the future of Games

Thursday, April 23, 2009
Registration: 18:30-19:00, Conference: 19:00-21:15
Tickets

Location: Cultuurhuis Diamantslijperij, Tolstraat 129, 1074 VJ Amsterdam

The conference language is English.

Supporter: University of Applied Sciences, School for Design and Communication

 

Gaming in 2020 - how gaming is influencing everybody.

Games for

business development
training
fun
mobile phones
relation management
etc

The development of the technological tools has made it possible to make computer games and in the past decades games have conquered the world. What started with simple games like 'space invaders' and 'pong' seems to be influencing far more than our free time. And not just kids play games anymore.

Through the development of games we now are getting new perceptions of our world. By creating new technology and in using new tools we recreate ourselves, and the world around us.

It is an undemocratic process; there is no legislative body, no scientific council, nor a political one which has a blueprint how this will influence our world, how this process should play out.

Like nobody ever voted for printing, for steam engines, penicillin, telephones, televisions or the internet. But they happened and changed our lives.

This evening you will be confronted with different outlooks on the future of games. You are confronted with ideas about a future, based on the knowledge the speakers now have and the expectations of their development and influence.

You are invited to join the discussion how the future of games will change your live.

Event concept:by Carla Hoekendijk


Jeroen Elfferich, CEO, Ex Machina
Crossplatform & Social Gaming

Games have the potential to become the ultimate social objects of the digital age, including more people than ever before. But it takes more than just a highscore and a friends list to get there. This presentation will address some of the highlights (and challenges) facing the games and entertainment industries within the social media eco system. Key topics will be the rise and integration of new gaming platforms (web, mobile, broadcast/TV) and an introduction into social gaming (communities, multiplayer, social networks)

David Nieborg, PhD researcher, Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)
More of the same? - The future implications of a game industry oligopoly

In terms of ownership the game industry is not that different from other sectors in the cultural industries. The big game publishers get bigger up to a point where we might see even a smaller set of publishers than we see today. Insights from research on the concentration of ownership in the film and television industry shows a decreasing diversity of cultural production as a result of ongoing mergers. How real is this threat and what will it mean for playing games in 2020?

Kars Alfrink, Interaction Designer, Leapfrog
Better living through urban play

In the near future, we’ll design games that use the ‘new’ streets as a platform. As they play these games, people will ‘grok’ the complex organism that is the real-time city. We can create ‘serious’ urban games that facilitate speculative modelling, so that people can improve their living environment, or at least express what they would change about it, in a playful way.

GAF van Baalen, Co-owner, Concept and artdirection, Ranj Serious Games
Serious games and ubiquitous play

Ranj has been successfully developing serious games for over ten years. We are convinced that using game technology outside the domain of entertainment can make education and communication processes more efficient, more profound and provide a much more natural way of learning. The development of serious games is still in its infancy. Dominant designs are yet to be discovered but play and gaming will be incorporated in every aspect of everybody’s lives within the next 10 years. It will be as normal as video was and e-mail is now. Learning while playing and gaming. Serious games and Ubiquitous Play.

Ellen de Lange-Ros, Owner, Faxion
The gamer attitude: the prerequisite for success in 2020

Since several years, I'm playing games quite fanatically. While I started playing games, I noticed some important changes in my attitude towards the world. For example my learning strategy changed dramatically. Now I notice that this 'gamer's attitude' helps me greatly in doing my work. It helped me while I founded my company Faxion and it gives me specific advantages in projects for my customers.
Around me, I see many friends struggling with the demands of the 21st century-internet-age. They find it hard to adapt to the quickly changing world around them. However, the solution to play the game of the 21st century succesfull is easy: play games! The gamers attitude is just what's needed to become succesfull in 2020.

18:30 - 19:00
Registration & welcome drinks

19:00 - 20:00
Introduction by our Moderator
Matthijs Dierckx Kuijper, Publisher, het Redactielokaal


Part I:

Jeroen Elfferich, CEO, Ex Machina
Crossplatform & Social Gaming

David Nieborg, PhD researcher, Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)
More of the same? - The future implications of a game industry oligopoly

Kars Alfrink, Interaction Designer, Leapfrog
Better living through urban play

GAF van Baalen, Co-owner, Concept and artdirection, Ranj Serious Games
Serious games and ubiquitous play

Ellen de Lange-Ros, Owner, Faxion
The gamer attitude: the prerequisite for success in 2020

20:00 - 20:30
Coffee break with drinks and snacks.

20:30 - 21:15
Part II: Open discussion

Tickets for this Season Event are
....Regular Ticket: € 30,-
....Discount Ticket: € 20,- [*]
....Student Ticket: € 10,-
As a non-for-profit foundation we don't charge VAT.
[*] see www.clubofamsterdam.com/ticketcorner.htm


How to pay for the tickets?

....a) Online booking with credit card: Ticket Corner
........www.clubofamsterdam.com/ticketcorner.html

....b) By bank: send an email with your details, number of tickets, type of tickets
........and event name to: ticketcorner@clubofamsterdam.com
........Bank: Fortis Bank, Club of Amsterdam, Account 976399393, Amstelveen,
........The Netherlands, IBAN NL46 FTSB 0976399393, BIC FTSB NL2R

....c) By invoice: send an email with your billing details, number of tickets, type of
........tickets.and event name to: ticketcorner@clubofamsterdam.com

....d) At the registration desk the evening of the event - unless we are sold out
........earlier: 18:30-19:00

University of Applied Sciences, School for Design and Communication

Today's job market has opportunities for a new type of professional, one who can work within various disciplines on assignments and projects involving interactive and digital media. The Interactive Media (IAM) degree programme produces graduates to meet this market need. We call our graduates 'IAM professionals'. They are multidisciplinarians with knowledge and skills in five areas: marketing, communication, management (and project management), technology and interactive media design.

