The speaker begins by providing disclaimers, noting that they are not truly qualified to give an academic talk as they were formerly a failed academic studying 12th century French monastic development and are now a game developer. They then discuss in Chapter 1 how they got their start in game journalism by vomiting at a gaming forum meetup over 10 years ago, which led to opportunities writing about games. In Chapter 2, they express a fear about shared gaming vocabularies and communities creating an expectation to be knowledgeable about all popular games, leaving them feeling excluded at times for not having played everything. They then provide an example of pretending to talk about a fictitious new game called Midwinter to seem prepared, but reveal it was actually a
Channel Surfing: Volume 2 is a follow-up collection of randomly conceived, shamelessly odd thoughts, experiences, and ideas expressed through abbreviated concepts. As with the first volume, each page stands alone with no overarching narrative.
Volume 2 is available in a digital-only format. Because trees.
And also because hundreds of printed Volume 1 booklets still sit in my basement. Of the copies I did manage to peddle out to friends and local coffee shops, I can only hope they continue to be enjoyed and properly housed on a worthy bookshelf...but more likely they were tolerated for the same amount of time as a thoughtful birthday card and then recycled to collectively become the box of the AmazonĀ® package that was stolen off their front porch. So there. Full circle.
Flip (scroll) through and enjoy the surf!
-Joe
This booklet is a collection of randomly conceived, shamelessly odd thoughts, experiences, and ideas expressed through abbreviated concepts.
Each page stands alone. There is no overarching narrative, just the story youāve flipped to.
Many might not make sense. Some will hit the mark.
Find some laughs, some furrowed eyebrows, and some inspiration.
Channel Surfing: Volume 2 is a follow-up collection of randomly conceived, shamelessly odd thoughts, experiences, and ideas expressed through abbreviated concepts. As with the first volume, each page stands alone with no overarching narrative.
Volume 2 is available in a digital-only format. Because trees.
And also because hundreds of printed Volume 1 booklets still sit in my basement. Of the copies I did manage to peddle out to friends and local coffee shops, I can only hope they continue to be enjoyed and properly housed on a worthy bookshelf...but more likely they were tolerated for the same amount of time as a thoughtful birthday card and then recycled to collectively become the box of the AmazonĀ® package that was stolen off their front porch. So there. Full circle.
Flip (scroll) through and enjoy the surf!
-Joe
This booklet is a collection of randomly conceived, shamelessly odd thoughts, experiences, and ideas expressed through abbreviated concepts.
Each page stands alone. There is no overarching narrative, just the story youāve flipped to.
Many might not make sense. Some will hit the mark.
Find some laughs, some furrowed eyebrows, and some inspiration.
It's only a very few cosplayers who make it to the top of the pyramid at Blizzard's official BlizzCon costume contests. Officially, pandaren monk cosplayer Amanda Wisley may not have among those finalists this year -- but unofficially, the bubbly redhead earned a reputation for her bright, engaging cosplay with attendees delighted to find themselves in animated conversation with a fully suited pandaren.
It's Not How Bad You Are, It's How Bad You're Born To Beedbuller
Ā
The world's best smelling book by Ed Buller. A slimline pamphlet of slop psychology perfect for those with neither the time nor patience to acquire an informed opinion.
The Politics of Worldbuilding (AdventureX 2017)Jess Haskins
Ā
All art is political, whether or not you intend to "make a statement." If you don't create with a clearly articulated perspective in mind, your work is likely to reinforce a host of tropes and implicit assumptions you hadn't even considered. Especially when you set out to build an entire world!
What values does your world embody? What culture does it create? Who is it for?
Drawing on examples from my work in game writing, design, and teaching, this talk examines the ways that worldbuilders can both draw upon and challenge traditional representations to captivate audiences with original, compelling, immersive worlds, while avoiding damaging tropes and cliches.
John F Kennedy Essay. President John F. Kennedys speechs - Free Essay Example...Jennifer Johnson
Ā
President John F. Kennedy's speechs - Free Essay Example | PapersOwl.com. John F. Kennedy's Legacy - Free Essay Example | PapersOwl.com. The Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy Essay Example | Topics and .... John F Kennedy | John F. Kennedy | Presidents Of The United States.
This is an off-the-cuff piece I came up with late at night one day soon after visiting Denmark. Late night in Seattle winter sparks a certain section of the imagination.
