Bad Games colloquium
Saturday 18th July, 10am - 6pm
Pervasive Media Studio
Leadworks, Bristol
The Play Research Group at the University of the West of England, Bristol
seeks contributions in the form of research outlines, position papers, media
projects and provocations on the theme of Bad Games.
Bad Games will:
· Thematise games and play as a central yet ambivalent characteristic of
digital culture
Question influential assumptions of the liberatory potential of interactivity
· Reflect on, revise, reject, renovate or otherwise refresh critical
modelings of ludic digital culture that assume it be an intrinsically
positive, creative or subversive alternative to ‘old media’
· Complicate simplistic moral panics about bad games and their effects
· Consider bad games in the context and rubrics of other ‘bad’ media theory
topics like paracinema, trash culture, and comics
Bad Games might include
Sex games
Mind games
War games
Boring games
Work games
Power games
Horror games
Cruel Games
E-gambling
SimCulture
Ludic figures in cinema, from Funny Games USA to The Nines, to Intacto
The atrocity exhibition of Reality TV
The military-entertainment complex
The infantilization of adults by Nintendo ds
Parental guidance: children playing violence
Computer games' temporal and financial demands
Repetitive games
The colloquium will be structured so that participants share proposals and
dialogue, discussion and responses rather than as a presenter/question time
format.
Send proposals (no more 200 words) for 15 min presentations to:
[log in to unmask]
By Friday 19th June 2009
COST: £20 – payable on the day.
Tea/Coffee and Lunch will be provided.
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