Nominations for the inaugural DiGRA Australia Awards close on Dec 31st. Please do not forget to nominate your excellent work so that it can receive the recognition it deserves. Further detail available at: https://digraa.org/digra-awards/
Author Archives: marcuscarter
Registration is required for DiGRA A 19. Please register at the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/digra-australia-2019-whats-next-tickets-51994263241
DiGRA Australia 2019 Conference Program
University of Sydney, Sydney
Day One Program – February 12th, Social Sciences Building LT200
| 9:00 |
New to DiGRA Breakfast If you’re new to DiGRA, we invite you to meet the DIGRAA Board and organising committee for coffee at the Courtyard Cafe, near the venue. |
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| 10:00 |
Playing with choices and moral dilemmas: Analyzing the challenges of the gamer mindset Keynote by Professor Mia Consalvo Canada Research Chair In Game Studies & Design Keynote Supported by the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre |
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| 11:15 |
Short Break |
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| 11:30 | Cameron Edmond | Let’s play OuLiPo: machine writing practice as play |
| 11:45 | David Cumming, Martin Gibbs and Wally Smith | Between places: spectatorship at an Australian esports bar |
| 12:00 | Ben Egliston | The data assemblage of play: Analytics, surveillance, memory |
| 12:15 | Rowan Tulloch and Craig Johnson | The Player as Data: The Hidden Algorithms of Dystopia |
| 12:30 |
Lunch One Hour |
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| 13:30 | Dan Padua | The normalisation of ‘video gaming parents’ in the era of eSports |
| 13:45 | Christopher Moore, Richard Hall and Angus Baillie | Cardboard Asia: representation, cultural literacy and infrastructure in the analogue game industry |
| 14:00 | Melissa J. Rogerson, Martin Gibbs and Wally Smith | Understanding the travel motivations of game hobbyists |
| 14:15 | Gawain Lucian Lax and Madeleine Mackenzie | Against All Odds: Desire and Monetisation in Japanese Mobile Games |
| 14:30 |
Afternoon Tea |
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| 15:00 | Lucy Sparrow | The moral (im)permissibility of groping in virtual reality games |
| 15:15 | John Pike | ‘Something that is ours’: VR and the values of gaming’s field |
| 15:30 | April Tyack | Splendid Isolation: Optimistic Relations Towards Virtual Experience |
| 15:45 | Kate Clark | Affective subject formation in video games |
| 16:00 | ||
| 16:30 | Kyle Moore | What’s Next for Location-based Gaming? |
| 16:45 | Luke van Ryn | Order Up: Decoding food through cooking games |
| 17:00 | Mahli-Ann Butt | ‘Fuck Game Studies’ |
| 18:30 |
Social Event Join us at the Nags Head on St John’s Road for Dinner and Drinks BYO Boardgames! |
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Day Two Program – February 13th, Social Sciences Building LT200
Acknowledgements
DiGRAA 2019 is made possible thanks to the generous support provided by the School of Literature, Arts and Media and the Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre at The University of Sydney
Frequently Asked Questions and Other Information
Lunch at the conference will be provided. Coffee and biscuits will be provided for the coffee/tea breaks.
Registration is required, please register here via Eventbrite.
Conference Location
DiGRA Australia 2019 will be held at The University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus in the new Social Sciences Building at The University of Sydney [Google Maps Link]. Registration will be on level 1 of the building in the foyer outside LT200 – the lecture theatre for the main conference.
The venue can be easily accessed via public transport along Parramatta Rd.
A casual social event on the evening of the 12th will be held at the Nag’s Head, a short walk away.
Keynote Address
The Keynote Address will be delivered by Professor Mia Consalvo, thanks to the support of the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC)
Playing with choices and moral dilemmas: Analyzing the challenges of the gamer mindset
This talk builds off my early work studying players who enjoy games with moral and ethical dilemmas, as well as additional work creating a game that features such elements. Advancing that work, it asks how “regular” players, or those less likely to deeply engage with such game components, deal with such choices. Through a preliminary examination of You Tube Let’s Play videos as well as Twitch live streams of games including Firewatch and Life is Strange 2, the talk highlights the greater diversity of approaches that players take, and the particular issue of the ‘gamer mindset’ that many players employ. Additionally, the talk considers the challenges that game designers face when building such games, and how to possibly circumvent these limitations.
Biography:
Mia Consalvo is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design at Concordia University in Montreal. She is the co-author of Players and their Pets, co-editor of Sports Videogames and author of Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames. She has most recently completed the book Atari to Zelda: Japan’s Videogames in Global Context, about Japan’s influence on the videogame industry and game culture.
