Calling all Alternative Gamers!




I just started a new webzine called Alternative Games. You can view it at (that's Alt - Games.com) and I welcome you to be among the first to browse around and offer some feedback.

I created Alt-Games because I really want to read a publication focused on the non-conventional, experimental, fine arts, and indy / student games that are continually released online. It is very easy to find mainstream gaming coverage, and occasionally those outlets cover all kinds of things I'd personally classify as "alternative" (Katamari Damacy is an obvious example, as is Shadow of the Colossus, Seaman and any of the other "cult" mainstream games).

As a gamer, I feel a bit torn. On the one hand, the conventionalization of gaming genres and forms has really done a lot to solidify the form, providing a transparency of convention that allows certain elements to be explored. However, I also don't think we've really scratched the surface of what is possible in the game medium, and I'd rather play a dozen "kinda-crappy" experimental student projects over a single "pretty good" sci-fi FPS any day. But give me excellence in either category and I'm very, very satisfied.

So here we have Alternative Games, founded in May 2006. We're currently looking for writers. Several of the GamesFirst! staff have signed up to participate, so I know there will be a core of some very good writers. We're pioneering a new idea in shared ad revenue: Each author directly earns a portion of the ad revenue generated by their articles.

I'm hoping this revenue-sharing proposition, along with a general love of games and interest in the less orthodox elements of game culture, will entice some great writers to step up and get published.

If you're interested in writing for Alternative Games, contact me at feedback@alt-games.com or send a writing sample to submissions@alt-games.com

Butt paste on sale at target...

Missing Image ;(

Josephine and sarah performing a vr drama at the epoetry symposium

Wow! I'm blown away by this device, not so much because of what it does (although I think it would be a brilliant sound toy to have), but because of the way it makes me think of interactivity. Here's a link to the video:




view demo video

This thing is so cool, it's basically a little jar that the user speaks into. The audio is captured, and the lid is returned to the jar. Now the user can shake the jar in all different ways to make different sounds based on the recorded sample. Then, when the user is done with that sound, the lid is removed and the jar is tipped to literally pour the sound out of the device. You can hear the sound pouring out...

This is a revolutionary concept. I think a lot about interactivity and how to present a wide variety of choices to the user. This device captures a bit of elegant interactivity that I've never seen before -- it maps analog actions to digital functions in a very unique way.

Think about this: How hard is it to get water into and out of a sponge? Sponges are simple, useful devices, but they are also in many ways the equivalent of RSS feed readers: A sponge soaks up fluids, stores them for the user, then evacuates them on command (when the user squeezes the sponge). An RSS feed reader similarly soaks up information, stores it for the user, and evacuates the information on command (usually with a click of the delete button).

But I bet most people would say that a sponge is easier to use than an RSS feed reader. There is no "squeeze sponge" menu, no sponge preferences, no FAQ or wiki-based support community. The sponge works on basic physical principals, and we can grasp those intuitively once we've seen a single person use one.

I think this sound toy device is very much like a digital sponge: It utilizes a form of interaction that does not require an instruction manual to understand-- a simple demonstration and it is clear how this thing works. The elegance of pouring the audio out to delete it tickles my interactivity bone, and the physical shaking and movement that produces the sampled sounds is very attractive.

there is an ePoetry event at UB this weekend. Loss Glazier has organized a two-part symposium. The first part is this weekend at UB and the second part will be at the University of Western Virgina where Sandy Baldwin teaches. Everyone who knows Sandy Baldwin loves him, I think. Everyone I've met who knows him loves him anyway. I think he's right-on.

(e:Paul) and I will be reading. Well, and (e:Liz) also I believe. We'll be reading on Friday night (tomorrow) at 6:00 pm in the Center for the Arts room 232 (immediately to your left as you enter the Department of Media Study). It should be a cool reading. There are quite a few people reading and screening work (the Friday evening event will span the gamut of "media poetics" which is a term I like for its cosey ambiguity). There are also a bunch of things happening on Saturday, and I'm sure much more information will be available at the reading tomorrow night. Or drop me a message and I'll forward you a full agenda.