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This page contains an archive of all entries posted to GAMBIT in the Events category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
Deadlines is the previous category.
Guests is the next category.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
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June 18, 2008 11:17 AM
William Uricchio to present learned lessons from GAMBIT at GLS 4.0
William Uricchio, the co-director of Comparative Media Studies and a lead principal investigator for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab, will present a selection of lessons learned from the lab's first year in existence at the fourth Games, Learning and Society Conference July 10-11 in Madison, Wisconsin. From the conference's website:
Can we make a game that can be played equally by sighted and sightless players (AudiOdyssey)? How do we make a multiplayer game where the collective behavior of the players shapes the simulation (Backflow)? These are some of the research challenges presented by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab in their 5-year initiative to bridge the cultures of engineering and humanities. GAMBIT Game Lab incorporates academic researchers into the process of game development, and provides a space for researchers to work across and learn from both Eastern and Western cultures. In this fireside chat, William Uricchio, a lead principal investigator of GAMBIT Game Lab, will share the techniques and strategies that have been particularly effective... and those that were not. How does this project compare with other cross-disciplinary game development initiatives, like the Dutch GATE project? Where are they going from here?
More about Uricchio can be found at http://gambit.mit.edu/credits/#wuricchio or at http://www.glsconference.org/2008/person.html?id=326; more about the Comparative Media Studies program can be found at http://cms.mit.edu and more about the Singapore-MIT Game Lab can be found at http://gambit.mit.edu.
June 4, 2008 4:09 AM
GAMBIT Summer Orientation '08 - Singapore
You never realise how blissful it is to have a quiet day just sitting in a chair at the office until you've spent two weeks' worth of very hectic orientation activities with 45 budding game developers.
The official Singapore-based orientation activities for the GAMBIT '08 students have finally drawn to a close yesterday. We ran them through a huge series of talks, workshops and team-building activities, focusing in turn on all aspects of game development - the entire gamut of design, production, art, audio, code, QA, localization, research, audience and genre, cultural differences, professionalism, the various game companies in Singapore, and even how to pass their first hiring interview in the industry. It was insane. It was crazy. It was one of the most enjoyable times of the year.
Actually, now that I think about it, it was way longer than two weeks. It started nearly a month and a half ago, when we first invited the new generation of Scrummasters to sit in on the different meetings we had ongoing in the Singapore lab. They observed and watched as Zul and I, the two producers in the lab here, conducted our Sprint Planning, Daily Scrums, Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives, and design meetings. They asked questions, and we tried to pass on to them as much of the lessons learned over the last year as we could.
Then we turned it over to them.
The Seven Samurai Scrummasters took charge of their teams from Day One of the official orientation period. This time around, everyone's going in thoroughly-briefed. Throughout the entire orientation period, the teams sat together, ate together and worked together. They know each other, they know their project and platform, they know the challenges that lie ahead, and they hopefully know just how intense it's going to be, since we pulled back quite a few of last year's generation to give talks about the various roles which they played.
Already, this generation is forging legends and memories of its own: from the epic Scrummaster vs. Scrummaster showdown during the orientation card games, to that unforgettable night at Hooters, to all the in-jokes about mentors... this generation has become, in just this short period of time, the seed of something great. I can't wait to see what they're all going to come up with over the next 9 weeks or so.
This summer's going to be a blast!
...
Okay, that's enough effervescence for today. A more detailed writeup, accompanied by videos, will be up as soon as we can make it. In the meantime, you can check out the photos.
May 5, 2008 12:00 PM
Jesper Juul giving keynote at Game Philosophy Conference
GAMBIT's Jesper Juul is giving a keynote at the Philosophy of Computer Games conference in Potsdam, May 8-10.
Talk title: Who Made the Magic Circle? Seeking the Solvable Part of the Game-Player Problem.
Abstract: If the early days of game studies concerned the issue of games and stories, recent discussions appear to be focused on the issue of games and players. This is a discussion of methods and of the object of study: Should we discuss players or should we discuss games? There are two possible perspectives on this: The common "segregationist" perspective implies that games are structures separate from players, structures that players can subsequently subvert. In this talk, I will make the case for an alternative "integrationist" perspective wherein games are chosen and upheld by players, and where players will happily create formal rule systems and boundaries around the playing activity.
I will argue that the question of games and players must therefore be decomposed into a set of smaller problems, each of which must be answered with different methods.