Our students are not generalists, but are specialised in one of the three specialist courses we offer in combination with the multidisciplinary basic knowledge of our core programme. IAM students can devise, design, develop and manage effective solutions for interactive media assignments. They can also advise commissioners about the marketing, communication, technology, design and cultural aspects of interactive media.
www.international.hva.nl/schools/school-of-design-and-communication/iam/index.htm

Jeroen Elfferich
CEO, Ex Machina

Jeroen Elfferich is founder and CEO at Ex Machina, the independent, Amsterdam-based company that enables social gaming across mobile, web and broadcast. Jeroen's passion is extending the social context of technology and believes online gaming is its cutting edge. Jeroen has a background in Artificial Intelligence and Sociology and founded several successful online and technology ventures since 1996. He’s been working on online gaming technology since 1998. Julius, Ex Machina’s proven and robust cross-platform connected games management system, is in use at leading media companies, publishers and operators around the world.
www.exmachina.nl

David Nieborg
PhD researcher, Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA),
Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam

His research focuses on the interaction among participatory culture, game technology and the political economy of the game industry. He contributes to discussions surrounding game culture in various journals, (online) magazines and national newspapers.
www.gamespace.nl
home.medewerker.uva.nl/d.b.nieborg

Kars Alfrink
Interaction Designer, Leapfrog

In his independent practice, Kars Alfrink straddles the line between interaction- and game design. He thinks play is a crucial characteristic of any meaningful user experience and pursues projects
that help him test this belief. Kars has designed social web applications, casual mobile games and multi-touch systems.

Besides designing, Kars enjoys teaching at the Utrecht School of the Arts. Currently, he is coaching a group of students who are pursuing a European Media Master of Arts in game design.

Kars is the initiator and co organizer of This happened – Utrecht, a series of lectures dedicated to the stories behind interaction design.

In his spare time, Kars practices a traditional Japanese martial art, and tries to keep up with geek culture.
http://leapfrog.nl

GAF van Baalen
Co-owner, Concept and artdirection, Ranj Serious Games

Since 1999 Ranj Serious Games applies game technology to “serious” industries. Using advanced technology and powerful game principles, Ranj makes education and communication processes more efficient and profound, but also more entertaining. Ranj is IP holder of an elaborate online serious and casual games portfolio and has developed an unique online browser based isometric engine.

For the past 10 years Ranj has fine tuned its sophisticated serious games development, in which field experts and the game development teams translate problem solving challenges in appealing and entertaining gameplay. The underlying strength of this unique development process is best explained by an example: SharkWorld

With SharkWorld aspiring project managers gain experience with project management. It covers both economic aspects and social aspects of project. The game is propelled by an underlying suspense story. It deliberately blurs the line between reality and fiction, to form a lifelike test case. The player interacts through websites, cut scenes, e-mail, newspaper articles, chat, voice-mails and text messages on a real life phone. It can be played independently as a standalone application or embedded in a learning or training program.

SharkWorld and other Award winning products: http://gdc.ranj.nl
www.ranj.nl

Ellen de Lange-Ros
Owner, Faxion

Ellen de Lange-Ros is owner of Faxion, a company inspiring and advising organisations on customer satisfaction, market research and customer orientation. In line with it's motto 'Facts in Action', Faxion focuses on getting the facts of customer research into actions in organisations.

Ellen started Faxion at the 1st of October 2006. Until then, she worked at KPN where she worked at KPN Research since 1999 on several innovation projects. From 2002 until 2005, Ellen was responsible for the customer satisfaction measurements within KPN´s division Fixed. In this period, improving customer orientation was one of the strategic goals of KPN. A corporate improvement process was started to improve customer satisfaction & loyalty and during the next years, many improvements were realised. The customer satisfaction measurements were an important accelerator for the whole process and the improvements realised. Since 2005, Ellen worked on Customer Care in the consumer market. Further, she worked on innovation projects on chat in a business context and opportunities in the gaming market.

Before Ellen started at KPN, she worked at Twente University for five years on quality management and she has written a PhD thesis on Continuous Improvement in Teams (1999).
www.Faxion.nl

Matthijs Dierckx Kuijper
Publisher, het Redactielokaal

Matthijs Dierckx Kuijper is co-founder and publisher of Control, the Dutch industry magazine for game developers. In the past he was the founding editor and later publisher of some well known Dutch game magazines such as PC Zone, GameQuest and PlayNation. Dierckx Kuijper recently initiated a couple of game development projects in cooperation with a well-known game studio.
www.redactielokaal.nl

Cultuurhuis Diamantslijperij
Tolstraat 129
1074 VJ Amsterdam
former Royal Asscher Diamond Factory


Public Transport
See: www.9292ov.nl

From Centraal Station:
- tram 4 station Lutmastraat

By car from outside Amsterdam
Coming from A2 take exit S110/Nieuwe Utrechtseweg, direction Centrum. From here you follow Amsteldijk (water to your right) to the Smaragstraat, where you turn left. Turn right at the Saffierstraat and follow until you reach the Diamantstraat, where you turn right. This street ends at the Tolstraat, directly opposite our building.

Coming from A9 follow Ringweg Zuid and take exit S109. On the roundabout follow S109 in the direction of Europaplein. Via the Vrijheidslaan you reach Van Woustraat that crosses the Tolstraat. Turn right into Tolstraat.

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