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About the Archives

This page contains all entries posted to GAMBIT in October 2010. They are listed from oldest to newest.

September 2010 is the previous archive.

November 2010 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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Friday Games @ GAMBIT 10/29/10 - Retro Horror Halloween


It's Halloween, and this week's Friday Games will be a history lesson in gaming horror.

Horror games depend heavily on *atmosphere*, on creepy sounds and visuals that draw you into an unsettling world. Video games from the 80s and early 90s--in other words, before so-called "immersive" 3D graphics and digital audio--had very limited means to create mood. Today we'll look at several games that attempted to do so, and discuss what it means for a game to be "scary" or simply just a collection of horror-themed tropes.

Be in the GAMBIT lounge at 4pm. There will also be a room dedicated to Left 4 Dead multiplayer for those of you who just want to shoot zombies.

Game List:

- Metroid/Super Metroid (inspired by Alien, about being alone)
- The Silent Debuggers (also inspired by Alien, prefigures "survival horror")
- Castlevania II (day/night cycle)
- Splatterhouse (early use of gore)
- Uninvited (haunted house adventure game)
- Sweet Home (haunted house RPG)
- Clock Tower (psychological state as gameplay)
- Shadow of the Comet (Lovecraftian adventure game)
- Zombi (inspired by Dawn of the Dead, prefigures Resident Evil)
- Resident Evil Gaiden ("reverse engineering" of survival horror)

NOTE: We will not play the text adventure classic The Lurking Horror because there is a special Halloween event organized around it Sunday at MIT.

GAMBIT's Jason Begy and Generoso Fierro to Interview MST3K/Cinematic Titanic Creators at CMS Colloquium on 10/28/10

Join GAMBIT's Jason Begy and Generoso Fierro, the night before beloved movie-riffers of Mystery Science Theater 3000 bring their live version, Cinematic Titanic, to the Wilbur Theater in Boston. Trace Beaulieu and Mary Jo Pehl will discuss their work and how MST3K prepared them for Cinematic Titanic.

In December of 2007, Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu, two of the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000, assembled many of the original members of that cult TV phenomenon to form Cinematic Titanic, a live and DVD version based on their original formula of riffing on terrible movies. The actors essentially play themselves as they participate in an experiment for some unknown, possibly shadowy corporation or military force. The story currently provided to the cast is that there is a tear in the "electron scaffolding" that threatens all digital media in the world. Their experience doing MST3K is key to the organization's plans. Two of the cast will discuss their thoughts on producing Cinematic Titanic which is coming to Boston on October 29th at the Wilbur Theater.

The CMS Cinematic Titanic Colloquium will be on Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 5PM in Room 54-100 at MIT. The event is free and open to the public.

CMS COLLOQUIUM PAGE FOR EVENT

"Making A GAMBIT Game" Series Episode Eight "Second Focus Test"

MAKING A GAMBIT GAME Episode Eight. "SECOND FOCUS TEST"
IN EPISODE 8 OF "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME": After a productive meeting with Research Consultant T. Atilla Ceranoglu, M.D. from Mass General Hospital, Team 4 makes the changes necessary to achieve the research goal and gets the "depression" game ready for the second focus test. Here the testers give vital feedback to a version of the game that is very close to completion.

THE MAKING A GAME SERIES: In Episode Five of the GAMBIT Research Video Podcast Series , Postdoctoral Researcher Doris Rusch, explained the concept behind her 2010 Summer Game Project entitled "Game Design Meets Therapy." Following a two week orientation in Singapore we documented that research until the game was constructed over a nine week period in the summer of 2010. This series "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME" will give an in-depth view of that process which lead to the creation of the game, ELUDE (to play the game click the link below) .

"Founded in 2006, the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab sets itself apart by emphasizing the creation of video game prototypes to demonstrate our research as a complement to traditional academic publishing. Video Produced by Generoso Fierro, Edited by Garrett Beazley, Music by Sean M. Sinclair.

CLICK HERE To Play ELUDE and all of the other GAMBIT 2010 Summer Games A NEW EPISODE WILL BE RELEASED EVERY TUESDAY UNTIL NOV. 9th, 2010

Interactive Fiction Playing Group's Halloween Event: The Lurking Horror

After the success of our previous events, the People's Republic of Interactive Fiction will host a special playing session event on Halloween. IF you're in the Boston area, come and play!

The People's Republic of Interactive Fiction Presents a Special Halloween Event The Lurking Horror Sunday October 31st, 2 - 5 pm MIT Campus: Building 4 Room 145.