SAP Sapphire 2024 - ASUG301 building better apps with SAP Fiori.pdfPeter Spielvogel
Ā
Building better applications for business users with SAP Fiori.
ā¢ What is SAP Fiori and why it matters to you
ā¢ How a better user experience drives measurable business benefits
ā¢ How to get started with SAP Fiori today
ā¢ How SAP Fiori elements accelerates application development
ā¢ How SAP Build Code includes SAP Fiori tools and other generative artificial intelligence capabilities
ā¢ How SAP Fiori paves the way for using AI in SAP apps
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
Ā
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Ā
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
It's only a very few cosplayers who make it to the top of the pyramid at Blizzard's official BlizzCon costume contests. Officially, pandaren monk cosplayer Amanda Wisley may not have among those finalists this year -- but unofficially, the bubbly redhead earned a reputation for her bright, engaging cosplay with attendees delighted to find themselves in animated conversation with a fully suited pandaren.
It's Not How Bad You Are, It's How Bad You're Born To Beedbuller
Ā
The world's best smelling book by Ed Buller. A slimline pamphlet of slop psychology perfect for those with neither the time nor patience to acquire an informed opinion.
The Politics of Worldbuilding (AdventureX 2017)Jess Haskins
Ā
All art is political, whether or not you intend to "make a statement." If you don't create with a clearly articulated perspective in mind, your work is likely to reinforce a host of tropes and implicit assumptions you hadn't even considered. Especially when you set out to build an entire world!
What values does your world embody? What culture does it create? Who is it for?
Drawing on examples from my work in game writing, design, and teaching, this talk examines the ways that worldbuilders can both draw upon and challenge traditional representations to captivate audiences with original, compelling, immersive worlds, while avoiding damaging tropes and cliches.
John F Kennedy Essay. President John F. Kennedys speechs - Free Essay Example...Jennifer Johnson
Ā
President John F. Kennedy's speechs - Free Essay Example | PapersOwl.com. John F. Kennedy's Legacy - Free Essay Example | PapersOwl.com. The Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy Essay Example | Topics and .... John F Kennedy | John F. Kennedy | Presidents Of The United States.
This is an off-the-cuff piece I came up with late at night one day soon after visiting Denmark. Late night in Seattle winter sparks a certain section of the imagination.
SAP Sapphire 2024 - ASUG301 building better apps with SAP Fiori.pdfPeter Spielvogel
Ā
Building better applications for business users with SAP Fiori.
ā¢ What is SAP Fiori and why it matters to you
ā¢ How a better user experience drives measurable business benefits
ā¢ How to get started with SAP Fiori today
ā¢ How SAP Fiori elements accelerates application development
ā¢ How SAP Build Code includes SAP Fiori tools and other generative artificial intelligence capabilities
ā¢ How SAP Fiori paves the way for using AI in SAP apps
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
Ā
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Ā
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Ā
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
Ā
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Ā
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
Welocme to ViralQR, your best QR code generator.ViralQR
Ā
Welcome to ViralQR, your best QR code generator available on the market!
At ViralQR, we design static and dynamic QR codes. Our mission is to make business operations easier and customer engagement more powerful through the use of QR technology. Be it a small-scale business or a huge enterprise, our easy-to-use platform provides multiple choices that can be tailored according to your company's branding and marketing strategies.
Our Vision
We are here to make the process of creating QR codes easy and smooth, thus enhancing customer interaction and making business more fluid. We very strongly believe in the ability of QR codes to change the world for businesses in their interaction with customers and are set on making that technology accessible and usable far and wide.
Our Achievements
Ever since its inception, we have successfully served many clients by offering QR codes in their marketing, service delivery, and collection of feedback across various industries. Our platform has been recognized for its ease of use and amazing features, which helped a business to make QR codes.
Our Services
At ViralQR, here is a comprehensive suite of services that caters to your very needs:
Static QR Codes: Create free static QR codes. These QR codes are able to store significant information such as URLs, vCards, plain text, emails and SMS, Wi-Fi credentials, and Bitcoin addresses.
Dynamic QR codes: These also have all the advanced features but are subscription-based. They can directly link to PDF files, images, micro-landing pages, social accounts, review forms, business pages, and applications. In addition, they can be branded with CTAs, frames, patterns, colors, and logos to enhance your branding.
