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I'm reading this book right now...Here is the blurb from MIT: "For many players, games are entertainment, diversion, relaxation, fantasy. But what if certain games were something more than this, providing not only outlets for entertainment but a means for creative expression, instruments for conceptual thinking, or tools for social change? In Critical Play, artist and game designer Mary Flanagan examines alternative games-games that challenge the accepted norms embedded within the gaming industry-and argues that games designed by artists and activists are reshaping everyday game culture. Flanagan provides a lively historical context for critical play through twentieth-century art movements, connecting subversive game design to subversive art: her examples of "playing house" include Dadaist puppet shows and The Sims; her discussion of language play includes puns, palindromes, Yoko Ono's Instruction Paintings, and Jenny Holzer's messages in LED. Flanagan also looks at artists' alternative computer-based games, examining projects from Persuasive Games and Gonazalo Frasca and other games created through the use of interventionist strategies in the design process. And she explores games for change, considering the way activist concerns-among them Darfur, worldwide poverty, and AIDS-can be incorporated into game design. Arguing that this kind of conscious practice-which now constitutes the avant-garde of the computer game medium-can inspire new working methods for designers, Flanagan offers a model for designing that will encourage the subversion of popular gaming tropes through new styles of game making, and proposes a theory of alternate game design that focuses on the reworking of contemporary popular game practices."

Looks like a great read! I'm adding this to my Amazon book list.

Gameful is an online "Secret HQ" where you can connect with other people who believe in the power of games to make us better and change the world. It is a free resource - a place for you to: * Set up a profile sharing your expertise, skills, abilities, and interests * Search the network for collaborators and talent * Spread the word about your new projects * Meet journalists who want to write about interesting games or research like yours * Find new and cutting-edge game projects to inspire you * Join a Gameful book club and discuss big ideas * Join a Gameful game club and play big ideas! * Brainstorm and submit conference panels or sessions together * Plan Gameful meet-ups at conferences and festivals * Nominate your own work, or work you love, for the annual Gameful Awards (in the categories of Reality-Changing, Life-Changing, and World-Changing)

The facilities are following scholar­ship. Games are now used in English classes studying interactive narratives, media-studies classes looking at the cultural impact of violent games, as well as courses in game design offered at about 300 colleges. "The argument is really pretty simple," says David S. Carter, an engineering librarian at Michigan. "We have faculty who are doing stuff involved in video games, so the library needs to be doing something to support that teaching and that research."

From HASTAC: "In the unsettledness of this field, this forum recognizes those disciplinary forces that frequently attempt to silo the study of digital games into a narrow set of purposes, such as edutainment or gamification, or relegates digital gaming completely into the margins of "low" or "pop" culture. We seek to address how games have contributed to the digital humanities specifically, and how they might impact its future. In other words, where is video game studies in the digital humanities? And more broadly where can we identify intersections in cultural criticism, video game studies, and video game development? "

"Immersion" is the big watchword that game people use all the time. But to me it's not a matter of being "immersed" so much as it is simply being interested. (A game designer and academic named Richard Lemarchand made this argument beautifully at the G.D.C. [the Game Developers Conference] a couple years ago.) And you can be interested in all sorts of ways. One of the frustrating things for me in the last few weeks has been seeing the "video-game violence" debate. There's been a dispiriting lack of recognition of the sheer number of games out there that aren't violent, that are thoughtful.

CastleVille may be the newest "Ville" game in Zynga's lineup, but it is a game all its own, thanks to its living world and MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) elements. The game, which is making its debut Friday on Facebook, brings many of the traditional elements that have turned FarmVille and CityVille into multi-billion dollar successes, including city building, exploration, self expression and playing with friends. However, the game also boasts some gaming aspects that have popularized MMORGPs such as World of Warcraft, including player customization, an enhanced reputation system and a trade system that will roll out in the coming weeks.

From Slashdot pertaining to the pros and cons related to Wikipedia as the source for video game history: "Wikipedia requires reliable, third-party sources for content to stick, and most of the sites that covered MUDs throughout the '80s were user-generated, heavily specialized or buried deep within forums, user groups and newsletters. Despite their mammoth influence on the current gaming landscape, their insular communities were rarely explored by a nascent games journalist crowd. ... while cataloging gaming history is a vitally important move for this culture or art form, and Wikipedia makes a very valiant contribution, the site can't be held accountable as the singular destination for gaming archeology. But as it's often treated as one, due care must be paid to the site to ensure that its recollection doesn't become clouded or irresponsible, and to ensure its coalition of editors and administrators are not using its stringent rule set to sweep anything as vitally relevant as MUDS under the rug of history."

"The future of games culture: I can see a time where we sell tickets to stories, ones that are told through the written word, film, games and theatre to various degrees. I would love to be in a violent shipwreck as part of an immersive experience and then go home and play a survival horror game continuing that story."

The lovely folks at the National Endowment of the Arts, the US government body that awards grants to arts institutions and individual artists, have just expanded the categories of art it considers to include "media platforms such as... digital games", along with other Internet-driven mediums. As one of the country's most prominent arts organizations (taxpayer-funded, no less), this represents a huge milestone in the mainstream acknowledgement of games and other interactive media as art. It's part of the Arts in Media awards, with grants ranging from $10,000 to $200,000, with an application deadline of September 1. (Go here for all the details.)

"One middle school is teaching its students by having them design and play video games."

"Ian Bogost, an associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Communication and Culture who studies video games, puts it simply: "If you want to study things, you have to have them."

Interesting TED talk on using gaming to find solutions to real world problems.

Urgent Optimism + Social Fabric + Blissful Productivity + Epic Meaning = Super Empowered Hopeful Individuals. Great lecture!

Conference to be held in Athens, Greece, on April 6th-9th 2011. From the call: "Accepted papers will have a clear focus on philosophy and philosophical issues in relation to computer games. They will also attempt to use specific examples rather than merely invoke "computer games" in general terms. The over-arching theme of the conference is Player Identity. Papers are encouraged to explore one of the following topics and invited speakers will focus on this area. On the other hand, this is not the sole domain the conference will cover and submissions dealing with other relevant aspects of game philosophy are also welcome."

The Game Play Festival celebrates "video game theatre'

"Gaming guru and Reality is Broken author Jane McGonigal is organizing a game to commemorate the New York Public Library's centennial celebration. On May 20th, 500 gamers will spend the night in the main branch of the library on 42nd Street to complete 100 "quests" designed by a McGonigal-directed team." David Zax for Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/1744095/jane-mcgonigal-fixes-reality-at-the-new-york-public-library)

"This acknowledges that film, TV and games can stand side by side and be independently recognized," said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive, Music, Electronic Arts. "Hopefully, this will create an even playing field when people vote next year. I expect there to be a tidal wave of submissions from the game industry."

Article on upcoming exhibit at Smithsonian