Mia runs the mLab, a space dedicated to developing innovative methods for studying games and game players. She’s a member of the Centre for Technoculture, Art & Games (TAG), she has presented her work at professional as well as academic conferences including regular presentations at the Game Developers Conference. She is the Past President of the Digital Games Research Association, and has held positions at MIT, Ohio University, Chubu University in Japan and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
DiGRA Australia is actively concerned with cultivating an inclusive research community. As such, as with previous DiGRA Australia events, registration for the 2019 National Conference will be free. Further, and for the first time, up to ten bursaries of no more than $500 each will be available for students and non-salaried early-career researchers no more than five years out from the end of their PhD who have a paper accepted to the conference to help cover travel and accommodation costs.
Applications for a travel bursary can be made through this form. Please complete your EasyChair submission of your abstract before completing this form.
DiGRA Australia has a long-standing commitment to inclusivity and diversity. We note that parent-researchers often face inequitable hurdles to attend and fully participate in conferences. As such, we have assembled the following information for parent researchers considering attending DiGRAA 2019.
Children at DiGRAA
We welcome children to DiGRA Australia, and any children in attendance are welcome to attend conference talks, meals and events for free. For catering purposes, please register your child on Eventbrite separately which will allow you to notify us of any dietary requirements your child has. The social event on the evening of the 12th will be held in the dining area of a local pub, where accompanied children can attend until 9pm. It is our hope that this will allow parent-researchers to more easily participate in the social events that are an important part of conferences.
Please note that some conference presentations may involve content that is unsuitable for younger audiences (such as discussions of violent or sexual imagery from videogames, or mature themes). Presenters will be notified in advance that there may be children in attendance, and to provide a content warning at the start of their talk so that children can be removed.
Parenting Space
We welcome babies to DiGRA Australia and breastfeeding is welcome anywhere at the conference. The conference venue is accessible to prams.
On Level 2 of the venue (accessible via lift) there is a dedicated parenting space for babycare needs including feeding and changing, with a microwave and hot water available. Unfortunately the parenting space does not have a refrigerator. Parents with babies are welcome to leave bags of childcare paraphernalia at the registration desk nearby.
Simply speak to a conference organiser on the day if you’ll require access to this space, and we’ll show you where it is.
Access to Child Care
As a small, free conference it is not possible for DiGRA Australia to provide on-site childcare. However, the following childcare centres located near The University of Sydney offer occasional care:
Redfern Occasional Care
55 Pitt Street
Redfern NSW 2016
+61 2 9288 5620
SDN Glebe Children’s Education & Care Centre
112a Glebe Street
Glebe NSW 2037
+61 2 9552 3747
Marrickville Occasional Care
356 Victoria Road
Marrickville NSW 2204
+61 2 9558 1591
Flexibility for Parents
To assist parent-researchers juggling child-care challenges, we are able to offer presenters flexibility in the day their talk is scheduled. Please contact the conference organiser after your talk is accepted if you have a preferred day, or time of day, for your talk.
As a free conference, caregivers are welcome to also attend with the researcher-parent, and caregivers attending alongside a researcher-parent are welcome to also attend conference talks, meals and events. Please register caregivers separately via eventbrite for catering purposes.
If you have questions or suggestions to improve this page, please contact the conference organiser Marcus Carter <marcus.carter@sydney.edu.au>
Acknowledgements
Calisi, R. (2018) Opinion: How to tackle the childcare-conference conundrum. Proceedings of the Natural Academic of Sciences USA 115(2): 2845-2849.
We are delighted to announce that DiGRAA 2019 will be held at The University of Sydney, February 12-13. The CFP is available here.
Key Dates
November 12th – Abstract Submission Deadline
December 12th – Notification of Submission Outcome
February 12th & 13th – Conference
DiGRA Australia 2019: What’s Next?
We invite you to contribute to a two-day game studies conference to be held 12th and 13th February at The University of Sydney. Registration for DiGRA Australia conferences is free.
Key Dates
November 12th – Abstract Submission Deadline
December 12th – Notification of Submission Outcome
February 12th & 13th – Conference
Keynote Speaker
Professor Mia Consalvo, Canada Research Chair in Game Studies & Design, Concordia University
Details
The academic field of game studies has largely arisen in the past 20 years, energised by the phenomenal growth of the digital games industry. More recent developments such as mobile gaming and the resurgence of non-digital play have encouraged scholars to acknowledge the plurality of game experiences, practices, cultures and design. Across Australia, studying games is increasingly becoming institutionally recognized and encouraged, and nominated as key areas of interest in job advertisements in departments traditionally specializing in literature, media studies, human-computer interaction and design.