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Get ready for Halloween and come to play The Lurking Horror, an interactive fiction piece that brings Lovecraftian horrors to G.U.E. Tech, a fictional version of MIT. Dave Lebling, author of The Lurking Horror and Zork, also an MIT alumn, will join us as we fight the creatures of the Unspeakable . After playing, we will offer a tour of the different locations in the game.

If you have not played interactive fiction (a.k.a. text adventures) before, this is your chance to learn the basics. If you already know how to play, come and experience how fun it is to play interactive fiction with a room full of people. If you've heard the call of Cthulhu, this is the place to be.

The event will also be broadcast online

You can get more information on the event and other Interactive Fiction related activities at http://pr-if.org/

Finding Meaning in Michigan: GAMBIT Wins Awards at Meaningful Play Conference

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Well, we're back. After four days in East Lansing Michigan, the GAMBIT group has returned to the relative normalcy of the office (which by any standard is not so very normal). The Meaningful Play conference has come and gone, and we return to our desks, fingers to keys, pens to pads, to make sense of the newly created mess of thoughts in our heads.

I think the quality of any conference experience can be measured in an economy of ideas. I have returned with many more ideas than I had when my tiny commuter jet from Detroit landed on the runway in Lansing. I met some great people, doing truly amazing work in the game space, and I re-entered the GAMBIT-sphere with a renewed sense of purpose.

Our games were very well received by the Meaningful Play Conference audience and jury, and for this we are eternally grateful. Recognition is weird, and I loath the notion of using acclaim to motivate work. That said, the awards presented to Afterland, Elude and Yet One Word are welcome and much appreciated.

More than anything, the awards recognize the dedication and hard work of our student-interns. With most projects, and especially in the case of these three projects, the interns are asked to engage in game design from a unique and relatively unorthodox perspective. Designing a subversive game, a game about clinical depression, or a game about personal reflection requires a degree of maturity and thoughtfulness that would be a tall order for any group, let alone a team of relatively inexperienced developers. I think it can be said of all three teams, that their commitment to the projects was at times surprising, and continuously impressive.

So, Gapapa Games, Birdy Inc., and Team on Fire, congratulations. We are all so very proud of the work you did, as you should be too.

Watch "A GAMBIT Class: CMS.608 Game Design"

GAMBIT Research Associate Jason Begy and GAMBIT U.S. Executive Director Philip Tan teach the lab portion of their Fall 2010 CMS. 608 Class: Game Design on October 15th, 2010. In this particular class they will be lecturing on the "Affordances of different types of game pieces and how they have been used". CMS. 608 Game Design consists of practical instruction in the design and analysis of non-digital games. Provides students the texts, tools, references, and historical context to analyze and compare game designs across a variety of genres. In teams, students design, develop, and thoroughly test their original games to better understand the interaction and evolution of game rules. Covers various genres and types of games, including sports, game shows, games of chance, card games, schoolyard games, board games, and role-playing games. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments. Video Produced by Generoso Fierro , Edited by Garrett Beazley.

Friday Games @ GAMBIT - Cute Overload!

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This Friday at GAMBIT, come join a tight knit group of us who are going to play a real purl of a game: the newly-released Kirby's Epic Yarn! Not only is this game sew darn cute, it's guaranteed to put a stitch in your side, and we're in no way trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Sewing and knitting puns aside, drop by and see just what is it in the fabric (sorry) of this and other ultra-adorable games that makes playing them so much fun. Drop by the GAMBIT lounge around 4:30 for Kirby, A Boy and His Blob, a little cosplay in Costume Quest or Pocket Fighter, and more!

Harmonix Co-Founder Eran Egozy to speak at MIT on Thursday Oct 21st

On Thursday October 21, 2010 at 7PM in room 32-123 at MIT will be a free lecture by Harmonix Founder, Eran Egozy. An MIT Graduate, Eran Egozy co-founded Cambridge, MA based Harmonix Music Systems with fellow MIT alumnus Alex Rigopulos. Harmonix is an interactive computer music company specializing in the development of real-time music generating computer programs for the entertainment industry. Amongst the many games created at Harmonix are the immensely popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The lecture is open to the general public. Click here for the MIT location of the lecture. The event in being co-sponsored by The Founder's Journey at MIT.

"Making a GAMBIT Game" Series Episode Seven "The Research Consultant"

MAKING A GAMBIT GAME Episode Seven "THE RESEARCH CONSULTANT"
IN EPISODE 7 OF "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME": With the first focus test behind them, Team 4 sits down with "depression game" Research Consultant T. Atilla Ceranoglu, M.D. from Mass General Hospital to discuss the state of the gameplay and aesthetics to see if the team is on track to achieve the research goal.

