Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) is an interdisciplinary centre for research/ creation in game studies and design, digital culture and interactive art

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New TAG Server – After the Consequences

Posted by mi

TAG has just launched a new Minecraft server with a custom modpack, ominously titled After the Consequences. Adopting post-dystopian themes, After the Consequences invites players to explore an infinite landscape in which sprawling cities lay empty and overtaken by lush vegetation and dangerous animals. Choreographed by Bart Simon, with input from TAG’s team of grizzled Minecraft veterans, this is the latest server in TAG’s long history with the game.
A screenshot from After the Consequences
After the …

Embracing the Demake

Posted by mi

In recent years, videogame companies have demonstrated an insatiable appetite with remakes. Every industry event is peppered with promises to bring back old classics, brighter and shinier than their original hardware could have ever allowed. These resuscitated games range from one-to-one remakes, such as The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, to complete overhauls, such as the impending Final Fantasy VII remake series. By picking and choosing the best (or perhaps, the most marketable) elements from …

Yann Seznec on his TAG visit

Posted by Gina

Last month, TAG welcomed Yann Seznec, Game Designer in Residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art Game Lab in Baltimore. Yann is an artist and musician whose work focuses on sound, music, physical interaction, games, and building new instruments. At TAG he gave a super short Microtalk, participate in our weekly game night, gave a workshop and much more. He is here to tell you about his experience:

A few weeks ago I had the …

Minecraft: A Scavenger Run on the TAG Server

Posted by mi

A few months ago, TAG launched a shiny new Minecraft server curated by Bart Simon and Nic Watson. Entitled Siegert’s Miasma, the server is  designed to emphasize collaboration and experimentation while providing a “critique of the idea of capitalist accumulation at the heart of Minecraft‘s neo-colonial discourse.” It’s modpack is robust enough to facilitate various types of play, so if players aren’t particularly keen on ushering in a simulated anthropocene then they can simply hop …

Hollow Knight and Metroidvania Genre Conventions

Posted by mi

I’ve been locked inside lately, for obvious reasons, and one of the games that I’ve been playing to pass the time is Hollow Knight. Released in 2017, Hollow Knight is an acclaimed Metroidvania style videogame developed and published by Team Cherry. In it, you take on the role of a wandering knight who must explore a vast ruined kingdom populated by bizarre insects. Although heavily influenced by Super Metroid, Hollow Knight’s calling cards are its …

Sound &Play – A Talk and Workshop by Yann Seznec

Mar 06, 2020

Posted by Gina

This week TAG is welcoming Yann Seznec, Game Designer in Residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art Game Lab in Baltimore. Yann is an artist and musician whose work focuses on sound, music, physical interaction, games, and building new instruments.
Friday, March 6th at 1pm, Yann will be giving a talk accompanied by a quick sound workshop at TAG (EV 11.435).
Much of Yann’s work involves building custom instruments such as musical pigsties, slinky …