A Few (Random) Things

This seems to be a recurring post title .. however, when no cohesive theme is present, the most apt.

First of all – ever since I installed the blog stats add-on, I have been (obsessed is too strong of a word ..) at looking at it every day – not to see how many hits this space receives, but rather, to see who is reading and how they got here. Lately, I have been getting hits from www.blogshares.com – which is a “Fantasy Blog Share Market”, I am thinking much in the same vein as fantasy sports leagues(?). From my understanding (which is very little at the moment) people buy and sell “blogs” based on their value… how that value is determined, how it increases or decreases, I am not sure (as I have not read the whole info page yet). This is the entry on my blog:

URL https://digitalconversations.wordpress.com/
BSID # 11340395
Valuation B$24,444.89
Added 06:56 22 May 2007 by [ID] -fit-
Status Available to Trade.
Industries University Female English Sociology Montreal
Video Games Graduate School
[Vote for which Industry this blog belongs to]
[Who voted this blog’s industries]
Problem? Report an Error with this listing

More information on the trade value of this blog can be found here. Honestly, I find the whole thing a little strange… intriguing .. but strange!

In other randomness, I have been working on my dissertation proposal the last few weeks – and it is not as easy as I had thought (hoped or wished!). While I have the general 5 lines to explain what I am doing to anyone who asks, I realize that writing 35-40 pages on it is … well… harder. Now, I know this is all part of the process – and if I plan on being able to write 60,000 – 80,000 words (what I am told is standard North American dissertation length, than I have to work through the brick wall that is writing the proposal. I must admit, I have turned to a few books for help (like this one and this one). While I am a firm believer that the drive to write a dissertation must come from somewhere inside of you – a passion to get the ideas on paper, if I am to be honest, it is the work ethic / method that I am struggling with. It is not that I am lazy, but that there is always something else to be working on, not to mention a thousand books worth reading!

On the game play front, while I have not had nearly as much time as I had hoped, I spent a little bit of time with Mirror;s Edge. While I really enjoy the concept behind the game, I must admit that not being adept at the 360 controller has severely hampered any sort of success. The speed of button combining required for gameplay is something I need to practise (alot) more. I never had any trouble playing on the pc  – the mouse/directional arrows is a much easier tool to navigate (imo). I really hate to admit it, but eventually, I had to ask my partner to play a bit so that I could enjoy the aesthetics of the game. My goal is to conquer this hand eye coordination issue over the holidays.

Ahhh the holidays, so close, but with a wall of work between me and the cozy days of Christmas vacation. Best get started!

A Few Good Books

On the walk home yesterday, I popped in the bookstore looking for a few holiday gifts. I ended up leaving with a few for myself as well (always a good thing!). One book that I am eagerly looking forward to reading cover to cover is Ricoeur’s Oneself as Another. Although I have used excerpts in the past, I haven’t read the book from end to end. In response to some conversations about the difference of the reference to the real in video games as opposed to cinema, I picked up Zizek’s Interrogating the Real – and then being in the “Z” section, picked up Zizek’s The Indivisible Remainder: On Schelling and Related Matters. I have always enjoyed Zizek’s ability to write complex ideas in a way that felt like he was having a conversation with me. I am hoping these two books follow that same style.

While I am eager to cuddle up with a coffee, pencil and notepad, I have to manage my time wisely over the next few weeks. It is the end of my last semester of “in-class” classes and I want to give it all I’ve got. I know I’ve mentioned this last class bit before, but as someone who has been in school since 2002 (returning to my Undergraduate career), I have been in classes every semester since then except the winter session of 2005 – where I wrote my MA thesis. After this, it’s comprehensive exams and thesis writing!

Getting Back Into (a) Game: Mirror’s Edge

I haven’t been much of a console gamer over the last few years. With MMO’s taking up most of my time since 1999, I have never quite mastered the console controller. As someone who gets scared quite easily,  playing games like Resident Evil and Gears of War became quite futile since my fear has always gotten the better of me – which almost always resulted in a quick and sure death. But with the release of Mirror’s Edge, I have been tempted to pick up the controller again, attempt to (re)learn the buttons and try this game out. The animation looks hot, the gameplay is intriguing and in a current market full of survival horror and action fps’, the game seems to have an interesting story to go along with its sharp, clean lines. Definitly looking forward to getting some time to give it a go.

Crunch Time

November has barely started and I am already exhausted. You would think that this would teach me to stretch everything out over the course of the semester; to strategically plan work so that is flows with my (social/family) life instead of violently clashing with it.

I have so many things that I wanted to blog about over the course of my semester – perhaps I can still get a few belated posts out before I start the all encompassing process of writing a final paper in a subject that I know little about beyond the course material. Don’t get me wrong – it’s great to be forced to jump into the deep end of the pool – always a gem or two at the bottom.

