Introductory presentation for "Playing Fair: Remix in the Gaming Community" panel at World's Fair Use Day 2011
http://worldsfairuseday.org
Video of panel:
http://worldsfairuseday.org/post/3069519713/wfud-2011-playing-fair-remix-in-the-gaming
There's more to game culture than playing games. Innovations within the game industry and the gamer community have sparked emergent forms of expression as well as an impressive amount of creative interaction and engagement that have allowed for games to cross over into social networks, movies, music and education.From the release of tools to make user-created content such as custom avatars and maps, to the addition of filmmaking tools, a large opening has formed in digital media through which the gaming community is showing that they are not just passive consumers, but engaged media makers.
This probably looks familiar – can someone tell me what it is?it’s Farmville, a social game played mainly within Facebook - now played by over 80 million peopleSource: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/20/farmville-community-surpasses-80-million-playersImage source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamstanley/4262900832/
there are a couple of myths that exist about gamers…Like gamers are young & they wouldn’t be interested – well…Average gamer is 35 yrs oldAnd the population is not as skewed as u’d think, 40% of all players are women25% of game players are over the age of 50Source: “2009 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry.” Entertainment Software Association (ESA).http://www.theesa.com/facts/gameplayer.aspImage source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loudmusiccausescarpetburn/4328204147/
Games have been pervading mainstream culture in other forms as well -- for ex, movies that arebased upon or are related to video gamesTron: Legacy – despite mixed reviews, ranked #1 in box office opening wkendSource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron:_LegacyImage source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tronlegacy.jpg.jpg
Machinima (machine+cinema) is filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment, often usingvideogame technologies.convergence of filmmaking, animation and game development. By combining the techniques of filmmaking, animation production and the technology of real-time 3D game engines, Machinima makes for a very cost- and time-efficient way to produce films, with a large amount of creative control.This screenshot is from This Spartan Life, a talk show in the Halo game space, created/directed by Chris BurkeImage source: by permission of Chris Burke, This Spartan Life
8-bit music or chiptunes = music made using gameboys as sequencers and synthesizers,– ex: glomag, bubblyfish, bitshifterhttp://www.8bitpeoples.com/Image source: by permission of Chris Burke and Haeyoung Kim
Genre of games called social issues or serious games = Games for Change == gamers as activistsOver 1 million — The amount of times Ayitiwas played in the first year of its release - a video game about poverty in Haiti. Ayiti: The Cost of Life is a game that challenges its players to manage a rural family of five in Haiti over four years and keep them healthy, get them educated, and help them survive. Develop in a unique partnership between youth in an after school program and a professional game developer, the game has been played over a half million times since its launch six months ago and has proven to be a hit as both an engaging game and as a tool for education.CostofLife.orgImage source:http://ayiti.newzcrew.org/globalkids/
Take it to the streets – interact with urban environment with mobile, locative gamesPac-Manhattan uses area in and around Washington Square Park to play a real live version of Pacman. Players communicate their position via mobile phones.Image source: http://www.pacmanhattan.com
Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world. “high-tech hide and seek”How many people checked-in to this venue in Foursquare today?Foursquare: location-based social networking in a game structure. Users "check-in" and are awarded points and sometimes "badges” and “mayorships”Image sources:Geocaching: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beejjorgensen/19286183/Foursquare: screenshot by Josephine Dorado
1700’s: Curator of Experiments to the Royal Society had salonsPart research, part ice breaker, part theater “electrical machine,” essentially an evacuated glass globe which was turned on an axle and to which friction (a hand, a cloth, a piece of fur) was applied to produce a static electrical charge” – improved device, added mercury, produced a glow – age of candles – source of artificial lightSensational, entertainment – later, Franklin, Volta, Faraday – foundation for electricity – this took decades of toolbuilding, experimentation Playing is essential to understanding what the technology is and where it will goBuilding blocks: inspiration, incubation, play, refinement – games (thinking about our larger world as a game that we can build on, remix) is a part of that process