Virtual Reality: Fictional all the Way Down (and that’s OK)

Are virtual reality objects real? I have a new paper out in the Disputatio journal, titled Virtual Reality: Fictional all the Way Down (and that’s OK) .

The paper came about as a response to David Chalmer’s 2017 paper The Virtual and the Real, about which Pawel Grabarczyk organized a seminar in Copenhagen in the summer of 2018.

TL;DR: Chalmers uses virtual reality to argue that there are structures (such as calculators) that exist regardless of their physical or non-physical implementation, and as such virtual reality objects can be perfectly real.

I argue, orthogonally, that virtual reality is not becoming “just-like-the-real-thing” based on any fidelity to the physical world. VR is not just technology, but art; a human act of communication and selective implementation. I also argue that VR is half-real: we are not magically transported to another world, as VR is only selectively implemented (it rarely has the photons that make up light, for example), and as users we we are conscious of how the world is a limited implementation made for the purpose of a particular experience.

No Don’t Die interview online

Here I am interviewed by David Wolinsky as part of his No Don’t Die series.

“In the first half of our conversation, we discuss what people deeply immersed in videogame culture don’t understand about people who don’t play for any number of reasons, how that disconnect stunts the medium’s growth and acceptance, and why the image of people who play videogames was once seen as being predominantly young and male — why that went away and then came back.”

And part two:

“In the second half of our conversation, we talk about how game critics frequently don’t have a grasp on the medium’s history and how that ripples out into broader conversations about games that become more circular then they ought to be, how exploring parallel topics in other industries isn’t always helpful or instructive, and much more.”

ROMchip journal issue 1/1

The inaugural issue of the ROMchip journal on game history is out now.

ARTICLES

INTERVIEWS

MATERIALS

My next book, Handmade Pixels, will be out in September

Handmade Pixels

It’s real: My new book, Handmade Pixels: Independent Video Games and the Quest for Authenticity is now in the MIT Press fall catalog, and will be out in September 2019.

For the book I interviewed 21 developers, artists, and festival organizers, and I will be posting interviews as we get closer.

Interviewees: Celia Pearce, David Kanaga, Jason Rohrer, Jonathan Blow, Kelly Wallick, Mattie Brice, Naomi Clark, Nathalie Lawhead, Pippin Barr, Rami Ismail, Robin Hunicke, Sam Roberts, Simon Carless, Tale of Tales, Thorsten Wiedemann, Tracy Fullerton, Zach gage, Anna Anthropy, Bennett Foddy, Paolo Pedercini, Bernie Dekoven.

Thanks to all who helped, made the games, or let themselves be interviewed!

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/handmade-pixels

Will start blogging again

How it happened: I used to use this blog to post what I did, promote interesting things I saw, and comment on the world in general.

Then most people stopped using RSS readers, and discussions and comments moved to social media, where we are at the mercy of algorithms, discussion only happens in small groups, and history disappears quickly.

So I will start blogging again.

Question: How to make people aware of new posts? Are there RSS reader holdouts? Would you be interested in getting emails when I post something?

G|A|M|E 7/2018: Digital Games for Special Needs; Special Needs for Digital Games

For your theoretical processing, G|A|M|E 7/2018 on Digital Games for Special Needs; Special Needs for Digital Games.

 

Join the Visual Game and Media Design Master’s program in Copenhagen, deadline March 1st

This is for the program I run in Copenhagen. Join us!

Apply to the Visual Game and Media Design Master’s program at KADK in Copenhagen. The Application deadline for the 2019-2021 class is March 1st.

The application process is now open for the two-year Visual Game And Media Design master’s program at KADK – the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in Copenhagen.

Visual Game and Media Design is an intensive two-year program for students wishing to do creative work in game design, visual media, and beyond. During the program, you will continually combine the hands-on creation of digital games, animations, motion graphics and visual designs with innovative conceptual approaches to game design and storyworld design.

Who can apply?
The master’s program in Visual Game and Media Design is in English, and is open to all students, Danish and International, with a relevant bachelor’s degree in fields such as graphic design, game design, animation, or 3D modeling. We encourage students with nontraditional backgrounds to apply.

More about the program and application process
To learn more about the program, and to apply, go to the website or email program head Jesper Juul, jjuul@kadk.dk
https://kadk.dk/en/programme/visual-game-and-media-design

We have frequent lectures by industry luminaries. We have recently had talks by designers such as Richard Lemarchand, Mary Flanagan, Nathalie Pozzi, Eric Zimmerman, Robert Yang, Henrike Lode, Alfred Nguyen (Forgotten Anne), Trine Laier (Cosmic Top Secret), Mikkel Pedersen (Deep Rock Galactic), and Petter Henriksen (Landfall Games).

We also organize game jams in collaboration with the local industry, including the 2019 Nordic Game Jam.

Why study at KADK in Copenhagen?
KADK is a leading academy in Scandinavia in the fields of architecture, design and conservation. It is located centrally by the Copenhagen harbor.

Copenhagen is a hub for video game development, with a vibrant English-language game development community, and home to both small and large companies such as Sybo games, IO Interactive, Playdead and Unity3D.

KADK works closely with (and is situated next to) the National Film School of Denmark, and with the professional TV and Film community in Denmark.