April 16, 2008 2:14 PM
Second Skin at IFFBoston 2008
From April 23rd through April 29th, cinema screens near the MIT campus will flicker to life with the 2008 Independent Film Festival of Boston, and one film in particular has caught our eye: Second Skin, a documentary about the lives of gamers. From the film's website:
Second Skin takes an intimate look at computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by the emerging genre of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Everquest allow millions of users to simultaneously interact in virtual spaces. Second Skin introduces us to couples who have fallen in love without meeting, disabled players who have found new purpose, addicts, Chinese gold-farming sweatshop workers, wealthy online entrepreneurs and legendary guild leaders - all living in a world that doesn't quite exist.
The press I've caught about the film so far has been intriguing. From The Austin Chronicle:
The doc is a car wreck in rush hour, even from a gamer's perspective: You can't look away no matter how depressing, unbelievable, or grotesque the story becomes. But this isn't just the pitfalls of the gaming industry; it's a hell of a lot of fun. Mixing expert opinion with amazingly true testimonials, Second Skin might just be the most accurate and entertaining glimpse of the economy and psychology of technology since Tron.
And, according to The Escapist:
Documentary nuts walk away having seen a window into yet another strange world. And gamers walk away feeling like they had seen seen their life story, with slick editing, a peppy soundtrack, and the seductive polish of an Apple commercial.
Not all the reviews are positive, as in Gamasutra:
Beyond my disappointment that the film never even mentioned Second Life, I was bummed that the most interesting aspects of this new medium were barely explored. How we experience ourselves is unarguably impacted by our relationship with virtual worlds and MMOs. The physical world still waits, however, for a film that fully explores these issues.
Despite some possible flaws, however, the film still sounds like it's worth seeing. The film is 95 minutes long and will be playing at the Somerville Theater in Davis Square at 9:30 PM on Thursday, April 24th. Tickets are available from IFFBoston website, and a trailer is available at http://www.pwdocs.com/secondskin/?id=trailer.
We hope to see you there!
April 8, 2008 5:06 PM
Jesper Juul speaks at Columbia University April 10th
GAMBIT's Jesper Juul is speaking on casual games at Columbia University on Thursday April 10th at 6pm.
Title: What Makes Casual Games so Appealing, so Attractive: Looking for 'the Casual' in Casual Video Games
Abstract: Given that video games are as wonderful as they are, why would someone choose not to play video games? It seems that video games for a long period of time have alienated a large part of the population by way of their themes, their assumptions about the player's familiarity with video game conventions, and by the demands games have placed on the player's time. With the Nintendo Wii, Guitar Hero, and downloadable games like Diner Dash, however, video games appear to be reaching beyond the traditional game audience. In this talk, I will discuss why many people do not play video games, and identify the broader appeal of today's casual games.
Details:
Thursday, April 10
06:00 PM to 08:00 PM
Columbia University
2960 Broadway
New York, NY - 10027
Directions: Thompson Hall, Room 510 at Teachers College, Columbia University, between Broadway and Amsterdam on 120th Street. Check in with security (located in between Broadway and Amsterdam on 120th) and they will direct you the correct room.
December 11, 2007 9:26 AM
12/11/07: Boston Postmortem
The Skellig, Waltham
Tuesday December 11, 7pm
The Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab will be speaking at Boston Postmortem!
Last summer, 45 MIT and Singapore students worked to tackle 6 tricky research questions, turning them into playable games over an intensive 2 month development cycle. At this month's Boston Post-Mortem, the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab will present its first year of games and talk about the challenges of turning research into game design, working in newly-minted teams, and what worked and didn't work with our development processes.
December 3, 2007 1:49 PM
12/04/07: Karakuri: The Roots of Japanese Robot Technology
A Talk and Demonstration by Shobei Tamaya IX, Master & Craftsman, Karakuri Ningyo
Presented by the MIT-Japan Program and The Japan Society of Boston
Tuesday, 4 December, 5:30pm
MIT Building 6, Room 120
KARAKURI NINGYO are Japanese mechanized puppets or "proto-robots" from the 18th/19th century. The word 'Karakuri' means a "mechanical device to tease, trick, or take a person by surprise" and implies hidden magic, and an element of mystery; "ningyo" means doll or puppet in human form. Traditionally, karakuri ningyo appeared in religious festivals to enact myths and legends and to entertain the public.
Free & Open to the Public.
This program is made possible in part by Toshiba International Foundation and by Toyota Corporation.
Continue reading "12/04/07: Karakuri: The Roots of Japanese Robot Technology" »
November 6, 2007 2:26 PM
11/08/07: Games and Civic Engagement
Thursday, November 8
5-7 p.m.
