Having gone through a series of lectures and classes leading up to the official opening of the video games lab at school this weekend, and having talked to a number of people not of an age to have grown up with video games during that time, I have had more than my share of conversations about video games and violence. I have begun to formulate my take on the topic. I am posting it here, once, and then I don’t want to talk about it with anyone, anymore, until they’ve read this post and its revisions and comments. I swear I am going to print out a card which has the permanent URL for this post and just hand it to anyone who walks up to me with a question about violence on their lips.
Continue Reading »
Not everyday does a routine Internet cruise turn up a truly rare document whose visibility to the public has been repeatedly threatened. In case you haven’t seen it, I give you: The F!shman Aff!dav!t, a public presentation of secret $c!ent010gy documents.
Continue Reading »
We’ve recently completed the mural in the EGGPLANT lab, where we do our research on video games at Teachers College. The theme is pastoral and incorporates video game elements, if you can grok that. I recently added pictures of the grand opening and TRON PROM, including the infamous prom pictures, to this page. Have a look!
I hadn’t thought New York City’s homeless census was likely to make a splash in the news beyond the city, so as the Getty Images photographer snapped away at me, my fellow volunteers, and homeless folks we met in the wee smalls Tuesday morning, I was pretty sure the pix weren’t going anywhere. But I got a call this morning from a friend in San Francisco saying he’d seen me in USA Today!
Continue Reading »
Can we talk about information for just a second, here? Is anyone having the same problem as I am?
I came to a point tonight — it was when I was looking for citations at the root of the debate over whether video games should be looked at as narratives or considered as play, and instead I found myself reading an article by Gonzalo Frasca on Grand Theft Auto — where I just had to step away from my computer and go lie fetal on the living room couch with the cats galloping all over my motionless bod. I had too many windows open, too many ideas I was pursuing, and too many options in trying to find them. I was completely overloaded with information.
Continue Reading »
