Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 18, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
From April 20 to 23, 2010, two consecutive conferences in Cologne offer people interested in gaming the rare opportunity to explore the complex subject from very different perspectives. While the 3rd International Game Conference Cologne “Clash of Realities”, from April 21 to 23, 2010, examines the subject scientifically, the first “Next Level Conference”, from April 20 to 21, 2010, focuses on artistic and aesthetic aspects. “With the two conferences Clash of Realities and Next Level, Cologne once again proves that this city and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are among the world’s leading regions in interactive entertainment,” says Martin Lorber of Electronic Arts, who initiated the first “Clash of Realities” conference four years ago together with Prof. Dr. Winfred Kaminski of Cologne University of Applied Sciences.
Addiction and violence, gender roles, the political implications of games – such as the question of which political models we encounter – but also the potential for learning, cultural expression and media-aesthetic design, as well as conscious leisure experience: these are the major subject areas at the third international computer games conference “Clash of Realities 2010”, to which Cologne University of Applied Sciences and Electronic Arts invite visitors from April 21 to 23, 2010, at the university (Mainzer Str. 5, 50678 Cologne). Researchers from the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Germany are expected. They represent media studies, game research, media education, psychology and social science, film studies, design and computer science.
With an exceptionally broad range of subjects, the 3rd International Game Conference “Clash of Realities” will present the current state of discussion on the challenges and possibilities of computer games. “Different disciplines will address the formal and content-related possibilities and special features of contemporary digital game worlds,” explains Prof. Dr. Winfred Kaminski, conference director and managing director of the Institute for Media Research and Media Education at Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Faculty of Applied Social Sciences). “Naturally,” Kaminski continues, “currently debated questions will be addressed to allow the general public to find scientifically grounded and differentiated answers.”
Under the conference title “Computer Games: Media and More…”, discussions will cover online role-playing games and first-person shooters, as well as digital sports games, planning and strategy games, and many other game categories. Looking at the “politics of games”, participants will ask which political models we encounter in computer games and whether, beyond playful interaction, they also offer opportunities for “social participation and engagement”. Under the broader heading of youth culture, topics include youth culture and leisure experience, identity formation, the emergence of new social spaces through virtual game worlds, social processes, and the role of social groups. Questions also concern “male dominance in gaming clans” and the assessment of games as a constructive part of leisure time.
Attendance at the “Clash of Realties” conference is free. Online registration through the conference website is required.
Particular attention will also be paid to the psychology of play. Leibniz Prize winner Dietrich Dörner examines and uses computer games to advance cognitive psychology. He asks: “Do machines have souls, or is our soul itself a thinking machine?” This area also includes discussions of gaming addiction and appropriate medical and therapeutic approaches, as well as questions about whether empirical social-science and psychological research into gaming addiction and excessive gaming is required and what opportunities exist for counselling and prevention.
With regard to game development, the programme includes questions about photographic and hyperrealism in games and their role in the further development of cinema, as well as the connection between the construction of real spaces (architecture) and virtual play spaces. Further subjects include games as experiments, experiments with computer games, computer games as an “art form” and therefore a “cultural asset”, and new “narrative possibilities” through computer games.
Experts in media education will also present research and practical experience and take positions on aspects of media literacy, media education and media socialisation. The focus is primarily on evaluating games, learning about games and learning through games, and the extent to which computer games can contribute to developing specific skills.
As an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary forum for discussion, the third international computer games conference “Clash of Realities 2010” aims to address as many facets of computer games as possible, prompt new questions and stimulate creative developments. Detailed information about the programme, subjects and speakers can be found online at “clashofrealities.de”.
On April 20 (through April 21), NRW KULTURsekretariat and the North Rhine-Westphalia state government will also invite visitors to the first “Next Level Conference” on the art and culture of digital games (AbenteuerHallen in Cologne-Kalk). Detailed information and registration are available on the Next Level website.
Further links:
- Next Level Conference
Clash of Realities