In Episode Five of the GAMBIT Research Video Podcast Series , Postdoctoral Researcher Doris Rusch, explained the concept behind her 2010 Summer Game Project entitled "Game Design Meets Therapy." Following a two week orientation in Singapore we documented that research until the game was constructed over a nine week period in the summer of 2010. This series "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME" will give an in-depth view of that process which lead to the creation of the game, ELUDE (to play the game click the link below) .

"Founded in 2006, the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab sets itself apart by emphasizing the creation of video game prototypes to demonstrate our research as a complement to traditional academic publishing. Video Produced by Generoso Fierro, Edited by Garrett Beazley, Music by Sean M. Sinclair.

CLICK HERE To Play ELUDE and all of the other GAMBIT 2010 Summer Games A NEW EPISODE WILL BE RELEASED EVERY TUESDAY UNTIL NOV. 9th, 2010

Friday Games @ GAMBIT 10/15/10 - FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

It's "Family Weekend" at MIT, which means it's the time of the year when parents
and relatives of students come to visit and see just what happens at MIT. What's
happening at GAMBIT is the return of BEMANI RHYTHM GAMES, crazy Japanese games
about music and dancing. Bonkers!!

In the GAMBIT Lounge after 4pm.

Para Para Paradise
Beatmainia
Guitar Freaks
...and more!

Adventures in Games Research

The editors at Adventure Classic Gaming invited me to write an article about research in adventure games. This was my opportunity to explain adventure game fans what I do and, more importantly, why they should care too. What I explain in the article, although focused on adventure games, is my understanding of what games research may be (we games researchers are still figuring that out).

An excerpt from he article:

The academic study of videogames has become an interdisciplinary research field. Game studies scholars come from a variety of disciplines, such as education, sociology, game studies, and computer science. The objects of their studies are just as diverse: specific genres (e.g., casual games (1) or role-playing games (2,3)), players, formal aspects of game design, to name but a few. Adventure games are also part of this rich research landscape, and their status in the field of game studies remains to be defined. This article is an introduction to the study of adventure games and how research can inform not only scholars but also game developers and fans of the genre. [...]

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There is much that can be learned from adventure games and their long history (by videogame standards). Developed between 1975 and 1976, Adventure (Figure 1), also known as Colossal Cave, is commonly cited as the first adventure game (6). Decades later, adventure games are still released both commercially by development studios and non-commercially by dedicated enthusiasts. Computer technologies have evolved, and adventure games along with them, going from text to mouse input to touch screens. The evolution of the genre has not been linear, but rather has branched into different subtypes of adventure games. This has led to new interactive fiction (also known as text adventure games) being released along new point-and-click adventure games, both by commercial developers and by aficionados of the genre.

You can read the rest of the article at Adventure Classic Gaming.

GAMBIT Presenting at Powered Up Boston October 14th and 15th

Members of the GAMBIT will be presenting at Powered Up Boston (14-15 October) which is a 2-day international conference that will bring together independent game developers to share best practices and address the challenges and opportunities facing the video game industry. On October 14th at 9:30AM, GAMBIT's lab manager, Rik Eberhardt will be moderating a panel on Getting the Most Out of Your Team - Digital Distribution. At noon, GAMBIT Visiting Associate Professor Mia Consalvo will be a panelist on the Women Leaders in the Boston Gaming Industry discussion and Matthew Weise, GAMBIT's Lead Game Designer, will be speaking on the subject of Educating Tomorrow's Gaming Leaders at 3PM. On October 15th, GAMBIT will be manning a table on the expo floor which is being held at the Boston Design Center on Channel Street on Boston's Waterfront. For more information on the Powered Up Boston 2010 check out the website at
Click here for Powered Up Boston Website

"Making a GAMBIT Game" Series Episode Six "First Focus Test"

MAKING A GAMBIT GAME Episode 6. "FIRST FOCUS TEST"
IN EPISODE 6 OF "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME": Team 4 has now had their first playable and is ready to have their game tested by the public. They will put their skills to the test as they race to get the game in good order so it can be played for the first time by people outside of the GAMBIT Lab. Though the game is in infancy, the feedback they will receive at this focus test will greatly impact the changes they will make on the final prototype.

In Episode Five of the GAMBIT Research Video Podcast Series , Postdoctoral Researcher Doris Rusch, explained the concept behind her 2010 Summer Game Project entitled "Game Design Meets Therapy." Following a two week orientation in Singapore we documented that research until the game was constructed over a nine week period in the summer of 2010. This series "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME" will give an in-depth view of that process which lead to the creation of the game, ELUDE (to play the game click the link below) .

