ggalaxy

Hello all! For the second Design for Online Games workshop next Monday (11/24/08), we will be covering Game Design and Business decisions in Western versus Eastern online games, an interesting topic that is becoming more and more prevalent. We will also have a special guest, as Jeffrey Kaplan, the lead designer of World of Warcraft, the only wildly successful game in both Eastern and Western markets, will be coming in to give a post-mortem and open Q&A on the newest WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

The schedule for the workshop will include 3 main parts:
1. A brief hands-on play session of World of Warcraft and Maple Story
2. Seminar and open discussion on Design and Business affordances in East versus West online games
3. Jeffrey Kaplan: Post-Mortem on design decisions for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King with open Q&A following


The Workshop is:
Monday 1-5 Nov. 24th in the Robert Zemeckis Center, Zemeckis Media Lab (2F)
3131 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90007

There may not be enough computers for a larger crowd, so if you have a laptop, please bring it so that you will be able to run World of Warcraft and/or Maple Story on it. Also, a university recruiter from Blizzard Entertainment will be present if you have any questions about jobs or internships.

A Very Special Thanks to Jeffrey Kaplan for coming in to lecture for this workshop and Blizzard Entertainment for their support.

If you interested in coming, please RSVP to albertya at usc dot edu

The ongoing HASTAC Scholars forum has just launched a new online discussion topic titled Participatory Play: Digital Games from Spacewar! to Virtual Peace, which thus far includes numerous references to work being done at the USC Game Innovation Lab. This topic is led by two graduate students at Duke University, and offers an opportunity for in-depth discussion of games as meaningful play. The longer you wait, the more there is to read, so add your voice to the forum now!

Whoa - an iphone app to make stereo images!


Also appears to be some new iphone apps that turn the iphone into a MAXMSP or Arduino controller:

This page contains lots of great iPhone apps, including an app that turns your iPhone into a Max/MSP controller, an app that simulates a scrolling LED banner on the screen of your iPhone, as well as many other projects that illustrate Mr. Akamatsu's interesting approach to software hacking on consumer electronic devices. This approach is also reflected in the many interesting Max/MSP objects he has created, perhaps the most famous being his object that interfaces the Wii Remote with Max/MSP.

(From Make).

Ryan Wiancko reads aloud, "Fun is Fine: Toward a Philosophy of Game Design", which inspired my research into serious uses of games. Ryan's serious voice is particularly appropriate for this topic: Some games are important cultural experiences that portray the human condition and elevate the minds of their players. You may listen to this and other lucid designers, free to download at Industry Broadcast.

(The author's introduction causes me to chuckle and blush, because 2003 was before World of Warcraft and many newer MMOs.) The article grew out of a dialogue on MUD-Dev, so I'd be happy to hear your opinion on the topic.

RC Narma



John Banayan



Erik Nichols

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Broken Legs



Gavan-




Michaela-





Ashley-




Brian-

Harold Vancol
Sam David
Alex Sandoval
Matt Lee

Components:



Designed by Michael Kane.

The basic interface icons that change the mouse cursor.



Designed by Ryan Hedden.

These are the creatures that can be formed and the original frankenstein creature.






Designed by Drew Moxon

These shots are the title screen, and a background level image on which a frankenstein creature is placed.
Link to Asset List
Download file

Discussion leader: Veronica Paredes
Time: Wednesday, November 19, 6-8pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC),
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Discussion Title: "Technologies of Perception"
Tonight's seminar will focus on the toic of "Technologies of Perception" raised in the previous two seminar presentations by Jim Campbell and Perry Hoberman. Logs for the backchannel discussion can be reviewed on the respective talk announcements..

Readings for this discussion are:
1. Donald Hoffman, "Peeking Behind the Icons" from Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See (1998).
2. George Lakoff interviewed by Iain A. Boal, "Body, Brain, and Communication" from Resisting the Virtual Life (1995).
3. Alva Noe, "Perspective in Content" from Action in Perception (2004).

Other recommended Readings are:
1. "Virtual Environments, Personal Simulators & Telepresence." by Fisher, Scott S. in Virtual Reality: Theory, Practice and Promise, S. Helsel and J.Roth, ed. , Meckler Publishing, 1991
2. "The Ultimate Display" by I E Sutherland (1965) Proceedings of IFIP Congress
3. "Amplified Smell" in The Inventions of Daedalus by David E. H. Jones (1982)