Category: Links

When it comes to participatory culture, Shirky says it best. Worth reading for the anecdote about his friend’s daughter watching a DVD alone.

“the movement amplitude of gestures is indeed quite different with expert players […] and novice players who think they must replicate real-world gestures […] playability is a much more complex notion than simply replicating what is done in the physical world”

A solid overview of what was discussed at a recent Visible Cities on AR. The most important takeaway for me that night was the technology’s potential for facilitating a more participatory architecture.

Pretty awesome piece of interactive urban projection that employs several types of inputs. I was particularly impressed with the simple but lovely scene where the building’s facade is distorted.

Came across This lovely post by Hessel about the making of a level for the puzzle game Toki Tori. Can’t get enough of these.

(Dutch) “USC is geworteld in filmtheorie,” zegt Teunisse. “Misschien wilden ze daarom alles uitleggen. Zoals waarom het personage taart wil. Maar sommige dingen moeten gewoon zijn zoals ze zijn.” Fijn stuk uit de pen van Niels ‘t Hooft over een game die z’n oorsprong nog heeft in This happened – Utrecht #2.

“If we really want to design the sentient city from the bottom up we shouldn’t forget that the rest of the world aren’t designers. We should be thinking about those that probably think Billy Big Mouth Bass is something hilarious, and worthy of display on their wall.”

“Why not designer fiction as life? Why not role-playing games in real spaces? Why not become the change you want to see?” Mind boggling Sterling sermon with interesting implications for design that I just cannot stop thinking about.

Adrian Hon takes a long hard look at the potential of persuasive games for saving the world. What sticks with ne the most is his concern that the focus on reward mechanisms prevents people from pursuing activities for the sheer joy of doing them, which I’ve always felt is the essence of play.

Dan C waxes lyrically about an indie strategy game and in the process talks about indie fan culture: “The only people that we, as fans, can claim with 100% certainty are worthy of our appreciation are small teams of independent developers.”

“Before the Wii, immersive was understood as how much we were pulled into the world of the game. Now immersive is how much the game pulls us deeper into our world…” An interview with Will Wright containing some good nuggets on contextual filters and AR games.

“WarioWare, finally, is fascinating because of its message to game scholars: we can reflect upon games by making them. Experimental games are a powerful tool for thinking about and communicating ideas about games.” Really nice discussion of a very strange game.

““Toward a Ludic Architecture” is a must-read for analyzing and designing play and games from an architectural standpoint. Such a contribution is particularly applicable in an era when games extend into physical, designed space that is increasingly permeated by devices, sensors, and information networks, allowing for rules and fictions to superimpose our everyday environments.” A book that might be worth checking out.

A brief interview with the founders of a collaborative drawing project that produces startling results. I’m curious about their ruleset…

(Dutch) Mijn vrienden bij 31Volts hebben een tof filmpje gemaakt waarin ze een verzameling mensen aan het woord laten over de vraag “wat betekent spelen voor jou?” Mooi breed scala aan antwoorden, waaruit vaak veel te lezen is over de manier waarop iedere persoon in het leven staat. Ik moet gelijk denken aan Sutton-Smith’s idee van rhetorics of play en zijn mooie quote: “the opposite of play isn’t work, it’s depression.”

Pat Kane reviews of two recent books on games.

I have mixed feelings about this talk. On the one hand, any effort to bring pervasive gaming to the mainstream is good news. On the other, I’m worried that people might think that game design is as simple as slapping a reward mechanism on anything. Schell talks about the need for skilled game designers to get involved, but he doesn’t explain what their contribution could be.

Another report on the last edition of This happened – Utrecht. Serviceable, but I would’ve liked some commentary beyond the factual report.

Some great thoughts from Raph on the proliferation of rewards systems in ‘real life’. I feel that what is often overlooked with all these things is the activity design itself. Also, I’m a strong advocate of social games being adaptible by their player communities.