A gaming conference taking place at The University of Western Ontario is not an eyebrow raiser.
Western’s Department of Computer Science has been exploring serious gaming for a few years now.
The real news about Playing The Gallery: The Art of Games is that it comes to campus via the McIntosh Gallery.
“It’s a serious investigation of the creative side of the internet as seen through gaming, computer games, video games on the internet and what the implications are for society,” he says.
The conference combines presentations by worldwide leaders, such as Spiegel with workshops focusing on critical social and technical issues that underline the art of games.
“Of particular focus in Playing the Gallery will be the technology-driven environments for co-creative expression, such as online social communities,” says Gustafson.
The conference has raised quite a bit of interest from the gaming world, prompting a former Visual Arts grad to sponsor $100-conference scholarships to cover registration fees for 25 students. “Dan Miller of the Investors Group wanted to make it a learning experience for students who were interested in the topics,” Kennedy says. “For example we’ve got a medical student who’s coming because he’s interested in video games and their effect on physical well being.” There are still some scholarships available for students.
More information on the conference can be found at Playing the gallery.