"Founded in 2006, the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab sets itself apart by emphasizing the creation of video game prototypes to demonstrate our research as a complement to traditional academic publishing. Video Produced by Generoso Fierro, Edited by Garrett Beazley, Music by Sean M. Sinclair.

Abe at IndieCade: Day 2

Hey everyone. I know it is getting late on east coast time, but after a full day today I wanted to check in and give some updates about what is going on out here at the IndieCade conference.

I have been preoccupied with this question "What is Indie?" all weekend, and today was great as it seemed to be tangentially addressed by a bunch of talks.

John Sharp, Frank Lantz, Brandon Boyer and Rich Lemarchand lead a talk called "Punk Rock, M***** F*****" which examined ties between the punk rock musical and cultural movement and this seemingly new wave of indie game development. It was a rambunctious, hotly contested, and very lively discussion with tons of audience involvement and a great setting in a bar. Punk was so much about embracing alienation and being subversive, and I think some indie developers are working in that space. It seems, however, that indie developers want to create subversive works and be embraced all the while, having their cake and eating it too.

Colleen Macklin lead an interview of John Romero talking about his Romero Archive. I think this confronted some of my questions about indie classification, largely because Romero is an iconoclast who has both enjoyed commercial success and created subversive, culture challenging works.

Finally Brenda Brathwaite delivered an absolutely heart-breaking/warming keynote to which I cannot do justice in text. It reminded me that subversion is not inherently destructive. Confronting established norms can be for good, not just change for its own sake.

I've got so much to think about and I already know that this trip will inspire my own work. Right now I feel as though I am standing in front of a blank canvas, with paint all over my hands, and I just need to find the courage to start touching.

more to come
-a

Abe Checks in from IndieCade

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Hello all from sunny Culver City, CA.

I'm writing this from the comforts of my room at the historic Culver Hotel having just enjoyed some lunch following some interesting morning talks.

I started the day at what was scheduled as a talk by Mary Flanagan, but due to unforseen circumstances turned into a panel on "Big Games" or variants on ARG's. I liked hearing about these groups games, but mostly it made me want to experience them. Some of them will have sessions here at IndieCade, but the most interesting by a group capriciously called Nonchalance I will not be able to experience in full because it is locally specific to San Francisco. I will try to see some of the artifacts on display here.

Secondly, I enjoyed a talk by Eddy Boxerman and Andy Nealen of Hemisphere Games, giving a postmortem of Osmos, a really neat game. It started as a basic game design postmortem and evolved into an interesting commentary on minimalist art, the nature of abstraction, and the relationship between aesthetics and interface through a minimalist lens. I thought of Jason Begy's CMS thesis immediately, and was happy to hear that his work was on their radar as well.

As of now, only a few hours in, I am struck by two interesting questions that I am hoping to get some insight about over the festival:

1) How indie is IndieCade? In general I try to avoid genre classification all the while understanding its usefulness in shaping how we understand artifacts. What on earth is indie? Is it about funding? Is it about a spirit and intentionality behind design? At worst, is it another social construction intended to create domains of belonging and subsequent alienation? I am sitting the whole time thinking, "indie to what end?"

2) Where does GAMBIT fit in this space. Are we "indie" enough? Are we confronting enough conventions to fit in this rather tight space called "indie game development." How much subversion is enough subversion? Does our funding exclude us from an "indie" designation?

I'll write more about this soon, but for now, gotta catch another talk.
I'm tweeting under the obnoxiously long hash-tag, #abegoestoindiecade, so you can check out some micro-blogging there.

till next time,
-abe

Check Out The 2010 GAMBIT Summer Games Trailer!

This summer The Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab created seven amazing games with six teams in just eight weeks. Check them out on this trailer and play them for FREE! CLICK HERE TO PLAY GAMBIT SUMMER 2010 GAMES

Video Produced by Generoso Fierro , Edited by Garrett Beazley, Music by Garrett Beazley.

Friday Games: Recettear

recettear.jpgThis Friday Games at GAMBIT, Mia Consalvo will be walking us through Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale! If you've ever wondered how the stores in RPGs obtain all their wares, this business simulation/dungeon crawler hybrid takes the covers off the colorful world of item shop management. An indie game from Japan that was recently translated to English and released on Steam, Mia will also briefly talk about the localization of the game and her interviews with Carpe Fulgur, who brought the game to the US. We'll start around 4:30pm at the lab.

