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

Tags: 5a7
(18 results)

Game Co-ops and Unions: Discussion & Summary Now Online

Posted by Carolyn

Curious about what unionization might mean for the game industry? Interested in alternative organizational models for game-makers? Well today’s your lucky day! Joachim Despland and I have posted a summary of the October 2 5a7 discussion on cooperatives and unions in the game industry, which you can find here: http://forum.mrgs.ca/t/coops-et-syndicats-co-ops-and-unions/93
Some of the topics/questions we cover include:
How do businesses work in general, and what does this mean for the distribution of power and the relationship between …

Call for Presentations – TAG 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

It’s that time of year again. The 5a7s are up and running, every Thursday from 5-7pm in the Hexagram Game Lab (EV 11.425), and we need ideas for discussions, presentations, theme nights, etc. If you have something you’d like to present, a topic you want to discuss, an idea you want to brainstorm, a game you want to show off or playtest, or anything else that comes to mind, please send a brief description (a …

TAG 5a7 Symposium – Call For Participation

Posted by Carolyn

In case you didn’t know, Fus Ro Dah translates to Call for Participation
The TAG 5a7 Symposiums are up and running again, which means it’s time to send out another call for participation. If you have something you want to present, a workshop you want to run, a project in need of a good brainstorm, a topic you want to discuss, a game you want to demo, or a fun idea you think we should try …

TAG 5a7 Symposium moved to Thursdays

Posted by Carolyn

In an attempt to accommodate as many people as possible and avoid conflict with other events we have decided to move the TAG 5a7 Symposium from every Wednesday, to every Thursday. From now until the end of April 2013 5a7s will take place every Thursday, from 5-7pm, in EV 11.425 (same location as last semester). The first 5a7 of the year will be next week, January 17. More details to come.
We’re also looking for volunteers …

September 24 5a7 Symposium – Jarbles Playtest

Posted by Carolyn

Tomorrow’s 5a7 we’ll be playtesting a new sound puzzle game called Jarbles with Ian Arawjo and FX Dupas!

Details for the 5a7 are as follows:
Where: Hexagram Game Lab, EV 11.425, Corner of Guy and St. Catherine O.
When: Wednesday, October 24, 5pm-7pm
Who: Anyone is welcome, please feel free to bring friends or colleagues who might be interested.
What: Playtesting of Jarbles with Ian Arawjo and FX Dupas.
Please note: Playtesting sessions may be recorded.

Jason Camlot, the project supervisor, has …

May 21 & 28 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

Just a quick heads up: The 5a7 for May 21 is cancelled because the university will be closed for Victoria Day. Also the 5a7 the following week is cancelled because the majority of the organizing crew will be out of town for the Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) conference in Waterloo. For those without calendars on hand, that means no 5a7 until June!

May 9 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

As mentioned, this week’s symposium will be a role playing workshop hosted by Chimera Games. Also remember that this is the LAST time the 5a7 will be held on Wednesday, at least until September. From now on 5a7’s will take place every Monday, from 5-7pm. More details below:
The RP in Role Playing Games
A discussion on Role Playing and Role Playing techniques in modern RPG’s
Discussion will include:
– Types of RP
– Improving on characters
– Approaching role playing …

Summer 5a7 Symposium News

Posted by Carolyn

During our meeting last week we decided to cancel the 5a7 Research Symposium this week due to lots of folks being busy with GRAND and/or out of town. Next Wednesday, May 9, Chimera Games will be hosting a role-playing workshop. More details to come.
Here are the other important decisions we made:
1. Following May 9, the 5a7 will be moved to MONDAYS, from 5-7pm, but will continue to be held every week. In September we’ll decide …

April 25 5a7 Research Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

This week we’ll be deciding the fate of the 5a7 Research Symposium, at least for the summer, at 4:30pm in the 11th floor TAG lab. All those interested in adding their two cents and/or helping out with the organization of the 5a7s are invited. On the agenda are the time/day/frequency of the 5a7, “plan B” events, and hopefully a draft schedule showing who will be on duty and when.
This 5a7 will also be a goodbye …