Pricing and Packages
Additionally, there is a 14-day free offer to ViralQR, which is an exceptional opportunity for new users to take a feel of this platform. One can easily subscribe from there and experience the full dynamic of using QR codes. The subscription plans are not only meant for business; they are priced very flexibly so that literally every business could afford to benefit from our service.
Why choose us?
ViralQR will provide services for marketing, advertising, catering, retail, and the like. The QR codes can be posted on fliers, packaging, merchandise, and banners, as well as to substitute for cash and cards in a restaurant or coffee shop. With QR codes integrated into your business, improve customer engagement and streamline operations.
Comprehensive Analytics
Subscribers of ViralQR receive detailed analytics and tracking tools in light of having a view of the core values of QR code performance. Our analytics dashboard shows aggregate views and unique views, as well as detailed information about each impression, including time, device, browser, and estimated location by city and country.
So, thank you for choosing ViralQR; we have an offer of nothing but the best in terms of QR code services to meet business diversity!
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Ā
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 3DianaGray10
Ā
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 3. In this session, we will cover desktop automation along with UI automation.
Topics covered:
UI automation Introduction,
UI automation Sample
Desktop automation flow
Pradeep Chinnala, Senior Consultant Automation Developer @WonderBotz and UiPath MVP
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Ā
Monitoring and observability arenāt traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current companyās observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumbleā¦.many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
Free Complete Python - A step towards Data Science
Ā
In Defense Of Haystacks
1. IN DEFENSE OF HAYSTACKS
DIGRA 2013
@ranarama
www.hideandseek.net
2. In defence of haystacks
Chapter 1 - vomit
Chapter 2 - fear
Chapter 3 - revenge
Chapter 4 - ghosts
Chapter 5 - death
Chapter 6 - takeaways
Hereās a quick precis of what weāre going to cover in this talk. Donāt be scared. There are
takeaways!
3. Disclaimers
#1 - talk contains disclaimers
#2 - wrong sort of academic
First up - some disclaimers. Deļ¬nitely important to address whether or not Iāve got any business keynoting an academic conference. I did *used* to be an academic - studying 12th century southern
French monastic development - but entirely the wrong sort of academic. And itās important to say up front that Iām also a failed wrong sort of academic. Never did ļ¬nish that doctorate, which - cut me
some slack - was super hard. Hand-written latin! Dendrochronology!
Then, for a while, I had a role that did make it make sense for me to speak at events like this - editor-in-chief of Edge magazine, but Iām not even a journalist any more.
Worse, I know make games in a living, which means I have a dog in all the ļ¬ghts Iām about to talk about. At least as an academic or a journalist, I had a veneer of objectivity. Now I deļ¬nitely have a
subjective view of the games world.
4. Disclaimers
#1 - talk contains disclaimers
#2 - wrong sort of academic
Cartulaire de lāabbaye de Bonnecombe, 1194
First up - some disclaimers. Deļ¬nitely important to address whether or not Iāve got any business keynoting an academic conference. I did *used* to be an academic - studying 12th century southern
French monastic development - but entirely the wrong sort of academic. And itās important to say up front that Iām also a failed wrong sort of academic. Never did ļ¬nish that doctorate, which - cut me
some slack - was super hard. Hand-written latin! Dendrochronology!
Then, for a while, I had a role that did make it make sense for me to speak at events like this - editor-in-chief of Edge magazine, but Iām not even a journalist any more.
Worse, I know make games in a living, which means I have a dog in all the ļ¬ghts Iām about to talk about. At least as an academic or a journalist, I had a veneer of objectivity. Now I deļ¬nitely have a
subjective view of the games world.
5. Disclaimers
#1 - talk contains disclaimers
#2 - wrong sort of academic
#3 - failed wrong sort of academic
#4 - not even a journalist any more
#5 - vested interests
First up - some disclaimers. Deļ¬nitely important to address whether or not Iāve got any business keynoting an academic conference. I did *used* to be an academic - studying 12th century southern
French monastic development - but entirely the wrong sort of academic. And itās important to say up front that Iām also a failed wrong sort of academic. Never did ļ¬nish that doctorate, which - cut me
some slack - was super hard. Hand-written latin! Dendrochronology!
Then, for a while, I had a role that did make it make sense for me to speak at events like this - editor-in-chief of Edge magazine, but Iām not even a journalist any more.
