Meeting Game Researchers

The Center for Advanced Gaming and Simulation (AGS) and the Dutch chapter of DIGRA organize meetings for game researchers four times a year. We meet at the Faculty Club Helios, address: Achter de Dom 7a, Utrecht. The meetings normally consist of two lectures, followed by some drinks for further discussions. The meetings will be held in English.

The next meeting is scheduled on Friday, February 19, 15.00 - 18.00 hrs. Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal, Academiegebouw, Domplein 29 Utrecht. Participation in this meeting is free. It is necessary though to register. Please register below.

Program on Friday, February 19 

• 15.00 Welcome with coffee and tea
  
  
• Social play as design framework by Tanja Sihvonen, University of Tampere, Finland
  How does the dynamic of play change when people start gaming online? What kind of possibilities are there for players to alter their own gameplay experiences, both within the given ruleset of the game and against it, as well as on the metalevel of gaming itself? It has been suggested that the metalevel of gaming (‘gaming the system') is the result of the reappropriation of metarules, the player's negotiations over the rules, which may eventually constitute a vital component of their actual gameplay. Online social interaction often plays a key role in this kind of reframing. In this presentation I will suggest that the internet does not act merely as a distribution channel for games but also an agent of change in itself. It provides incentive for users because it allows the formation of communities and the acquisition of social significance in particular ways. It is hard to exaggerate the importance of social media (such as Facebook) as the facilitator of these processes. The question then remains, how does this kind of ‘participatory design' of the playworld transform the context in which gameplay acquires social significance, and how can we study it.
  
  
• The appeal of digital games for an older audience by Bob de Schutter, Catholic University of Louvain
  This research project explored the use of digital games among older adults. To provide a set of ‘benchmark data' with respect to the uses and gratifications of these players, an exploratory survey was administered among 124 individuals, aged between 45 and 85 years old. The findings from this study were used as a basis for a qualitative Grounded Theory study among 35 respondents aged 50 to 70. The project provides a rich description of the meaning that digital games have in the life of older players, with a specific focus on the role of perceived need gratification in the assignation of meaning towards digital games.
  
  
•  An introduction to DiGRA Flanders
  While academic game research in Flanders has grown exponentially over the last couple of years, Flemish game researchers were fragmented throughout the country. As this was not a beneficial situation to conduct high quality game research, informal meetings with members of many Flemish research groups exposed a mutual desire to organize a collaboration on a structural level. Considering the multidisciplinary and international merits of the Digital Game Research Association, a Flemish DiGRA chapter proved to be the perfect fit for the communication and collaboration platform Flemish game researchers aspired. During this presentation, I will introduce the members of its organisation, as well as the past and future activities of DiGRA Flanders
  
  

• 17.15 Drinks