FDG

Kristine Jørgensen is professor of media studies at University of Bergen, Norway. She has researched video games, players, and the relationship between the two for two decades. She is the co-editor for Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture and leads the University of Bergen Research Network for Games Research. Jørgensen is the author of Gameworld Interfaces, A Comprehensive Study of Audio in Games, co-author of The Paradox of Transgression in Games and co-editor of Transgression in Games and Play.

Keynote: Debugging “Transgression” in Games and Play

During the last five years, transgression has become a buzzword in game studies. The concept has been used to describe phenomena as diverse as controversial game content, gameplay that goes against design, and toxic player behavior; all phenomena that are research areas in their own rights and that cannot be discussed meaningfully under the same conceptual umbrella.

In this talk I will bring order to the terminological heterogeneity by systematizing the use of the term according to its use and appliance. I will also discuss the term’s relevance in game studies, and argue that its integration will offer a new lens through which to explain games and game culture in a broader context.

Konstantinos Dimopoulos is a game urbanist, game designer, author, and educator based in Athens, Greece. He holds a PhD in urban planning and geography, is the Head of Games at SAE Athens, and the author of the Virtual Cities atlas. Konstantinos is often talking on the cities of gaming across Europe, and has been writing on the subject for a variety of publications. He has also contributed chapters to books like Game Writing: Second Edition and the Architectronics of Game Space.

As a game urbanist and designer Konstantinos has worked on several games including ARMA Reforger, The Sinking City, Lake, Ex Novo, Seed, A Place for the Unwilling, and Droidscape: Basilica.

Keynote: Playing With The Building Blocks Of Utopia

Video games are very good when it comes to constructing settings or showcasing imaginary worlds, and are increasingly proficient at offering audiences the highly spatial experience of immersion. Virtual cities, in particular, are some of the medium's most elaborate, and engrossing creations. They are technically and artistically complex, and, while often completely exotic, also to a certain extent always grounded in reality.

Using the building blocks of utopia, the language of video games, and contemporary simulation techniques video games can allow us to liberate imaginations and experiment with perceptions of social and physical space, albeit in a virtual way.

In this talk I will discuss how game design, level design, and game urbanism intersect to shape virtual urban spaces, and how the imaginary cities they conjure, are part of any utopian or dystopian discourse. Imagining and proposing a future for humanity has after all historically been spatial, and city-focused.