In the meantime – all I can say is WOW – I can’t believe it’s November and it is 18 degrees celcius in Montreal!

CFP: Thinking after Dark: International Conference on Horror Video Games

Thinking after Dark: International Conference on Horror Video Games
Montreal, April 23-25, 2009

The research group Ludiciné from the University of Montreal, in
collaboration with the Research Group on the Creation and Formation of
Cinematographic and Theatrical Institutions (GRAFICS) from the
University of Montreal and the NT2 Laboratory on Hypermedia Art and
Literature from the University of Quebec in Montreal, solicits your
proposals for the bilingual (French/English) international conference
titled «Thinking after Dark: Welcome to the World of Horror Video
Games». This conference will be held in Montreal from April 23 to 25, 2009.

Call for papers

As fear is the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind (Lovecraft),
human beings have always taken a malicious pleasure in frightening
themselves. If literature and cinema were and still represent good means
for the expression of horror, nowadays, the experience of fear is as
intense in video games.

While academia has been studying horrific literature and films for a few
decades, such an interest for the videoludic side of horror has not,
until now, showed up. Yet, since the cinematic staging of fear in Alone
in the Dark in 1992, the Survival Horror has become a prolific genre
offering a wide selection of significant games such as the Resident
Evil, Silent Hill and Fatal Frame series. Because it is at the
crossroads of diverse cultural heritages and the latest technological
developments, and because it exhibits the ins and outs of the matrix
that governs all but a few games (spatial navigation and survival),
horror video games require a deeper study.

This international conference wishes to study horror video games (not
necessarily labeled survival horror) from an eclectic range of critical
and theoretical perspectives. It aims to fill a gap in game studies
between general theory and analysis of particular genres and games.

Possible Topics
Here are some examples of relevant themes we wish to explore in this
conference:

Historical approach
– Origins and history of horror video games
– Impact of the technological evolution on horror video games

Theoretical approach
– Simulation of horror, fear, terror
– Narratives and themes of horror video games

Transmedial approach
– Transmedial study of horror video games (Games/Films/Literature)
– Remediation in films, literature and video games

Socio-cultural approach
– Transnational analysis of horror video games (United States/Japan)
– Social and cultural meanings of horror video games
– Horror video games and censorship

Analytical approach
– Aesthetics of horror video games (lighting, sound, editing, 1st/3rd
person perspective)
– Study of specific games or series (Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil,
Fatal Frame, etc.)

The organizing committee remains open to proposals that respect the
general spirit of this call for papers.

Please submit your proposals no later than January 15, 2009 at the
following e-mail address: <thinking.after.dark@ca.inter.net>. Acceptance
and rejection notifications will be sent by the beginning of February.

Your proposal must include:

1. The title of your paper and an abstract (no more that 500 words).
2. Your academic status, your institutional affiliation, your department
and your contact information (mailing address, telephone number, fax
number and e-mail address)
3. A short biography underlining your work related to the themes of the
conference (no more than 250 words).

A selection of papers will be published in a special issue of Loading…,
the journal of the Canadian Game Study Association.

For further information, please visit our website:
<http://conference2009.ludicine.ca>.

Organizing committee:
Bernard Perron, Conference Head, Associate Professor, Department of Art
History and Film Studies, University of Montreal
Martin Picard, coordinator, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
Richard Bégin, Invited Professor in Film Studies, Literatures
Departement, Laval University.
Carl Therrien, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
Dominic Arsenault, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
Guillaume Roux-Girard, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal

The Glory of Hallowe’en

I am rather excited for Hallowe’en this year. For the first year in a long time, I am not taking anyone trick or treating (the girls are too old for that) and my bf and I are going to our first Hallowe’en party in as many years, where there will be no children. After many hours (or even days) scouring the internet for ideas, I ordered this costume and these shoes. I got the wig too, but after talking to a friend, realized I have an even better wig to go with the outfit. I was incredibly impressed with the delivery time, and the costume actually fits quite well, and the fabric is decent. All in all, looks like it will be a great Hallowe’en – I can’t wait!

IGDA Montreal Chapter Meeting

When: Wednesday, November 5th @ 7:00pm
Where: The SAT, 1195 St.Laurent

Presentation:

“Design Postmortem: Social Mechanics of Spore”
by Alex Hutchinson – Creative Director, EA

Complete event information and description available online:
http://www.igda.org/montreal/archives/2008/10/november_5th_sp.html

Print out our snazzy promo poster and pin it up
at work to help promote the event:
http://www.igda.org/montreal/poster/IGDA-Montreal_Nov05-08_Spore.jpg