Chris Joseph

CFP: Under the Mask: Perspectives on the Gamer

Research Institute for Media Art and Design
University of Bedfordshire
Luton
June 7th 2008

Which ever title you select, ‘Consumer’, ‘Audience’,‘Receiver’, Player’, ‘Operator’, or ‘Gamer’, the fundamental issues remain the same in videogames: who and what is the Operator? What role do Gamers play within their communities or within their cultures? How do Players situate themselves in a competitive or casual environment and make sense of the game in light of genre, reception and history? How is the game used, culturally, socially and psychologically?

This conference aims to address the issues that surround the Player of videogames as contributor and consumer of specific cultures, not only through presentation and discussion, but also through actively engaging with games and Gamers. The organizers have invited a number of Professional Gamers to the conference to demonstrate their expertise and share their experiences. In doing so, the organizers hope that the participants will able to explore the sociological, psychological, and ludological issues in a game-playing context. These include:

• What takes place between Player and screen?
• Do original control interfaces (Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, Nintendo Wii, mobile games et cetera) adjust social behaviour?
• Does genre affect social participation and reception and in particular the positioning of the Operator?
• What role, if any, does gender take in multiplayer gaming?
• Are there consequences of play for Gamers, psychologically and socially?

Also of interest is the notion of the ‘fan’ in games: fiction, art, walkthroughs, and game interpretations - what do these communities have to say on the place of
the Player within their communal/cultural hierarchy?

Call for papers:

• New methodologies or adapted methodologies for studying the Gamer;
• Case studies of Players interacting with novel control interfaces;
• Case studies of Players in social settings;
• Case studies of the relationship between gender and games;
• Case studies of Players in competitive/professional settings;
• Approaches to gamers and gamers in the light of Psychoanalysis and Analytical Psychology;
• Studies on Methodologies for genre;
• The role of competition and casual and or social gaming within game culture; and
• Fan fiction and Fan Art.

Topics may include: sport simulations, racing games, first-person shooters, performance games (Dance, Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero etc), mobile games, original control hardware, sociological methodologies (adapted and new), audience reception, gender studies, psychoanalysis/analytical psychology, behavioural case studies, professional gaming, competitive gaming, social gaming, ‘girl’ games, game art, fan fiction, fan art, and so on.

Abstracts of 250 words, accompanied by contact details and a brief biography to be received by the 30th of March to: gamer [at] beds.ac.uk

C/O Steven Conway, Room C101
School of Media, Art & Design
University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
LU1 3JU

For further information, please go to:
http://www.beds.ac.uk/research/rimad/underthemask

David Dunkley-Gyimah
Wednesday 27th February
@ cultural eXchanges
3.00pm -4.00pm
Clephan Building 0.01, De Montfort University, Leicester

The Outernet

No one’s quite sure where it’s going, but the net, and the use of video in particular is surging ahead. Here, David Dunkley Gyimah posits a personal vision of the evolving News net and skillset of multimedia journalists based around his interpretation of what he calls the Outernet.

Hyperlinked video, modular news, news apps around game theory, public digital displays, mobile films and interactive Multimedia video journalism are some of the parameters he plays around with as a lecturer and studying a PhD.

David has twenty years experience in the media, working for the likes of Newsnight, Channel 4 News, ABC News South Africa and with Jon Staton, former head of TV at Saatchi and Saatchi. He was one of the first NUJ videojournalists (journalists who shoot and edit their own films) in the UK at Channel One and is a recipient of three international awards in recent years for online news site design, videojournalism and ideas about the web with a fellowship from the American Press WeMedia Institiute.

David’s experience has meant he’s spoken widely around the world about his work; which includes consulting with the UK Press Assciation and FinancialTimes devising programmes to turn newspaper journalists into videojournalists.

He’ll be showing a short film about multimedia and examples of his work.

http://www.viewmagazine.tv/

FREE EVENT

0116 250 6229 for further details and booking.