Water Cooler Games http://www.watercoolergames.org/ Water Cooler Games is a forum for the uses of video games in advertising, politics, activism, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment. en Copyright 2010 Fri, 01 Jan 2100 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Water Cooler Games is Closed - Please Read http://www.watercoolergames.org/archives/001056.shtml Water Cooler Games is now closed. Thanks for reading all these years. The site has been archived in full (with comments) at http://www.bogost.com/watercoolergames. For my take on "videogames with an agenda," you might want to read Persuasive Games.

I am now blogging at Bogost.com. This RSS feed now contains posts from there (after this one), although you might want to update to this feed instead: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ianbogost.

—Ian Bogost, August 2009

]]> 0000@http://www.watercoolergames.org/ The Art History of Games Day 2 and Exhibition Opening — We're already into the third and final day of the Art History of Games symposium, and as an organizer I haven't even tried to blog the talks. You're best bet is to check out coverage online (Gamasutra covered part, but not all, of yesterday's sessions), or to review the Twitter stream on hashtag #AHoG. Last night's exhibition opening was great;... http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_art_history_of_games_3.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_art_history_of_games_3.shtml blog art games speaking Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:31:27 -0500 The Art History of Games Day One — This evening we began the Art History of Games symposium here in Atlanta, organized by Savannah College of Art and Design - Atlanta and Georgia Tech. After introductions, myself and my co-organizers John Sharp and Michael Nitsche presented a discussion of the concept of an art history of games. Then John Romero presented his keynote "Masters among Us," about learning... http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_art_history_of_games_2.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_art_history_of_games_2.shtml blog art games speaking Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:06:16 -0500 Objects & Things DiSalvo joins the party — My colleague Carl DiSalvo, who will participate in this April's OOO Symposium, has started up a blog: Objects & Things. The site will offer another perspective on objects, that of design. I've added it to the SR Aggregator.... http://www.bogost.com/blog/objects_things.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/objects_things.shtml blog art design philosophy Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:45:00 -0500 Object-Oriented Ontology Symposium April 23, 2010 at Georgia Tech — I'm happy to announce that we'll be hosting the first Object-Oriented Ontology Symposium at Georgia Tech, on Friday April 23, 2010. Speakers include myself, Levi Bryant, Graham Harman, and Steven Shaviro, with respondents from the local Atlanta area: my Georgia Tech colleagues Hugh Crawford, Carl DiSalvo, and Eugene Thacker, and John Johnston from Emory. I'm really looking forward to it.... http://www.bogost.com/blog/objectoriented_ontology_sympos.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/objectoriented_ontology_sympos.shtml blog education philosophy Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:11 -0500 The Sanitary Handheld Public Rhetoric and the iPad — I swore I wasn't going to write anything about Apple's newly announced iPad, but I suppose it's unavoidable. Instead of its benefits or flaws, however, what's interested me the most about the gadget is the public reaction to its name. It seems that back in 2007, MadTV wrote a spoof of Apple's raging devicitude, in the form of a parodic... http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_sanitary_handheld.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_sanitary_handheld.shtml blog Apple iPad iPhone Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:07:10 -0500 The New Nerd Mafia Me in the Best of Atlanta — The Atlantan just put out their annual Best of Atlanta issue, and it includes a "design" section which features a handful of Georgia Tech researchers, myself among them. You can read it online; you'll just have to navigate to page 34-35, where the article begins. There are some zingers. As a preview, behold the start of the spread:... http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_new_nerd_mafia.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_new_nerd_mafia.shtml blog design press videogames Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:06:25 -0500 Year of the Woman What the state of women in Hollywood's tells us about women in games — Today I listened to NPR On Point on the ride home. The topic was "A big year for Hollywood women?", with film critics Manohla Dargis and Nicole LaPorte discussing (and deflating) recent buzz about the "Year of the Woman" in movies. If you listen to the show online, you'll be struck by how much the conversation about women in film... http://www.bogost.com/blog/year_of_the_woman.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/year_of_the_woman.shtml blog film videogames Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:01:11 -0500 The Marketplace of Ideas Louis Menand's new book on professors and professionalization — Via Peter Gratton, I've just read Slate's detailed review of Louis Menand's new book The Marketplace of Ideas, about the state of the university and the anxiety of the professoriate. Given that my own feelings about such matters are far less measured and far more informal than Menand's, I'll look forward to reading the book, since he clearly covers many... http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_marketplace_of_ideas.