Just a heads up for anyone who checks this page rather than the blog. I've been running around like a crazy person lately and October looks to be much of the same. Please check the blog as it is much simpler for me to update while on the road. October presentations, hopefully November will be relatively uneventful and then the new baby will be hitting in December (hopefully NOT in October). So of course this page and my blog will then likely take a turn for the non-academic, but that is a good thing. So, moral of the story? Check the blog for the most up-to-date information.

Title and abstract for the University of Utah, “Frontiers of New Media” have been submitted!

Managing the Wild Wild East: Controlling the Frontiers of the Global Videogame Industry

More than most new media industries, the videogame industry fiercely guards its borders, colonies, and frontiers. While India has developed a significant mobile game development industry, it operates primarily as an off-shoring site for American and Western European countries. Korea has developed a significant internal game industry, which generates massive numbers of games and content for home markets. China is slowly developing a market similar to Korea and Vietnam follows a model similar to India. What structures, practices, and histories have presided over this emerging structure? What prevents the frontiers from making inroads into the mainstream? This talk examines the current state of the game industry in these four locations and uses India as an exemplary index to help understand these overarching questions.

Tags: Abstract, Conferences

The NIH SEPA group that I have been working with has recently begun assembling a Google Sites page as a starting point for disseminating information about the project. The site: Teaching Biology 3D is still being put together and is not yet fully ready for prime time. That said, it is nice to see information about the project beginning to see the light of day. The kinds of simulations and learning materials they are putting together are extraordinary.

The game I have been working on with this group is currently being called “Osy Osmosis,” though I do not know if this will be the name of the game as it moves forward. However, I have purchased a domain name of the same name. It is my hope that information about Osy will also begin trickling out. Our first full set of play-testing occurred this week with exceptional results. The students for the most part grasped both the underlying mechanic of the game and seemed to enjoy playing the game. Feedback regarding the look and feel of the game was very productive. Below I've outlined some of the major issues we need to examine and possible future avenues the game can take. More reflections on the play-test can be found over at the wiki we are keeping for the project.

This same group of scientists is the group I am planning on submitting and NSF grant to study the interdisciplinary dynamics that occur when scientists, game developers, engineers, artists, educators, and students come together. I really think it is a unique research opportunity and am excited about its possibilities.

Tags: NIH, SEPA, OSY

My essay, “The everyday lives of video game developers: Experimentally understanding underlying systems/structures,” is live over at Transformative Works and Cultures. The editors and reviewers at TWC were excellent and I’d recommend that other scholars of new media look at it as a venue. The citation for this essay is:

O’Donnell, Casey. 2009. “The Everyday Lives of Videogame Developers: Experimentally Understanding Underlying Systems/Structures.” Transformative Works and Cultures 2

Tags: TWC, Publications, Game Development