Worse, I know make games in a living, which means I have a dog in all the ļ¬ghts Iām about to talk about. At least as an academic or a journalist, I had a veneer of objectivity. Now I deļ¬nitely have a
subjective view of the games world.
6. Chapter 1 - vomit
But letās talk about that game world none-the-less. I mentioned I used to be a game journalist. I was often asked then - am still often asked - by keen young kids and students how I got my start. I have
systemantically lied to these keen young people, because the truth of how I got my start is pretty grubby and embarassing.
It basically happened on this street, in a small town in England called Bath, well over ten years ago now. I had gone to Bath to attend the second ever Edge forum meet. 30 or so people were going to meet
in a pub and talk about videogames. This was an unbelievably exciting prospect.
Itās easy to forget how much more underground gaming was 10 years ago - depending on your age you might never have experienced it. But there were very few opportunities to talk to other people beyond your immediate circle of friends. There were far fewer sources of information. Meeting up with 30 strangers from all over the country that you knew only by their forum names was an *enormous*
deal. Rare and extraordinary wonders were there - 10 player Saturn Bomberman. Someone had an imported Japanese Xbox controller X - this was back in the fat-pad dark ages - that we all cooed over . It
was a wonderful, wonderful night. We played games, ate curry, drank beer and gathered at the end of the night for a group photo. And during that group photo - too full of beer and curry and joy - I
vomited spectacularly all over the pavement. I think a little bit of it got on Basil The Foxās coat. Sorry Basil The Fox.
I thought Iād never be able to show my face again, but the reality was I came home with a sort of forum celebrity, or at least notoriety. And I decided that if people were going to be reading what I wrote I
should at least work hard to make sure it was worth reading. And the stuff I wrote got noticed a bit, and the Edge editor asked me to contribute to a side-project, and then that turned into a tiny bit of
freelancing and a few months later I applied for and got my staff writer slot on Edge. And now Iām here. Itās a straight line from that pool of vomit to the career I have now.
7. Chapter 1 - vomit
But letās talk about that game world none-the-less. I mentioned I used to be a game journalist. I was often asked then - am still often asked - by keen young kids and students how I got my start. I have
systemantically lied to these keen young people, because the truth of how I got my start is pretty grubby and embarassing.
It basically happened on this street, in a small town in England called Bath, well over ten years ago now. I had gone to Bath to attend the second ever Edge forum meet. 30 or so people were going to meet
in a pub and talk about videogames. This was an unbelievably exciting prospect.
Itās easy to forget how much more underground gaming was 10 years ago - depending on your age you might never have experienced it. But there were very few opportunities to talk to other people beyond your immediate circle of friends. There were far fewer sources of information. Meeting up with 30 strangers from all over the country that you knew only by their forum names was an *enormous*
deal. Rare and extraordinary wonders were there - 10 player Saturn Bomberman. Someone had an imported Japanese Xbox controller X - this was back in the fat-pad dark ages - that we all cooed over . It
was a wonderful, wonderful night. We played games, ate curry, drank beer and gathered at the end of the night for a group photo. And during that group photo - too full of beer and curry and joy - I
vomited spectacularly all over the pavement. I think a little bit of it got on Basil The Foxās coat. Sorry Basil The Fox.
I thought Iād never be able to show my face again, but the reality was I came home with a sort of forum celebrity, or at least notoriety. And I decided that if people were going to be reading what I wrote I
should at least work hard to make sure it was worth reading. And the stuff I wrote got noticed a bit, and the Edge editor asked me to contribute to a side-project, and then that turned into a tiny bit of
freelancing and a few months later I applied for and got my staff writer slot on Edge. And now Iām here. Itās a straight line from that pool of vomit to the career I have now.
8. Chapter 1 - vomit
But letās talk about that game world none-the-less. I mentioned I used to be a game journalist. I was often asked then - am still often asked - by keen young kids and students how I got my start. I have
systemantically lied to these keen young people, because the truth of how I got my start is pretty grubby and embarassing.
It basically happened on this street, in a small town in England called Bath, well over ten years ago now. I had gone to Bath to attend the second ever Edge forum meet. 30 or so people were going to meet
in a pub and talk about videogames. This was an unbelievably exciting prospect.
