&Now Conference Review
Rob Wittig
Late Breaking: William Gillespie, Scott Rettberg, and Rob Wittig post from Notre Dame University on the &Now festival of writers and writing.
White Noise/White Heat, or Why the Postmodern Turn in Rock Music Led to Nothing but Road
Larry McCafferyLarry McCaffery reframes his 1989 essay on the "postmodern turn" in rock'n'roll music.
Ludology
Noah Wardrip-FruinFirst Person, second section: What is Ludology? Editors Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin see a disciplinary shift away from ill-advised analogies toward analyses of the gaming situation itself.
Eskelinen responds in turn
Markku EskelinenEskelinen can't be bothered to answer his critics.
J. Yellowlees Douglas responds
J. Yellowlees DouglasJ. Yellowlees Douglas adds more titles to Eskelinen's catalog of limnal games.
Diane Gromala’s response (excerpt)
Diane GromalaCyberpractitioner Diane Gromala celebrates virtual immersion's unsteady body-knowledge.
Moulthrop responds in turn
Stuart MoulthropU.S. cybernetic pragmatisim and practical Net expertise interest Moulthrop (and his auditors) on "second thought."
Towards Computer Game Studies
Markku EskelinenLiterature scholars eager to understand gaming have made early inroads. Markku Eskelinen sets up serious checkpoints.
Chris Crawford’s response (excerpt)
Chris CrawfordChris Crawford adduces the algorithms of games against dramatic conventions.
Espen Aarseth responds in turn
Espen AarsethEspen Aarseth holds that gameplay, not Lara Croft?s physique, should command the attention of an evolving game studies.
Genre Trouble
Espen Aarseth"Where is the text in chess?" asks Espen Aarseth. Rules, play, and semiosis are the (un)common ground between games and stories in "interactive narrativism" and the art of simulation.
From Work to Play
Stuart MoulthropStuart Moulthrop (re)mediates the interpretation (narrativists) vs. configuration (ludologists) debate by going macropolitical.
Towards Computer Game Studies (sidebar)
Markku Eskelinen
Sidebar images, "From Work to Play: Molecular Culture in the Time of Deadly Games."
From Work to Play (sidebar)
Stuart MoulthropSidebar images, "From Work to Play: Molecular Culture in the Time of Deadly Games."