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_marketplace_of_ideas.shtml blog education politics Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:57:30 -0500 A History of the World in 100 Objects From the BBC and the British Museum — Yet another high-profile slate of objects to report. The BBC and the British Museum are collaborating on a set of radio programs detailing a history of the world in 100 objects. The objects are drawn from the collection of the British Museum, and the radio program begins tomorrow (18 January). The BBC has also produced a multimedia explorer that... http://www.bogost.com/blog/a_history_of_the_world_in_100.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/a_history_of_the_world_in_100.shtml blog art philosophy Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:05:05 -0500 Loosely-Cobbled Arrangements Object-Oriented Philosophy and Sculpture in Art Papers — The object-oriented uprising continues. This time, it can be found in a sizable article in the November/December 2009 issue Art Papers Magazine. The piece stretches across eight pages or so (alas, only in print), covering contemporary sculpture and its relation to object-oriented philosophy. Often incorporating the detritus of everyday life, that is, appropriated bits and pieces in loosely-cobbled arrangements, such... http://www.bogost.com/blog/looselycobbled_arrangements.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/looselycobbled_arrangements.shtml blog art philosophy Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:24:45 -0500 Things Rule Liz Losh on Object-Oriented Teaching — Over at the Digital Media and Learning blog, Liz Losh writes a nice introduction to the "emerging theory" of object-oriented philosophy. Her post discusses the surprise popularity of objects at last month's Digital Arts and Cultures conference, including very prominent mention in Kate Hayles opening plenary. Losh then asks how object-oriented teaching might work at a practical level, offering some... http://www.bogost.com/blog/things_rule.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/things_rule.shtml blog philosophy Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:02:44 -0500 Who Can Beat Nixon? Defeat doesn't finish a game, quit does. — Here's a lovely specimen I hadn't seen before: a board game released in 1970 about Nixon's then-forthcoming (and ill-fated) reelection. The game seems to resemble Monopoly, although its unclear how the game works from just the board. According to the game's Board Game Geek entry, the game's events (driven by Event and Media cards) "are so heavily tilted against Nixon... http://www.bogost.com/blog/who_can_beat_nixon.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/who_can_beat_nixon.shtml blog games politics Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:01:19 -0500 The Turtlenecked Hairshirt Fetid and Fragrant Futures for the Humanities — In a reflection on all the recent hubbub about the sordid state of the humanities and the recently proposed possibility of a cure in the form of the "digital humanities," Cathy Davidson offers the following lament: When I think of what the humanties offer...it is astonishing to me (and tragic) that we are not central. We are very, very good... http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_turtlenecked_hairshirt.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/the_turtlenecked_hairshirt.shtml blog computing education philosophy Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:59:36 -0500 Premature Sunsets Will XBLA's Game Room ever support new games for old systems? — Back when the Nintendo Wii first came out, I wrote about a hope for it, specifically for its Virtual Console feature. Here's what I said: Without exception, the Virtual Console has been touted as a digital distribution channel for new games and "classic" games from vintage consoles. But the Virtual Console suggests an application for serious and independent games that... http://www.bogost.com/blog/premature_sunsets.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/premature_sunsets.shtml blog Atari Microsoft videogames Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:54:02 -0500 A Slow Year in the IGF My game among the Nuovo category finalists — The Independent Game Festival (IGF) has announced finalists for the 2010 competition. I'm happy to say that my game A Slow Year is among the finalists in the Nuovo category, designed "to honor abstract, shortform, and unconventional game development which advances the medium and the way we think about games." The Nuovo jury has also issued a statement about their... http://www.bogost.com/blog/a_slow_year_in_the_igf.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/a_slow_year_in_the_igf.shtml blog games Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:47:25 -0500 Please Stand Clear of the Closing Rights How Disney and Zazzle conspire against me (and you) — I've reported twice on my experience selling things on Zazzle, the custom on-demand online print service for apparel and paper goods. First, just over a year ago, I mentioned the t-shirt designs I had made to riff on the Disney World monorail announcer notice, "Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas." Second, a few months ago, I reported that Zazzle... http://www.bogost.com/blog/please_stand_clear_of_the_clos.