March 21 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

For next week’s 5a7 Symposium a team of Concordia undergrad computer science students will be presenting a prototype of their game demo, “Panopticon.” More info below:
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We are 5 undergraduate computer science students representing Concordia in Ubisoft’s Game Lab competition, which has participants from several universities throughout Quebec. Our names are: Kirsty Beaton, Zoe Briscoe, Joel Daignault, Nicolas Cattanéo, and Anton Michels. We are required to come up with a game concept and a playable demo …

February 29 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

This week Crankshaft Games will be showing off a pre-alpha version of the coop puzzle-platformer, Party of Sin. We’ll also be throwing an informal good-bye party for Saleem Dabbous to celebrate his last day as the (amazing) TAG Lab Coordinator, so BYOB!
More details below:
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Party of Sin:
Become any of the Seven Deadly Sins and battle your way from Hell to
Heaven in Party of Sin. Each Sin has unique powers which are necessary
to solve puzzles and …

February 22 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

Stuart Thiel will be our DM (Dungeon Master) for this week’s 5a7. Consider this an introductory course on Dungeons & Dragons, the popular dice-based tabletop pen and paper role-playing game. More details below:
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Ever hear about pen and paper gaming? Ever see dice with more than six sides and wonder why? Ever wish you could be a part of the story being told? Come by Wednesday night and participate in a short encounter to get a …

February 15 5a7 Symposium

Posted by Carolyn

For next week’s 5a7 Symposium Thorsten Busch will be holding an informal discussion on the design of moral choice and ethical dilemmas in video games. More details below:
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Title: “Moral choice in video games?”
Abstract: Many video game companies use “moral choice” as a promotional bullet point on their games. But most of them actually don’t present players with convincing, mature moral decisions. Instead, players usually only get to make “good vs. evil” decisions, mostly in the …

5a7 Symposium next week

Posted by Carolyn

The first 5a7 Symposium for 2012 will be held next week, January 11th. So far there are no presentations scheduled, however we’ll take a few minutes near the beginning to collect ideas, suggestions, and/or triumphant visions for the upcoming year.
Where: Technoculture, Art, and Games (TAG) LAB, EV 11.425, Corner of Guy and St. Catherine O.
When: Wednesday, January 11, 5pm-7pm
Who: Anyone is welcome, please feel free to bring friends or colleagues who might be interested.
What: Open …

TAG Research Symposium CfP 2012

Posted by Carolyn

The 2012 call for presentations/workshops/roundtables for the TAG 5a7 Research Symposium is out! We’re hoping to get more proposals this time around, so PLEASE, if you have a project, or even just a topic you want to discuss with the group, let us know. Also FYI, here is a list of the TAG Graduate Student Society members:
Kevin Freedman
Katian Witchger (on temporary leave)
Salvador Garcia-Martinez
Leif Penzendorfer
Carolyn Jong
Will Robinson
All this list means is that we are 1. currently …

5a7 Symposium Update and End of Year Party

Posted by Carolyn

First of all, there will be NO 5a7 on November 30 due to impending deadlines, exams, and general craziness.
HOWEVER, there will be an end-of-the-year celebration on December 7th, so bring your party hats! The event will be hosted by the LudicVoice team, who will be giving a small presentation about the voice-based game they’ve been developing and showing off their latest prototype. For more information on the project, check out this website: http://ludicvoice.concordia.ca/
Where: Technoculture, Art, …

5a7 Reminder

Posted by Carolyn

Join us at the TAG lab for another fabulous 5a7. Nothing too special on the roster for this week, though a few of us will probably head over to the Mount Royal Game Society meet-up after, which starts at 7:30 at L’Amère à boire.
Hope to see you all there!

Oct. 26 5a7

Posted by Carolyn

For this week’s symposium Salvador and I will be presenting on the work we’ve been doing for the Digital Games for Learning and Training (DiGLT) project. Salvador will be outlining the results from the systematic literature review on motion-based games and learning, and I will talk briefly about the Kinectimals study I conducted in August/September. Some of the topics we’re hoping to discuss with the group are:
– Definitions of motion-based gaming and the categorization/labelling of …