Research Video Podcast Episode 8: "The History and Significance of Jumping In Games"

In Episode 8, GAMBIT Research Associate Jason Begy leads a lively discussion on his paper which he presented at FROG in Vienna on "The History and Significance of Jumping In Games".

Video Produced by Generoso Fierro , Edited by Garrett Beazley, Music by Abe Stein

"Making a GAMBIT Game" Series Episode Five "First Playable"

MAKING A GAMBIT GAME Episode 5. "FIRST PLAYABLE"
IN EPISODE 5 OF "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME": The First Playable deadline is arriving and Team 4 must hustle to get their game up to shape so that it can be reviewed by multiple members of the GAMBIT Staff. After the review, Doris and Rik speak directly to Team 4 about their concerns about the progress of the game.
In Episode Five of the GAMBIT Research Video Podcast Series , Postdoctoral Researcher Doris Rusch, explained the concept behind her 2010 Summer Game Project entitled "Game Design Meets Therapy." Following a two week orientation in Singapore we documented that research until the game was constructed over a nine week period in the summer of 2010. This series "MAKING A GAMBIT GAME" will give an in-depth view of that process which lead to the creation of the game, ELUDE (to play the game click the link below) .

"Founded in 2006, the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab sets itself apart by emphasizing the creation of video game prototypes to demonstrate our research as a complement to traditional academic publishing. Video Produced by Generoso Fierro, Edited by Garrett Beazley, Music by Sean M. Sinclair.

CLICK HERE To Play ELUDE and all of the other GAMBIT 2010 Summer Games A NEW EPISODE WILL BE RELEASED EVERY TUESDAY UNTIL NOV. 9th, 2010

Deadly Premonition Is "Interesting" with GAMBIT Lead Game Designer Matthew Weise: Video

On Friday September 17th, 2010 GAMBIT Lead Game Designer Matthew Weise spoke before a packed house during a Friday Games At GAMBIT and proclaimed that Access Games' new offering "DEADLY PREMONITION" is "interesting" and even during one verbal frenzy describes the game as ..."good". The game has received wildly mixed reviews from variety of websites. "Destructoid" describes the game as such: "Deadly Premonition is like watching two clowns eat each other." Matthew Weise vigorously scrutinized this game during this 45 minute entertaining rampage at the GAMBIT lab which is now here for you to watch on glorious video! Video Produced by Generoso Fierro , Edited by Garrett Beazley.

Announcing Pierre: Insanity Inspired 1.5!

I am pleased to announce that Pierre: Insanity Inspired has recently been updated to include several new features. These features were implemented during the Fall of 2009 with a small team consisting of Ruben Perez, Anne Szbala, Abe Stein, and myself. Changes to the game include:

  • Two new levels featuring new art and music.
  • Character animation.
  • A new scoring system which can be used to restore lost health.
  • A hidden bonus level.
  • A new ending to Pierre's quest.

We hope you enjoy the new version of Pierre: Insanity Inspired!

Friday Games at GAMBIT: Minecraft

At last week's Friday Games at GAMBIT we played Halo Reach's Forge World, and it was fun. But there was something missing. Mining. And crafting.

We'll remedy that today with some experimentation in Minecraft, both in the single-player survival mode and in GAMBITopia (our multiplayer server).

There might be rant as well, but we'll have to stop playing long enough today to come up with one.

Come by the lab, today at 4:30pm to play with us!

Oh, and what is Minecraft? It's a bit of Dwarf Fortress:

Some Farmville:

And a bit Lego construction set...

...for adults:

(And with just a bit of survival horror for good measure):

GAMBIT @ MIT Museum

Greetings! We have made some games for you!

Poikilia - Colors, Mazes, Comics

Symon - Dreams, Puzzles, Change

Afterland - Collecting, Jumping, Expectations

Seer - Light, Truth, Ducks

Yet One Word - Reflection, Clouds, Typing

elude - Singing, Birds, Depression

Improviso - Movies, Aliens, Artificial Intelligence

Pierre: Insanity Inspired - Dodging, Collecting, Rudeness



Thanks for visiting the GAMBIT exhibit at the MIT Museum.

You did already visit the exhibit, right? You're not just stumbling on this page randomly? Good good.

We'll be featuring seven games throughout the course of the exhibit that were made last summer, as well as Pierre: Insanity Inspired, which is part of an ongoing data collection project. Rummage through them above. Each page has information on the game, the research behind it, and links to any blog posts, rants, or raves written about it.

Oh, and you can play the games there too.

Show us some love by tweeting @GambitGameLab, subscribing to our blog, following us on Facebook, or dropping a comment below. Thanks for checking us out!

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