Itās easy to forget how much more underground gaming was 10 years ago - depending on your age you might never have experienced it. But there were very few opportunities to talk to other people beyond your immediate circle of friends. There were far fewer sources of information. Meeting up with 30 strangers from all over the country that you knew only by their forum names was an *enormous*
deal. Rare and extraordinary wonders were there - 10 player Saturn Bomberman. Someone had an imported Japanese Xbox controller X - this was back in the fat-pad dark ages - that we all cooed over . It
was a wonderful, wonderful night. We played games, ate curry, drank beer and gathered at the end of the night for a group photo. And during that group photo - too full of beer and curry and joy - I
vomited spectacularly all over the pavement. I think a little bit of it got on Basil The Foxās coat. Sorry Basil The Fox.
I thought Iād never be able to show my face again, but the reality was I came home with a sort of forum celebrity, or at least notoriety. And I decided that if people were going to be reading what I wrote I
should at least work hard to make sure it was worth reading. And the stuff I wrote got noticed a bit, and the Edge editor asked me to contribute to a side-project, and then that turned into a tiny bit of
freelancing and a few months later I applied for and got my staff writer slot on Edge. And now Iām here. Itās a straight line from that pool of vomit to the career I have now.
9. Lonely
Lovely
And it should seem clear that weāve made enormous progress in the last 10 years. Now, instead of 30 internet weirdies hanging out on a street corner, gaming has a vast, passionate community who can
come together at academic conferences, and festivals, and expos, and e-sports tournamets, and cool arcade bars and all sorts. Itās obviously good that weāve moved on from that lonely isolation to a more
vibrant community.
Or is it?
10. Lonely
Lie!
Lovely
And it should seem clear that weāve made enormous progress in the last 10 years. Now, instead of 30 internet weirdies hanging out on a street corner, gaming has a vast, passionate community who can
come together at academic conferences, and festivals, and expos, and e-sports tournamets, and cool arcade bars and all sorts. Itās obviously good that weāve moved on from that lonely isolation to a more
vibrant community.
Or is it?
11. Chapter 2 - fear
There was deļ¬nite elation the ļ¬rst time I came together with people with whom I had a shared language. Which whom I could just reference a game or a mechanic or a designer or a piece of music and
trust that it would be understood. Having that mutual vocabulary is a great pleasure, and can be incredibly valuable in making communication quicker, clearer, more concrete.
But at the same time, I ļ¬nd that Iām increasingly anticipating events like this one not with enthusiasm but with fear. That shared vocabulary feels a little like itās setting into a ļ¬xed canon - a slowly
increasing list of games which you must have played and must have an opinion about. I worry before events like these that I havenāt done my homework properly, because I havenāt. I know that I ought to
have smart insights about games like Howling Dogs and Monaco, but I havenāt played them enough - or played them at all. And because I havenāt, I feel more excluded from this big new community. I
donāt have the smart thing to say about the new hot game.
12. A bit!
Not at all!
Nope!
Not enough!
Nuh-uh!
Sorry everyone...
Chapter 2 - fear
There was deļ¬nite elation the ļ¬rst time I came together with people with whom I had a shared language. Which whom I could just reference a game or a mechanic or a designer or a piece of music and
trust that it would be understood. Having that mutual vocabulary is a great pleasure, and can be incredibly valuable in making communication quicker, clearer, more concrete.
But at the same time, I ļ¬nd that Iām increasingly anticipating events like this one not with enthusiasm but with fear. That shared vocabulary feels a little like itās setting into a ļ¬xed canon - a slowly
increasing list of games which you must have played and must have an opinion about. I worry before events like these that I havenāt done my homework properly, because I havenāt. I know that I ought to
have smart insights about games like Howling Dogs and Monaco, but I havenāt played them enough - or played them at all. And because I havenāt, I feel more excluded from this big new community. I
donāt have the smart thing to say about the new hot game.
13. 16,000 square miles
Ski-ing, hang-gliding, sniping, snowmobiles
Sabotague, prison breaks, high explosives
32 playable characters
Real-time clock
Realistic damage modelling
So, for this event, I thought I would ļ¬x that. I thought I would guarantee that I had smart things to say about the hot new game, by introducing a game thatās so hot and so new that most people havenāt
heard of it yet. Itās made by a very small UK team, and itās a really good example of how rich and fascinating independent game development has become in 2013.
