What follows is Matteo lo Prete‘s discussion on videogames and architecture. Here’s an excerpt (the full text is attached): “Before analysing level design as a sophisticated devising technique, used by highly qualified professional designers to create video-ludic settings, which, afterwards, will be enjoyed by a large number of players;  

Italy’s premier semiotics journal E/C has just published a fantastic collection of essays under the title “Computer Games. Between Text and Practice“, edited by Patrick Coppock and Dario Compagno. The anthology – available in print form – can be freely accessed online as well (Thank you, Dario!).

Like the invention of the motion picture in the late nineteenth century, the virtual world of the late twentieth century is a new way of human interaction. Of course, the Virtual World diverges from the medium of film in many important ways particularly in that it is not a passive

Tony Fortin is the editor-in-chief of “Les Cahiers du Jeu Vidéo“, a new series of thematic books on game culture currently on sale in France. The first volume, published in October, focuses on the simulation of war. The 172-page book is fully illustrated and includes several essays on specific

The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University is organizing The Future of Interactive Technology for Peace Conference on April 2 & 3, 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The theme of the conference is exploration of the impact that interactive technology has on peace, peacemaking, and diplomacy.

Frans Mäyrä: An Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture SAGE Publications, 2008. An Introduction to Game Studies is the first introductory textbook for students of game studies. It provides a conceptual overview of the cultural, social and economic significance of computer and video games and traces the history of game culture

Stanford University and Project Absentia present: “How do Virtual Worlds Disappear?”, a round-table and presentation, on Thursday Feb. 14, 4.15-6pm in the History Corner, room. 307. Speakers include: Henry Lowood, Brian Thompson and Vladen Koltun. Launched with a seed grant from the Stanford Humanities Lab, Project Absentia

Where: Annenberg Auditorium, Stanford University When: Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th of February 2008 Internet: official website Stanford Humanities Lab (SHL) is thrilled to announce the Metaverse U conference at Stanford University. This two day conference will be held

Found Technology: Players as Innovators in the Making of Machinima Henry Lowood Stanford University, University Libraries “The focus of this chapter is a new narrative medium called machinima, which means producing animated movies with the software that is used to develop and play computer games. Machinima has

E/C, the e-journal of the Italian Association for Semiotic Studies is publishing a special issue entirely devoted to computer games. Editors Dario Compagno (PhD student in Semiotics at the University of Siena, Italy) and Patrick Coppock (Researcher in Philosophy and theory of languages at the University of Modena and