So, this year’s DiGRA Australia conference asks, ‘What’s Next?’
It is our intent with this theme to encourage research and discussion that speaks to and guides the future direction of games research in Australia. We encourage submissions that reflect all aspects of scholarly engagement with games. It is not a requirement that submissions engage with this theme.
We organise such an event acknowledging that understanding games is not an exclusively academic endeavour and excellent work is occurring in a wide variety of spaces outside of formal scholarship. Consequently, we encourage non-academic game researchers, critics, designers, developers and artists to attend and contribute to the event.
Following on from the success of previous DiGRA Australia events, DiGRA Australia will remain a single track conference.
DiGRA Australia is actively concerned with cultivating an inclusive research community. As such, as with previous DiGRA Australia events, registration for the 2019 National Conference will be free. Further, and for the first time, up to ten bursaries of no more than $500 each will be available for students and non-salaried early-career researchers no more than five years out from the end of their PhD who have a paper accepted to the conference to help cover travel and accommodation costs.
Submission Format
We invite interested authors or makers to submit 400-800 word abstracts (not including references), anonymously for peer review.
We advise potential authors to review the abstracts accepted for publication at previous DiGRA Australia conferences [see here] as a guide to the expected tone and quality. Some further tips:
- Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship.
- We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but should represent novel (unpublished) scholarship. If the abstract resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRAA submission.
- We recommend that papers articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, and indicate the findings or conclusions to be presented and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline.
- Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches.
Accepted abstracts will be uploaded to the DiGRA Australia website.
Submission Process
Submissions will be made online, via easy chair:
| https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=digraa2019 |
Please enter your 400-800 word abstract or full paper in the abstract box in easy chair, as well as uploading it as a formatted attachment using the template here.
We ask authors not to submit more than 2 abstracts to the conference.
Applications for a travel bursary can be made through this form. Please complete your EasyChair submission of your abstract before completing this form.
Conference Committee
- Dr Marcus Carter, The University of Sydney
- Dr Ben Abraham, University of Technology Sydney
- Dr Malcolm Ryan, Macquarie Univeristy
- Mahli-Ann Butt, The University of Sydney
- Jacob Grice, The University of Sydney
- Ben Egliston, The University of Sydney
- Harriet Flitcroft, The University of Sydney
- Kyle Moore, The University of Sydney
- Soojeong Yoo, The University of Sydney
- Geoff Hill, SAE Sydney
FAQ
Do I have to be a member of DiGRA or DIGRA Australia to submit an abstract or attend the conference?
No you do not have to be a member! The conference is open to all.
2016 DiGRAA National Conference CFP
We invite you to contribute to a two-day game studies symposium from November 17th-18th, 2016 to be held at Swinburne University of Technology. The theme for the DiGRAA Symposium 2016 will be ‘Tensions’.
Details
Games have frequently been sites of conflict, contention, and competition. As both games and gaming culture develop, however, these sites of conflict and their related tensions are shifting across multiple axes. Games themselves are objects of tension in different ways: while conflict is still often used to drive narrative and gameplay, designers continue to experiment with the line between comfort and unease. Conversely, those who play and make games are more diverse than ever before, and the tensions over representation, politics, and demographics continue to dominate public games discourse. The purpose of the 2016 DiGRAA Symposium is to explore the tensions in all aspects of engaging with games. This may include: gameplay, mechanics, game design, or game culture.
We organise such an event acknowledging that understanding games is not an exclusively academic endeavour and excellent work is occurring in a wide variety of spaces outside of formal scholarship. Consequently, we encourage non-academic game researchers, critics, designers, developers and artists to attend and contribute to the event.
Some suggestions for topics include (but are not limited to):
- Representations of race
- Gender and sexuality
- Sex in games
- Conflict as game mechanic
- The aesthetics of violence
- Death and tension
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline – Aug 19
Notification of Acceptance – Sept 19
Symposium Date – Nov 17-18
Following on from the success of previous DiGRA Australia events, we fully expect that DiGRA Australia 2016 will remain a single track conference.