Bartos Theater, MIT Media Lab
A generation of scholars, critics and political leaders has denounced videogames as at best a distraction and at worst a negative influence on society. Yet for a growing generation of activists and researchers, games may also represent a resource for engaging young people with the political process and heightening their awareness of social issues. In what ways do young people use the online societies constructed in multiplayer games to rehearse and refine skills at citizenship? Can we imagine games as a medium that encourages public awareness and citizenship? And what might it mean to empower young people to create their own games to reflect their perceptions of the world around them?
This is the second lecture in a continuing series from the new MIT Center for Future Civic Media.
Continue reading "11/08/07: Games and Civic Engagement" »
October 31, 2007 4:27 PM
Friday Games @ GAMBIT: Horror
Today, as with every Friday, GAMBIT is hosting a little game + chat party in our offices!
Every Friday from 3:30 to at least 5, we grab a pile of games grouped around a similar theme and plug 'em in and let 'em whirl! It's open to our friends, which includes you, dear reader!
Today, in honor of Halloween, our theme is HORROR!
(cue shriek)
Continue reading "Friday Games @ GAMBIT: Horror" »
August 3, 2007 2:29 PM
Move II: Kendall Square
GAMBIT has finally moved to its new office! We are in a custom-designed 3rd floor space above Legal Seafoods, a mere Nerf-dart's shooting distance from the Kendall Square red line. We encourage everyone in the area to come by and say hi, see how much fun we're having this summer, and try our coffee. To kick things off, a few of the lovely folks from Harmonix came by to give our student developers a talk about the ins and outs of game production. Check out the pictures here.
June 5, 2007 4:39 PM
6/15/07: Brad Edelman, PlayFirst: Casual Games - Principles of Success
On June 15, the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab is sponsoring the talk, "Casual Games - Principles of Success" led by Brad Edelman (MIT '93) and Michelle Woods of PlayFirst, Inc., a leading publisher of casual games and the company behind the smash hit multi-platform game franchise, Diner Dash.
Join us in Building 1-390 at 11 a.m. to hear Brad (PlayFirst's co-founder and CTO) and Michelle (a PlayFirst Game Designer) share insight on how to be successful in the fast-growing casual games industry. They'll dive into important topics that impact casual game development such as how to design a game with universal appeal and how to assert engineering and technical requirements in game creation.
Continue reading "6/15/07: Brad Edelman, PlayFirst: Casual Games - Principles of Success" »
May 18, 2007 2:16 PM
5/18/07: Paprika Sneak Preview, 5pm, Room 26-100
From acclaimed Japanese director, Satoshi Kon, best known for his films, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Tokyo Grandfathers.
The screening is open to the general public and is free. Screening courtesy of Comparative Media Studies at MIT and Sony Pictures.
Born on October 12, 1963 in Hokkaido, Satoshi Kon went to Musashino Art University and studied Visual Communication Design. While at the University, he made his debut as a comic artist at Young Magazine (published by Kodansha, Japan). His detailed illustration and composition became highly regarded, and he went on to work on Kaikisen (Regression Line) and World Apartment Horror. His work includes: Roujin Z, as a background artist; Run, Meros as a layout artist; Patlabor 2 as a background and layout artist, and Memories as a background and layout artist and screenwriter. His unique composition where everything within the frame is clearly defined and cleverly laid out attracted the industry's attention. In 1998, he made his directorial debut with Perfect Blue which gained him international attention. 2002 saw the release of his second film Millennium Actress and in 2003, Tokyo Godfathers debuted. All of his feature films have been screened at the top international film festivals around the world. In 2004, he directed his first television series, Paranoia Agent. Paprika is his latest anime feature.
Continue reading "5/18/07: Paprika Sneak Preview, 5pm, Room 26-100" »
May 9, 2007 8:00 PM
5/11/07: Katherine Isbister, RPI, Better Game Characters by Design
A Psychological Approach
HCI Seminar Series Spring 2007
1:30pm at the Star Seminar Room (32-D463)
Refreshments at 1:15pm
Host: Rob Miller, MIT CSAIL
Increasingly, HCI practitioners are turning to digital games and other leisure technologies for insights into how to approach design outside the workplace and the office. Games themselves are currently engaged in a major evolution, driven by growth in technical sophistication and audience reach. One essential innovation games can bring to HCI practice is the tremendous success of interactive characters in games - both as player avatars, and as 'NPCs' (non-player characters). In this session we'll examine the underlying psychological principles that help to make the best game characters compelling to players. Taking a psychological approach to understanding their design allows us to extend the insights their designers have had into other application areas in which social and emotional principles come into play.