The game is called Midwinter, and is set after catastrophic climate change has redrawn our geography. Much of the world is now ice-bound, and the remaining human settlements that have survived the
destruction huddle where they can around sources of heat or energy. One small community is based on the island of Midwinter, where geothermal vents give them some hope of suriviing the Artic
temperatures that now afļ¬ict the tropics. Life is hard but generally peaceable, until a local warlord gets to hear about vents and decides he wants to own their power for himself. You play as the lone
village policeman, the ļ¬rst person on the island to notice the invading force, and the only person who can piece together a civilian resistance force that might save your community.
Itās also a technical tour-de-force, and action/strategy game which plays out across a whole island, with 32 distinct personalities who must interact and co-operate if theyāre to have any hope of defeating
the enemy.
But more importantly, this whole introduction was a big fat lie.
14. Midwinter, Mike Singleton (1989)
Midwinter isnāt a hot new game, itās a forgotten old game. Nearly 25 years old, in fact. I played it on the Atari ST - still play it emulated - and it amazes me as much now as it did
then.
15. Midwinter, Mike Singleton (1989)
So much about this game is remarkable. The set-up is genuinely politically interesting. The presentation is glorious, holding up incredibly well for a 25 year old experiment in 3D. The game play is
incredibly varied and taut - ski-ing and hang-gliding have incredibly game feel and the sense of threat from the much-better-equipped warlord forces is utterly heart-in-mouth terrifying. The cast of
characters you play with are varied and as nuanced as the gameās structural limitations allow. In a world where weāre still clamouring for more variety in our playable characters, Midwinter put you in the
boots of old ladies and young children. Itās emergent narrative was incredibly strong, as tiny frail humans tried to scratch out their desperate plans across miles and miles of unforgiving snow and ice. So
many of our games still treat war as a fairground show - ļ¬reworks and bombast and excitment. Midwinter treated it as a desperate, exhausting, often futile slog.
Itās a wonderful, wonderful game and weāve forgotten it. And there are *thousands* of games like it.
16. Captain Blood, ERE Informatique/Exxos (1988)
I could have pulled the same stunt with Captain Blood - frankly with anything in the Exxos backcatalogue.
17. Captain Blood, ERE Informatique/Exxos (1988)
Captain Blood has a brilliantly deranged premise - you play a game-maker who has been accidentally sucked inside their own game - a space-faring adventure. In the course of the accident, youāve been
cloned 30 times, with each clone taking part of your vital essence. Now you must hunt the galaxy and kill your clones, to ensure your own humanity.
To ļ¬nd the clones you need to visit planets, meet their resident aliens, and ļ¬nd ways to communicate with them. The game used a fantastically tactile interface which let you hold free-ish text
conversations with aliens, stringing together concepts and nouns to try to get your point across. It felt then, and now, a much more realistic rendering of what talking to aliens might actually feel like,
rather than the sleek easiness of cross-species conversation in the Mass Effect universe say. It was awkward and coarse and clumsy and when it worked it felt like magic.
And again, I could see Steam Greenlight going crazy for this now, but itās been forgotten and discarded by the gaming community.
18. Amped 3, IndieBuilt (2005)
And itās not just weird European 16 bit games that weāve lost. Amped 3 - a nice fat, AAA, Xbox title is totally forgotten now. Despite the fact that itās a snowboarding game which spent *half its budget*
on musical numbers and stop-motion animation.
19. Amped 3, IndieBuilt (2005)
Iām not making that up either. This was a snowboarding gaming about an evil villain who runs a company called Colonotronic Arts from a zepellin that circles the globe and is trying to take over the
world by making videogames. Each of the gameās main characters had a different visual style associated with them, so cut scenes starring them would be delivered in decoupage, or ball-point pen jotterdoodles or whatever. There was deļ¬nitely a bit where there was live action footage of someone barbecuing some Barbies. Thereās a gameshow set in Russia about potatos where all the characters are
played by peoples real hands with googly-eyes stuck on them. The game ends with a massive musical number featuring every single NPC singing to thank the player for sticking with it. Itās by far the
most joyously anarchic game Iāve ever played.
And it was inventive from a gameplay structure as well - every challenge in the game was freely editable. If you couldnāt make it through a course, you could drop into edit mode and add a rail or a jump.