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/please_stand_clear_of_the_clos.shtml blog cynicism geekery theme parks travel Web 2.0 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:55:55 -0500 Writing for Readership Making books appealing — Harman offers his thoughts on the virtues of short books, with a mention of the conversation he and I had in Cairo about the constraints of the Atari and how they relate metaphorically to book authoring. The flavor of the genial teasing seems to be "haha, getting lazy there, aren't you?" But in fact, it is harder work to compress... http://www.bogost.com/blog/writing_for_readership.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/writing_for_readership.shtml blog books writing Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:26:35 -0500 Boredom and Torpor Mark Fisher on discipline and pedagogy — I read Mark Fisher's excellent little book Capitalist Realism this week. It's a short book long on insights, many of which provoked me, some of which I disagreed with, and a few of which I want to share. Here's the first of the latter kind, from a discussion of the post-disciplinary nature of contemporary higher education. Ask students to read... http://www.bogost.com/blog/boredom_and_torpor.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/boredom_and_torpor.shtml blog books education politics videogames Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:27:39 -0500 Christmas Cracker A tiny dollop of yuletide greetings — ... http://www.bogost.com/blog/christmas_cracker.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/christmas_cracker.shtml blog humor philosophy Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:36:49 -0500 Puzzling the Sublime Abstract puzzle games and the mathematical sublime. From my "Persuasive Games" column at Gamasutra. — I want to discuss two excellent abstract puzzle games for the iPhone: Drop7 by Area/Code and Orbital by Bitforge. But there's a problem: it's hard to talk about abstract puzzle games, particularly about why certain examples deserve to be called excellent. Sure, we can discuss their formal properties, or their sensory aesthetics, or their interfaces. We can talk about them... http://www.bogost.com/writing/puzzling_the_sublime.shtml http://www.bogost.com/writing/puzzling_the_sublime.shtml writing videogames writing Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:41:56 -0500 Speculations Journal Announcement and Call for Papers — Thanks to the work of Paul John Ennis, a graduate student at University College, Dublin, there is now a new online, open-access journal for speculative realism: Speculations: The Journal of Object Oriented Ontology. Here's a blurb about the project: Speculations is the journal of object oriented ontology. We hope to provide a forum for the exploration of object oriented ontology,... http://www.bogost.com/blog/speculations_journal.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/speculations_journal.shtml blog philosophy writing Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:45:17 -0500 Pralines and Polygons Electronic Arts Eyes the South — You may have heard that Electronic Arts is considering opening a large studio in Georgia, either in Atlanta or Savannah. Many of us in the area had heard rumblings about this, but the Atlanta Business Chronicle filed the first official story on the matter late last week. Georgia has offered tax incentives for film production for many years, and a... http://www.bogost.com/blog/pralines_and_polygons.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/pralines_and_polygons.shtml blog business politics videogames Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:01:45 -0500 Latour Litanizer Generate your own Latour Litanies — Recently, Harman has adopted my name "Latour Litany" for the lists of things that appear in various writing. I coin this term in the chapter on ontography in my OOO book in progress, Alien Phenomenology, a preview of which I delivered as a keynote at SLSA in November. There are three modes of "pragmatic" speculative realism I suggest, ontography, metaphorism,... http://www.bogost.com/blog/latour_litanizer.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/latour_litanizer.shtml blog philosophy software Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:23:19 -0500 Platform Studies: Frequently Questioned Answers Paper written with Nick Montfort for Digital Arts and Cultures 2009 — In this paper, we describe and respond to six common misconceptions about platform studies, an approach to the study of computational creativity. “Platform studies” is a new focus for the study of digital media, a set of approaches which investigate the underlying computer systems that support creative work. In 2009, the first platform-focused book about creative digital media was published:... http://www.bogost.com/writing/platform_studies_frequently_qu_1.shtml http://www.bogost.com/writing/platform_studies_frequently_qu_1.shtml writing computing history speaking writing Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:44:29 -0500 Racing the Beam is a Front Line Award Finalist — Game Developer Magazine holds an annual Front Line Awards, for "the year's best game-making tools in the categories of programming, art, audio, game engine, middleware, and books." Racing the Beam is among the finalists. We're definitely an outlier, the other books covering much more "practical" development concerns (Game Coding Complete 3e, Game Engine Architecture, Mastering Unreal Technology, and Real Time... http://www.bogost.com/blog/racing_the_beam_is_a_front_lin.shtml http://www.bogost.com/blog/racing_the_beam_is_a_front_lin.shtml blog Atari books press Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:52:50 -0500