seems some people use the terms interchangeably). Well, thanks to Bug-Eyed Bistro (via  Let’s Get Geeky), a graphic explanation is now at my fingertips!

RELIQ

Réseau d’Études Ludologiques Interdisciplinaire du Québec

I thought I had already posted this when it came about last fall – but a quick search of my archives, and it seems I was mistaken. Although the title is in French, the group aims to be an interdisciplinary, bilingual intellectual exchange of ideas surrounding games and play. Here is the blurb:

The RELIQ features a directory of all research and education on games and video games across the province of Québec, a blog aggregator, a discussion forum and files shared by its members. The goal: a shared and open platform for ludological research in Québec.

Le RELIQ contient un répertoire de la recherche et de l’enseignement sur les jeux et jeux vidéo à la grandeur du Québec, un aggrégateur de blogs, un forum de discussion et des fichiers partagés par les membres. L’objectif: une plateforme commune et ouverte pour la recherche ludologique au Québec.

The project is in constant development as new research arises – the goal is to centralize the information and build a broader community.

CFP: The Online Videogame: New Space of Socialization

Version en français au bas

CALL FOR PAPERS

THE ONLINE VIDEOGAME: NEW SPACE OF SOCIALIZATION

Bilingual colloquium (French/English)
October 28 , 29  and 30, 2010
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

To play is a vital function for the development of individuals. Play
is an activity of socialization which enables learning of the
rudiments of social interaction. Since the middle of the twentieth
century, our societies have placed more value on the playful practice
at all ages. As such, playing is more and more present in numerous
spheres of society. Huizinga (1938) and Caillois (1958) assert
moreover that any playful activity is social, by definition, and gets
its real meaning when it is practised in groups. For Gadamer (1960),
the charm of playing lies primarily in the fact that it exercises a
fascination in the player. Online videogames gather more and more
followers worldwide as this phenomenon becomes more important from day
to day. It is no longer necessary to question play as a way to spend
time. Through the intervention of videogames, play has also become a
way to develop social networks, learn new communication skills and
tools, a way to learn a foreign language, a place to keep or develop
friendships, an opportunity to participate in an online community, or
even a way to be exposed to new cultures. Online videogames have
become a media of socialization, that is to say, devices of mediation
and mediatization which allow people to share large-scale information
thanks to its network of exchanges and meetings. Such spaces of
socialization arouse interactions convenient to the construction of
the “self” and to the renewal of the representations of others and the
world. Online videogames can facilitate socialization and be a carrier
of values which are not necessarily different than those found in
society. Online videogames can also be a place that facilitate values
that are not necessarily present in society in general.

Indeed, the experience as much as the manners and representations in
videogames contribute to the moulding of cognitive modes, to the
development of both technical and social skills and, in a more general
way, to the reconfiguration of one’s relationship to the world. From
this perspective, it is imperative to explore the modes of
socialization shaped by online videogames and to question the various
forms of instrumentalization, of domination, of exclusion, as well as
forms of dependence and addiction which this kind of community can
facilitate. The criteria from which the players give a value and
organize their relations into a hierarchy with other players is
potentially defined by the customs and contexts of online videogames.
The observations, the descriptions, and the analysis of the manners
and representations that are connected to the experience of online
videogames become essential as a generation is subject to building
their social referents partially through playful cyber universes. This
type of study is justified all the more as players become imbedded in
innovative modes of socialization, rehabilitation, social
reintegration, and learning, not only in school and at home, but also
in their workplace. This colloquium aims to make inventory of the
researches within game studies, while online videogames are becoming
more and more popular.

Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following themes:

•       Forms of socialization in online videogames
•       Communicational stakes in online videogames
•       Questions of ethics and aesthetics in online videogames
•       Innovations and types of appropriation in online videogames
•       Questions of law, economy, and politics in online videogames
•       Design of games and the communications tools in online videogames
•       Therapeutic and educational customs in online videogames

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: The persons interested to participate in this
colloquium have to submit an abstract treating of the higher presented
theme (max. 3000 characters, included spaces), as well as a short
biographic note. Abstracts should be sent to:
recherchehomoludens@gmail.com.

CALENDAR
Abstract deadline :             April 28, 2010
Notification of Acceptance:     May 17, 2010
Full Paper deadline:            August 27, 2010
Colloquium dates :              October 28, 29 and 30, 2010

INVITED SPEAKERS: Mia Consalvo, PhD; Nicolas Ducheneaut, PhD;
Sébastien Genvo, PhD; Miguel Sicart, PhD; Bart Simon, PhD; T.L.
Taylor, PhD.
Continue reading “CFP: The Online Videogame: New Space of Socialization”

Guns, Video Games and bad reporting

Tragic death caused by parental carelessness connected to video games:

“Mistaking a loaded gun for a video game controller, a 3-year-old in Tennessee accidentally shot and killed herself, officials said. … Cheyenne’s mother told police officers that the child was used to playing a shooting game with the Nintendo Wii video game console and likely confused the real gun with the realistic-looking black toy gun, the sheriff said.  “The unfortunate thing is that thisNintendo game called Wii had what looks like a solid black, basically automatic-looking type mechanism that operates the game,” he said. “Unfortunately, the stepdad also had a .380 caliber black Smith & Wesson. The child was used to playing the video game.”

Meanwhile, when it comes to actual events, the article states that

“We’re not looking at criminal intent,” Ashe said, adding that no criminal charges have been filed. “There was a terrible lapse of judgment here.”

I am sorry, indeed this is a very tragic event, heartbreaking – but to start the article out comparing the Smith & Wesson to a Wii controller – to use that as your introduction to the story is just very shoddy, moral panic-driven journalism.

A Day late and A Dollar Short

Suddenly craving snow cones

Or a real contender? Sony announces Wii competition. I have always been a big supporter of the Eye-Toy, and was sad to see development disappear as quickly as it arrived (ok, maybe not AS quick, but think dramatic effect …). Do you think that Sony has a legitimate shot as challenging the Wii? Is it about the technology or the branding (this was brought up at a round-table discussion in a manner of sorts last fall at MiGS).