Before any of us were really talking about UGC, way before Little Big Planet, this was a major triple AAA game that made creating and playing indistinguishable.
20. Chapter 5 - death
And so, whereas 5 years ago when I saw a bit of Mario needlepoint, or a webcomic about GoldenEye, I was thrilled, now my heart sinks a bit. It feels like by coalescing around these shared reference
points, weāre losing the vitality and unpredictability that I used to love about games culture. It feels like weāre starting to calcify.
And this is the source of my anxiety. One of the reasons that I got out of academia - other than that I sucked at it - was that it was utterly moribund and self-referential. It was impossible to write
anything without referencing the core canon of books that came before. My particular bete-noir was this text. The big question about early Cistercian life - forgive the mini history lecture - was whether
or not they lived up to their own hype. Cistercianism had at its heart an opposition to the lazy luxury that was seen, by the 12th century, as the hallmark of Benedictine monastic life. The Cistercians, by
contrast, were going to seek out hardship and isolation. They were going to live poor, pure lives that would be more pleasing to God. Much scholarship has been devoted to the question of whether or not
they ever really managed to, or if over-excited doners, swayed by their promise of impoverished piety, immediately deluged them in so much cash that they ended up rich before they ever had a chance to
be pure. Lekaiās Ideals and Reality is seen as a pivotal text here. Except, if you read it, what he actually says is ādear god donāt get suckered into an endless debate about ideals vs reality. Of course the
truth is more nuanced and there are a million more interesting questions to askā. Except, for 50 years, no-one seems to have read beyond the title and if you want to write anything about the Cistercians
you are ļ¬rst required to āsitatuate yourself in the Ideals vs Realityā debate.
I was determined to let the thing die - it felt utterly self-defeating to write a big chapter about how we needed to let this thing drop. A much more effective way to drop it would just be to *drop it*. But I
was also an inexperienced, ignorant idiot who failed their doctorate for exactly this kind of pig-headedness.
21. Chapter 5 - death
And so, whereas 5 years ago when I saw a bit of Mario needlepoint, or a webcomic about GoldenEye, I was thrilled, now my heart sinks a bit. It feels like by coalescing around these shared reference
points, weāre losing the vitality and unpredictability that I used to love about games culture. It feels like weāre starting to calcify.
And this is the source of my anxiety. One of the reasons that I got out of academia - other than that I sucked at it - was that it was utterly moribund and self-referential. It was impossible to write
anything without referencing the core canon of books that came before. My particular bete-noir was this text. The big question about early Cistercian life - forgive the mini history lecture - was whether
or not they lived up to their own hype. Cistercianism had at its heart an opposition to the lazy luxury that was seen, by the 12th century, as the hallmark of Benedictine monastic life. The Cistercians, by
contrast, were going to seek out hardship and isolation. They were going to live poor, pure lives that would be more pleasing to God. Much scholarship has been devoted to the question of whether or not
they ever really managed to, or if over-excited doners, swayed by their promise of impoverished piety, immediately deluged them in so much cash that they ended up rich before they ever had a chance to
be pure. Lekaiās Ideals and Reality is seen as a pivotal text here. Except, if you read it, what he actually says is ādear god donāt get suckered into an endless debate about ideals vs reality. Of course the
truth is more nuanced and there are a million more interesting questions to askā. Except, for 50 years, no-one seems to have read beyond the title and if you want to write anything about the Cistercians
you are ļ¬rst required to āsitatuate yourself in the Ideals vs Realityā debate.
I was determined to let the thing die - it felt utterly self-defeating to write a big chapter about how we needed to let this thing drop. A much more effective way to drop it would just be to *drop it*. But I
was also an inexperienced, ignorant idiot who failed their doctorate for exactly this kind of pig-headedness.
22. Chapter 5 - death
And so, whereas 5 years ago when I saw a bit of Mario needlepoint, or a webcomic about GoldenEye, I was thrilled, now my heart sinks a bit. It feels like by coalescing around these shared reference
points, weāre losing the vitality and unpredictability that I used to love about games culture. It feels like weāre starting to calcify.
