John Hopson is a pretty cool guy. He has a PhD in experimental psychology, whcih in my books already makes him cool. Then it turns out, his PhD work was done in a lab where they study animal cognition. OK, that is even cooler, as well, the cool kids take animal cognition. Then we got to talking and realized we had read each others' stuff. I know that has nothing to do with game design, but it is, to me, an indication of the serendipitous connections you can make at FuturePlay.
Anyway most of you will know John from his work on a little text called "Behavioral Game Design" which applies the psychological literature to game design. See I knew I liked this guy...
John gave a keynote at FuturePlay 2007 which I recorded with my little iRiver (this year I will use a Zoom H2 which is MUCH better). So some of the audio is a bit shall we say messy. You will also notice someone (who I will not name...) picking up my recorder and looking at it and you will hear me say "That's my recorder" when she asks what she is holding....
John basically described his work at Microsoft, working with various studios to make better games. Tell me that isn't a cool job.
This talk should give you an idea of the quality of speaker at the conference.
I hope you enjoy John's keynote from the 2007 FuturePlay conference.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
This Week It Is An Oscar Winner: Ken Perlin To Speak at FuturePlay 2008
In last week's Keynote Speaker Profile (I have made a command decision to capitalize that...) I talked about Don Daglow, well, this week I thought I would mention another luminary coming to FuturePlay 2008. Ken Perlin.
Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University.He is the founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and also directed the NYU Center for Advanced Technology. Ken's research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia. OK, now this is pretty cool, he received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that is an Oscar for those of you scoring at home...) for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television, as well as the TrapCode award for achievement in computer graphics research, the New York City Mayor's award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.
He spoke at FuturePlay 2006 where he showed some software that models emotions and then maps them on to faces. This technology has been used to help teach autistic kids how to read emotion. (Take that Jack Thompson).
Oh yeah, he has also been a featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
I can tell you as well that he is a great speaker, and frankly he is funny as hell too. You do not want to miss ths
Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University.He is the founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and also directed the NYU Center for Advanced Technology. Ken's research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia. OK, now this is pretty cool, he received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that is an Oscar for those of you scoring at home...) for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television, as well as the TrapCode award for achievement in computer graphics research, the New York City Mayor's award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.
He spoke at FuturePlay 2006 where he showed some software that models emotions and then maps them on to faces. This technology has been used to help teach autistic kids how to read emotion. (Take that Jack Thompson).
Oh yeah, he has also been a featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
I can tell you as well that he is a great speaker, and frankly he is funny as hell too. You do not want to miss ths
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Don Daglow to Speak at FuturePlay 2008 (and I am psyched...)
In my second profile of a conference speaker at FuturePlay 2008 I am going to shine the spotlight on Don Daglow.
Man, where to begin.... Don has been designing games since 1971. Yes, that is not a typo, 1971. He designed the first graphical MMORPG (Neverwinter Nights), he designed the first computer baseball game, he designed what is, to me, the best baseball game ever (Earl Weaver Baseball). What about Utopia for the Intellivision? Yeah, that was him too. This was the first sim game, or god game if you will.
He is also the founder of a little outfit called Stormfront Studios.
Awards? Oh he has awards.. How about an Emmy and an award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (oh he is the only guy to have those two).
I could go on, and on... but I want to mention personally how huge this is for a gamer like myself. I have played four entire Major League baseball seasons (playing every single game myself) using Earl Weaver Baseball. I got interested in baseball stats and the history of the game through the statistical modeling used in Earl Weaver Baseball. I found out about Cool Papa Bell, and Amos "the Hoosier Thunderball" Rusie and Josh Gibson and Honus Wagner because of a great video game. When I was younger I had a copy of Utopia for the Intellivision. While playing that game with my buddy Brent in high school I learned that the military is not the only way to gain power and be prosperous (like it was in most games, and often still is). Running an economy and keeping people happy was NOT just about getting more land in this game. It was about providing service. Oh, I learned that in a video game, imagine that. Adventure Construction Set taught me directly about design. It introduced me to the idea of modding, and to the idea of story in a game. ACS came out in the mid 80s, who was modding in the mid 80s? Well, those of use with ACS were, and we have Don Daglow to thank.
I can't wait for his keynote. I might bring my old Earl Weaver disks and get him to autograph them...
