Jamie Antonisse

The Game

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:03:26 -0800

Just a few weeks ago, Peter Brinson bravely wrote a post for the IMD blog that was, in essence, a call to all readers to vote. In it, however, he was slightly apologetic for using the Interactive site to talk about the election. In recent days, I've been wondering if that apology was necessary. Not all of us are politically minded, and we certainly don't all share the same political views. But I think it's absolutely appropriate to use this space to reiterate Peter's equal opportunity call. If you are in a swing state, a safe state, any state at all, your registration deadline is looming. If you have not done so, please get your ass on the roster so you can vote on November 4th. We owe it to ourselves to participate in this moment because, among other things, we are a community of players and designers. We have, each of us, spent a large chunk of our lives thinking about participatory systems, games large and small, games built on random chances and strategic masterstrokes, games of cooperation and heated conflict. For the 300 million players out there, a United States Presidential election is a game of maddening, deceptive elegance. You are given a simple choice between two (or more) people. All you have to do is check a box based on your knowledge of who these people are and what they might do with the time ahead. And that's where the game gets complicated; information and speculation become hard to separate as voices clamor and compete with each other to TELL you the answers, to TELL you how to choose. At some moments, that choice might seem difficult, or even futile. You might be tempted to believe your individual piece cannot move the game among so many others, or even that the choice itself won't make a difference. If you fall for that bad logic, if you don't show up, you lose your turn. For four years, you will have lost your right to feel wise or angry, betrayed or validated. That's a hell of a penalty. This election has been a strange game, a loud and sometimes frustrating game, but I can guarantee you it is the greatest game you will ever be a part of. No other single decision in your life will have the worldwide impact of the decision made on that day. The information is out there: step away from the controller for a second, consider your choice, and wherever you are, cast a vote.

Hush Site Really Live This Time

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:00:41 -0800

Just in time for the Meaningful Play Conference, I've updated the Hush site with information, images, and links to resources for Rwanda and Human Rights. http://www.jamieantonisse.com/hush

Two-Timing

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:15:05 -0800

It's time for me to come clean. I've been blogging, I just haven't been blogging here. I've written a few entries over at Pop Ten, a blog that dances between art, music, movies, games, politics and other miscellania, and I plan to continue writing there in concert with the IMD blog.

Randy Pausch Scholarships Awarded

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:37:40 -0800

The late Pausch gave an inspirational lecture in "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - now four young students will get help to reach theirs. You may recognize one of the names (well, two of them if you include Randy). Congratulations, Diana!

Climbing out of the Valley?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:00:12 -0800

Let's talk about fake people for a second. Not people who have trouble engaging in meaningful and honest communication with others... we will deal with them later. For now, let's limit the discussion to people whose mamas were motherboards. People whose fingernails are ones and zeroes. People who do not get frequent flyer miles. You know, Computer-Generated people, the Jar-Jars of the world. What do you make of this?

Garfield minus Garfield plus Garfield?

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:58:02 -0800

Like much of the game-lovin' internet, I stumbled onto a treasure trove of nonsense a few months ago via this Penny Arcade link. Who would have thought that the exploits of Garfield could actually be used for comedy? I had my fill of "Lasagna Cat" after one day, but I've occasionally checked back on Garfield Minus Garfield, and today I noticed some pretty unbelievable news.

Shakes

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:26:31 -0800

I have a slight confession to make... I've thought about earthquakes a LOT since coming out here. By my nature I'm not a particularly neurotic person, so this occasional fixation on disaster has been an anomaly. I don't look at my gas oven and wonder when it will explode, I don't hear the rumble of thunder and step ten feet back from my computer monitor. I understand the Odds, and I've pretty much internalized the fact that focusing on the unlikely event is pointless. But earthquakes are different. In my L.A. life, they have been both inevitable and totally unknown.

Hush Site Live (But Not Yet Awake)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:59:58 -0800

Ever since Values At Play, we've been thinking about making a website for Hush. Now that I did the thing (thanks for the push, Peter) and bought jamieantonisse.com, I figured I'd better start by creating a permanent space for the game to live. Full admission: this is a site only in the most technical sense, the way a deep sea fluke is technically an animal, and Rolling Rock is technically a beer. That's right, I'm calling you out Rolling Rock. I don't even DRINK beer, and I'm calling you out. i will fight you. But I have to finish this post first. What else? Ah, yes. It's important to note that this site ain't finished. I wanted to get the link out there asap, but in the future, this page will have some/more information, including full credits for everyone involved in the game, system requirements, links to write-ups and most importantly, links to places where you can learn more about the Rwandan genocide and how you can help assist in current Human Rights efforts. I'll keep you updated here as the page evolves. And I promise, all future communications between myself and Rolling Rock will take place off-blog. With fists.

Chess in The Wire

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:44:13 -0800

I'm finally watching "The Wire", after listening to five separate friends rave about it as the "best show ever made". I'm three episodes in, and it's growing on me. This scene is a little convergence of Interactive Media and Baltimore Hustling. We often talk about the "metaphor" of games, and how many different ways there are to make an abstract system meaningful. I can't thing of a better example than this.

Travian

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:27:16 -0800

I have a soft spot for slow games. Games that take place over weeks instead of hours. Glacier games, I call them, knowing full well that the phrase will never catch on. Al Yang and Ed Zobrist turned me on to this gem, a little European MMOG that answers the question: what would happen if you played a game of Warcraft 2 on a geological time scale? Or, if you prefer: what would happen if Civ II WASN'T a compressed experience, a hyperspeed war 'n' progress sim, played out over turns, but was instead... a multiplayer game of civilizations growing slowly alongside each other?

Crowd Mentality

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:47:37 -0800

So the other night, Sunday night to be exact, I set foot in the Roxy for the first time. It's a nice place, fairly intimate, with black leather couches scattered over half the floor and a great purple curtain concealing the stage. I love stage curtains, they tell me exactly when the waiting is over and the entertainment is beginning. We were there to see the Oxford Collapse, a band from New York whose music I'd never heard before, but who had the good taste to name their new album after my roommate. The lead singer, who was cultivating a sort of Albert Brooks cum Magnum P.I. look, thrashed his way through a few good songs before stopping for the customary stage talk. His subject of choice? The Happening. Using his slightly elevated position behind the raised curtain line for evil (an excusable, nervously snarky sort of evil, but evil nonetheless), he pronounced that he had Seen This Movie and that it was Great.

Hey. I guess it's June

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:32:26 -0800

June. How the hell did that happen?

Sweet senseless victory

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:14:48 -0800

Tonight, for the nineteenth time, I decided to double-click the executable file for "Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden". This time, it actually ran. Nothing else has changed on my computer. Apparently, Chef Boyardee programs his games to hibernate until May. The first line of the game... White pixelated text on a black screen. "Warning- The game you are about to play is canon." Second line: "The Year is 2053. B-Ball is dead." This will be a great adventure. Full report coming soon.

I Still Function (April Quarterly)

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:49:29 -0800

My friend, associate, and future IMD masters student (!) Sean Bouchard recently pointed out to me that "there is nothing bloggier than a post about why you haven't been blogging." So in lieu of an apology, here's a list of some stuff that has happened since last I wrote.

Dutch Master

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:29:06 -0800

What the hell is this," you might well ask. "I know, I know this looks more than a little narcissistic. But it's so damn cool and so damn random that I had to post it. Let me try to explain.