And this is the source of my anxiety. One of the reasons that I got out of academia - other than that I sucked at it - was that it was utterly moribund and self-referential. It was impossible to write
anything without referencing the core canon of books that came before. My particular bete-noir was this text. The big question about early Cistercian life - forgive the mini history lecture - was whether
or not they lived up to their own hype. Cistercianism had at its heart an opposition to the lazy luxury that was seen, by the 12th century, as the hallmark of Benedictine monastic life. The Cistercians, by
contrast, were going to seek out hardship and isolation. They were going to live poor, pure lives that would be more pleasing to God. Much scholarship has been devoted to the question of whether or not
they ever really managed to, or if over-excited doners, swayed by their promise of impoverished piety, immediately deluged them in so much cash that they ended up rich before they ever had a chance to
be pure. Lekaiās Ideals and Reality is seen as a pivotal text here. Except, if you read it, what he actually says is ādear god donāt get suckered into an endless debate about ideals vs reality. Of course the
truth is more nuanced and there are a million more interesting questions to askā. Except, for 50 years, no-one seems to have read beyond the title and if you want to write anything about the Cistercians
you are ļ¬rst required to āsitatuate yourself in the Ideals vs Realityā debate.
I was determined to let the thing die - it felt utterly self-defeating to write a big chapter about how we needed to let this thing drop. A much more effective way to drop it would just be to *drop it*. But I
was also an inexperienced, ignorant idiot who failed their doctorate for exactly this kind of pig-headedness.
23. But now, when I see that same canon emerging in games, I get ļ¬ickers of the same feelings. I love the shared vocabulary, the common reference points, but I also could very gladly go to my grave without
ever again hearing the word Mario or Ocarina or Bioshock. Itās not that those games arenāt good or interesting. Itās that ever time we talk about one of these are *arenāt* talking about something else.
24. I love all these games!
But now, when I see that same canon emerging in games, I get ļ¬ickers of the same feelings. I love the shared vocabulary, the common reference points, but I also could very gladly go to my grave without
ever again hearing the word Mario or Ocarina or Bioshock. Itās not that those games arenāt good or interesting. Itās that ever time we talk about one of these are *arenāt* talking about something else.
25. I love all these games!
Well, most of them...
But now, when I see that same canon emerging in games, I get ļ¬ickers of the same feelings. I love the shared vocabulary, the common reference points, but I also could very gladly go to my grave without
ever again hearing the word Mario or Ocarina or Bioshock. Itās not that those games arenāt good or interesting. Itās that ever time we talk about one of these are *arenāt* talking about something else.
26. And those other games are utterly amazing - often more interesting, in their ļ¬awed inventiveness or their weird niche appeal. There is no book or article or keynote speech you can ļ¬nd that will teach
you more about the possibilities and signiļ¬cances of games than taking the time to play and experience these things. Everything I know about games I learned from games.
27. But I learned as much from these
And those other games are utterly amazing - often more interesting, in their ļ¬awed inventiveness or their weird niche appeal. There is no book or article or keynote speech you can ļ¬nd that will teach
you more about the possibilities and signiļ¬cances of games than taking the time to play and experience these things. Everything I know about games I learned from games.
28. But I learned as much from these
...if not more
And those other games are utterly amazing - often more interesting, in their ļ¬awed inventiveness or their weird niche appeal. There is no book or article or keynote speech you can ļ¬nd that will teach
you more about the possibilities and signiļ¬cances of games than taking the time to play and experience these things. Everything I know about games I learned from games.
29. The learned as much from these
But Itruth is I have nothing as smart
to say about these games as what
these games have to say about
themselves.
...if not more
And those other games are utterly amazing - often more interesting, in their ļ¬awed inventiveness or their weird niche appeal. There is no book or article or keynote speech you can ļ¬nd that will teach
you more about the possibilities and signiļ¬cances of games than taking the time to play and experience these things. Everything I know about games I learned from games.
30. Tiny Haystack Game
Step 1: Pick an interesting game youāve played
Step 2: Ask, āHas anyone played X?ā
Step 3: If anyone answers āyesā...
Step 4: ...say āFunny, me neither.ā
Step 5: Think of a new game
And so thatās my takeaway. When we all come together like this, letās not talk about common ground. Letās not trade notes on the thing thatās on the front page of every gaming blog this week. Try to
have conversations about things that no-oneās heard of. Talk about things that came out 20 years ago as well as things that are coming out 2 weeks from now. Stop clustering around the 100 shiny
needles that other people have found and instead go jump and frolic and tumble in any one of a thousand un-touched haystacks.