For more information please contact Michael Bernstein (msbernst AT mit DOT edu)
Continue reading "5/11/07: Katherine Isbister, RPI, Better Game Characters by Design" »
May 9, 2007 7:26 AM
5/9/07: Ben Sawyer, Serious Games Initiative
Wednesday, May 9, E51-145
5:30pm - 6:30pm
The MIT Game Tycoons are pleased to welcome Ben Sawyer, Director of the Serious Games Initiative to MIT. Ben will talk about the state of the Serious Games industry and his work to promote the use of interactive games as tools for learning in all types of disciplines.
The Serious Games Initiative is focused on uses for games in exploring management and leadership challenges facing the public sector. Part of its overall charter is to help forge productive links between the electronic game industry and projects involving the use of games in education, training, health, and public policy.
May 7, 2007 1:00 PM
3/7/07: What's in a game? The Art, Media, and Technology
Monday, May 7th, 7:30-9:30pm
Room 250, Jefferson Hall, Harvard University
A panel discussion exploring the nature and potential of video games and
interactive media, presented by the Harvard Interactive Media Group, in collaboration with the MIT VideoGame Theorists. Join us for a reception beforehand, 6:30-7:30PM, and meet other students,
academics, and industry professionals from around the Boston area.
To attend, please send an RSVP email to: gilbert AT fas DOT harvard DOT edu. Details are available on the HIMG site.
Continue reading "3/7/07: What's in a game? The Art, Media, and Technology" »
April 18, 2007 9:20 AM
4/18/07: Matt Weise, 10 Things You Will Not Like About Professional Game Development
5pm, Room 14E-304
Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab Speaker Series presents Comparative Media Studies alumnus Matt Weise, who has been working in the mobile games industry since his 2004 graduation. There will be a question and answer session with Matt after the lecture.
March 16, 2007 4:37 PM
3/22/07: Threshold Animation Studios
IBM-MIT/ESD Innovation Lecture Series:
Engineering Systems Solutions to Real World Challenges in Media and Entertainment:
Threshold Animation Studios
Larry Kasanoff, CEO, Threshold Animation Studios and Producer/Director/Co-creator/Writer, Foodfight!
Moderated by Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Visiting Professor of Engineering Systems and VP, Technical Strategy and Innovation, IBM
Event Details
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Time: 4:00 pm (Reception to follow)
Location: MIT, Building E51-345 Cambridge, MA
Map and directions
Contact: Lois Slavin
Sponsored by: MIT's Engineering System Division and IBM
Continue reading "3/22/07: Threshold Animation Studios" »
March 12, 2007 3:52 PM
3/13/07: Dr Barbara Lippe, Girls-Games-Japan
March 13, 2007 | 5:00 PM | Location: 14E-304
Women's culture has existed for centuries in Japan. Today, it extensively shapes Japan's popular culture - even its game industry. Gender-blending, androgyny and the challenging of gender roles lie at the core of specific game genres produced by and for females in Japan. Whereas in the West most professional attempts to adress a larger number of female gamers and to engage a greater female workforce in the game industry have failed, Avaloop - an independent game development studio in Austria - is about to change this profoundly. By taking the global de-disneyfication into account and employing female creative leads, its game Papermint has not only already gained a large fanbase of non-traditional gamers but even manages to blend games with the notion of bourgeois 'high culture'. Papermint's success is based on its practical realisation of Barbara's research on Japanese gaming and girl culture, as well as the game's wholly original artistic concept created by a diverse team.
Continue reading "3/13/07: Dr Barbara Lippe, Girls-Games-Japan" »
February 8, 2007 9:52 PM
2/20/07: Boston Postmortem
The Boston Postmortem is going to be held on Tuesday evening, Feb 20 at the Skellig in Waltham. These monthly informal gatherings are a great way to get to know the local professional game development community. I'll be joining other participants of the Boston Game Jam (conducted last month at The Education Arcade in building 10) in presenting the games that were built over 36 hours.
Let's try to arrange some sort of car pool. Hit the jump for the full details.
Continue reading "2/20/07: Boston Postmortem" »
February 8, 2007 12:02 PM
2/12/07: MIT Videogame Theorists Colloquium
From Alice Robison and Kenny Peng:
It's our pleasure to announce the start of the MIT Videogame Theorists Colloquium, a series of short, informal (noncredit) classes and discussions about videogames and their relationship to academic study . This is an interdisciplinary group intended for people of all ages and experience whose interests span the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
The first meeting is this coming Monday, 2/12, 7pm-8:30pm in room 32-124 on the MIT campus. Please contact Kenny Peng (pengk (AT) mit.edu) if you cannot attend and would like to be added to the mailing list to be notified of our upcoming sessions.
Continue reading "2/12/07: MIT Videogame Theorists Colloquium" »
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