International Researchers Analyze the Future of Gaming and Gaming Culture in Tampere

Local and Global: Games in Culture and Society

DiGRA Nordic 2012 Conference Wed 6 June - Fri 8 June

Workshops start from Wed 12 pm PinniB building, Kanslerinrinne 1
Opening session Thu 7 June 9.30 am, Technopolis Yliopistonrinne, Kalevantie 2
Map: http://www.uta.fi/kuvat/yliopistotampereella.pdf
 
"The conference brings together researchers from the Nordic countries and elsewhere to discuss the cultural and social aspects of games and gaming from different perspectives, including local and global gaming cultures," says Professor Frans Mäyrä from the University of Tampere.

For example, the researchers look at the history of gaming in different parts of the world and reflect on the future trends of the gaming industry and gaming journalism.

Scientific research on games and players and related phenomena has increased rapidly in the past ten years and reached new geographical regions. The conference in Tampere is one of the leading scientific events in the field. Over one hundred participants are expected to come from more than ten countries.

The four keynote speakers are Nick Montfort, Associate Professor of Digital Media from MIT who is the President of the Electronic Literature Organization, Kristine Jørgensen, Associate Professor of Media Studies from the University of Bergen, Espen Aarseth, who is currently Principal Researcher at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen, and Minna Ruckenstein Senior Research Fellow from the National Consumer Research Centre who also chairs the Finnish Anthropological Society.

Montfort develops text generators and interactive fiction, Jørgensen researches the user interfaces and sound design of games. Aarseth is a leading theorist in gaming research who has developed both models for describing the basic features of games and methods to be used in gaming research. Ruckenstein has researched gambling and for instance how children use virtual pets and virtual worlds.

The workshops deal e.g. with internet gambling and the use of mobile phones in university studies.

The event is simultaneously the jubilee conference of Finnish and Tampere gaming research: exactly ten years ago, in June 2002, the Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference organized in Tampere was an important milestone especially in view of the dialogue between North European and American gaming research.

The conference is organized by the Game Research Lab at the University of Tampere, the research project Creation of Game Cultures: The Case of Finland funded by the Academy of Finland, and the international DiGRA association for research on digital games and related phenomena.

As an additional program of the conference, the exhibition Finnish Games Then and Now on the history and development of Finnish games and gaming culture will be organized in Media Museum Rupriikki. The exhibition is open to public on Tue 5 June - Sun 10 June.

The website of the Nordic Digra 2012 Conference:
http://digra-nordic2012.org/

Conference program:
http://digra-nordic2012.org/program/

The deadline for registrations is 30 May:
http://digra-nordic2012.org/registration/
 
For more information please contact:
Professor Frans Mäyrä, 050 336 7650, frans.mayra@uta.fi

For further information on the exhibition:
Researcher Annakaisa Kultima, 050 443 7258, annakaisa.kultima@uta.fi

Game Research Lab: http://gamelab.uta.fi/
The School of Information Sciences at the University of Tampere: http://www.uta.fi/sis/