Man, where to begin.... Don has been designing games since 1971. Yes, that is not a typo, 1971. He designed the first graphical MMORPG (Neverwinter Nights), he designed the first computer baseball game, he designed what is, to me, the best baseball game ever (Earl Weaver Baseball). What about Utopia for the Intellivision? Yeah, that was him too. This was the first sim game, or god game if you will.
He is also the founder of a little outfit called Stormfront Studios.
Awards? Oh he has awards.. How about an Emmy and an award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (oh he is the only guy to have those two).
I could go on, and on... but I want to mention personally how huge this is for a gamer like myself. I have played four entire Major League baseball seasons (playing every single game myself) using Earl Weaver Baseball. I got interested in baseball stats and the history of the game through the statistical modeling used in Earl Weaver Baseball. I found out about Cool Papa Bell, and Amos "the Hoosier Thunderball" Rusie and Josh Gibson and Honus Wagner because of a great video game. When I was younger I had a copy of Utopia for the Intellivision. While playing that game with my buddy Brent in high school I learned that the military is not the only way to gain power and be prosperous (like it was in most games, and often still is). Running an economy and keeping people happy was NOT just about getting more land in this game. It was about providing service. Oh, I learned that in a video game, imagine that. Adventure Construction Set taught me directly about design. It introduced me to the idea of modding, and to the idea of story in a game. ACS came out in the mid 80s, who was modding in the mid 80s? Well, those of use with ACS were, and we have Don Daglow to thank.
I can't wait for his keynote. I might bring my old Earl Weaver disks and get him to autograph them...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
If you have not registered yet, you should, the price is about to go up...
Future Play is the international conference on the future of game design and technology. It is the place to discover new directions in computer game technologies and explore groundbreaking visions for the future of game development. Don't miss out.
Register today to take advantage of the current early bird price. Registration fees will increase September 26th.
The same thing is about to happen to the room rate at the Delta Chelsea in Downtown Toronto. Currently conference attendees get a room for 129 (CAD) a night. This is frankly a killer price, but the rate won't last forever, indeed, in about four weeks time it is gone. So sign up to come to the conference today, and book your room too.
Register today to take advantage of the current early bird price. Registration fees will increase September 26th.
The same thing is about to happen to the room rate at the Delta Chelsea in Downtown Toronto. Currently conference attendees get a room for 129 (CAD) a night. This is frankly a killer price, but the rate won't last forever, indeed, in about four weeks time it is gone. So sign up to come to the conference today, and book your room too.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Katie Salen to give FuturePlay 2008 Keynote
The keynotes at FuturePlay are always great, and I will be profiling each speaker, a different on each week. Man I just used 'week' twice in the same sentence...
Katie Salen will speak at FuturePlay 2008 at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto in November. Katie is a writer, editor, and eesigner. She has worked on a range of projects for clients including Microsoft, SIGGRAPH, the Hewlett Foundation, XMediaLab, the Design Institute, gameLab, and mememe Productions. Katie is of course the co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals and The Game Design Reader. She is a member of Playground which recently worked with areacode to invent a new genre of games. Currently she is working on two projects funded through the MacArthur Foundation focused on digital media, games, and learning, and is producing two new media works for the ZeroOne Festival. A contributing writer for RES magazine, she has worked as an animator on Richard Linklater’s critically acclaimed animated feature Waking Life. She partnered with screenwriter and director Hampton Fancher to develop an animated storytelling experience distributed through Xbox Live. Finally, she has curated programs at the Lincoln Center, Cinematexas, ZKM, Exploding Cinema, and the Walker Art Center on machinima. Not a bad start eh...
Katie Salen will speak at FuturePlay 2008 at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto in November. Katie is a writer, editor, and eesigner. She has worked on a range of projects for clients including Microsoft, SIGGRAPH, the Hewlett Foundation, XMediaLab, the Design Institute, gameLab, and mememe Productions. Katie is of course the co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals and The Game Design Reader. She is a member of Playground which recently worked with areacode to invent a new genre of games. Currently she is working on two projects funded through the MacArthur Foundation focused on digital media, games, and learning, and is producing two new media works for the ZeroOne Festival. A contributing writer for RES magazine, she has worked as an animator on Richard Linklater’s critically acclaimed animated feature Waking Life. She partnered with screenwriter and director Hampton Fancher to develop an animated storytelling experience distributed through Xbox Live. Finally, she has curated programs at the Lincoln Center, Cinematexas, ZKM, Exploding Cinema, and the Walker Art Center on machinima. Not a bad start eh...
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