IUPUI: GenCon Educational Partner Pilot School

It was recently announced that my alma mater, Indiana University & Purdue University of Indianapolis was selected by Gen Con to be the pilot school in their forthcoming Educational Partners Program. So I called up a former professor of mine, and good friend, Mat Powers to find out more about what this partnership means. Mat, who is a lecturer for the Media Arts & Science program at the IU School of Informatics, spearheads IUPUI’s part in the partnership. Mat was contacted a couple of months ago by Jake Theis, the senior marketing & communications manager for Gen Con, LLC about participating in the program. Unfortunately, I can’t share much about what they’re cooking up, because IUPUI and Gen Con don’t want to announce anything too early as they are still working out the details. Since the program is in its infancy, the partnership is exploring all their options.

Transgaming: Bridging the Gap Between Tables & Silicon

Transgaming is a nascent game design paradigm that provides interconnected gaming experiences. Two or more different games share the same the world and actions where events in one game also affect all other games sharing the world. For example, a real time strategy game that determines the vehicles and tech levels available to the players of a first person shooter. Though the concept isn’t new, CCP’s[1] Dust 514[2] is the first title to provide a transgaming experience.

Culture

Age of Patronage

Societal trends usually ebb and flow like the swing of a pendulum and we’re seeing the beginning of the return swing for the system of funding creatives known as patronage. […]