The Event
The conference will run from 13:00 – 17:00 on the 17th November, and from 9:00 – 17:00 on the 18th November at Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn campus. An evening social event and exhibition will occur on the 17th on campus. A morning doctoral workshop will run from 9:00 – 12:00 on the 17th, which will require registration prior to the event
Submission Format
We invite interested authors or makers to submit 400-800 word abstracts (not including references), anonymous for peer review. We will also accept full papers of up to 4,000 words and the same rules apply. Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship.
We advise potential authors to review the abstracts accepted for publication at previous DiGRA Australia conferences as a guide to the expected tone and quality. We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but must represent novel (unpublished) scholarship. If the abstract resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRAA submission. We recommend that papers articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, and indicate the findings or conclusions to be presented and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline. Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches.
Accepted abstracts will be uploaded to the DiGRA Digital Library as will accepted full papers.
Submission Process
Submissions will be made online, via easy chair.
Easychair Submission link:
https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=digraa16
Please enter your 400-800 word abstract or full paper in the abstract box in easy chair, as well as uploading it as a formatted attachment.
Conference Chairs
Ms Laura Crawford (Vice President, DiGRAA Australia/Lecturer Games and Interactivity, Swinburne University of Technology)
Dr Daniel Golding (Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology, Media and Communications)
CFP: 2016 DiGRA Australia Queensland Symposium
Wayfinding
Academic work on games and play in Queensland is being conducted within a wide variety of disciplines and from an even broader number of conceptual and analytical approaches. DiGRAA Brisbane is thus delighted to announce the inaugural event of this local chapter, a one-day symposium aimed at bringing together those interested in the study of digital (and non-digital) games and play in Queensland (and Australia more broadly) to discuss current and future work.
We organise such an event acknowledging that ‘game studies’ should not be an exclusively academic endeavour – exciting and ground-breaking work is occurring in a wide variety of commercial, professional and amateur contexts. Consequently, we encourage non-academic game researchers, critics, designers, developers and artists to attend and contribute to the event. Submitted abstracts will not be evaluated harshly for not engaging with academic literature, as we see this as an opportunity for these disparate communities to engage and share knowledge.
The theme, ‘Wayfinding’, speaks broadly to how we as a community of games research practices in Queensland orientate ourselves—how we determine the routes we are travelling and where we hope our research is going. It invites submissions that describe projects completed or still under way, that prompt discussion, or report findings or arguments conducted by those studying games or play in the broadest sense. We welcome perspectives from game studies, UX, interaction design, narratology, media studies, and beyond. By attending and presenting works like these, your presence contributes to the theme, helping us all map what the study of games and play ‘is’ in Queensland and Australia in 2016.
Attendance at the event is also an opportunity to shape and be involved in the future direction of this regional DiGRA chapter.
The symposium will run all day on Saturday 2nd April, 2016 at This Must Be The Place (Shop 8, Bakery Lane, 694 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley), followed by an evening social event organised nearby. Attendance at the symposium is limited, and registration will be required.
After the symposium, selected presenters will be invited to submit full papers for a peer-reviewed journal issue that will build on the symposium’s themes.
About DIGRA Australia
DiGRA Australia is the Australian chapter of the Digital Games Research Association, which is the premiere international association for academics and professionals who research games and associated phenomena. It encourages high-quality research on games, and promotes collaboration and dissemination of work by its members.
Although the focus of DiGRA has historically been on ‘digital’ games, DiGRA Australia welcomes research on all forms of games and play, digital and non-digital.
Important Dates
- Abstract Submission Deadline – Monday 29th Feb, 2016
- Notification of Acceptance – Monday 7th March, 2016
- Symposium Date – Saturday 2nd April, 2016
Submission Format
We invite interested authors to submit 400-800 word abstracts, accompanied by a 100 word bio. Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship.
We advise potential authors to review the abstracts accepted for publication in last years DiGRA Australia conference as a guide to the expected tone and quality. We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but must represent novel (unpublished) scholarship. If the abstract resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRAA submission. We recommend that papers articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, and indicate the findings or conclusions to be presented and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline. Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches.
Submissions are required to use the DiGRA conference publication format. Accepted abstracts will be uploaded to the DiGRA Digital Library.
Submission Process
Submissions will be made online, via EasyChair.
Please enter your 400-800 word abstract in the abstract box in EasyChair, as well as uploading it as a formatted attachment.
Conference Chairs
Dr Christy Dena – Games Department, SAE Creative Media Institute
Dr Brendan Keogh – Games Department, SAE Creative Media Institute
truna aka Jane Turner – School of Design, QUT