//Keynote: A Conversation with Steve Russell (creator of Spacewar!) and John Romero (creator of Doom)
Friday, October 5, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Back in 1962, an era when the total number of computers in the world was less than 100, back when programming was a herculean challenge, and turning on a computer took a small team, there was a small band of hackers in Boston that concocted a Theory of Computer Toys, which led to Spacewar!, the first videogame. Come hear Steve Russell, one of Spacewar!'s creators, discuss his experiences with Spacewar! Russell will be joined in conversation by John Romero in a wide-ranging conversation about the origins and life of the beginning of videogames.
Speakers: Steve Russell
• John Romero
//Keynote: A Conversation with Bernie DeKoven and Eric Zimmerman
Saturday, October 6, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
This keynote will feature an engaging conversation between Bernie DeKoven and Eric Zimmerman about the relationship between playfulness and a well-lived life. Almost 25 years ago, DeKoven published his foundational book "The Well Played Game -- a Player's Philosophy." This book, written before the World Wide Web, and mobile phones, before videogames came of age in the arcades of the 1980s seems even more relevant today as it looks at the design and play of games as deeply human phenomena. In his forward to the upcoming new edition of "The Well Played Game," Zimmerman writes, "Its wisdom has much to teach those of us making, studying, teaching with, and playing games. It should be required reading for anyone taking play seriously." DeKoven who has designed games for publishers including LEGO, Mattel Media, and CBS Software, is well known for his contributions to the New Games Foundation (publisher of The New Games Book) and has lectured major industry events across the globe. Zimmerman is an author, designer and professor at NYU's Game Center. He is a member game design collective Local No. 12, known for the creation of games such as the popular Metagame.
Speakers: Bernie DeKoven
• Eric Zimmerman
//Keynote: Mary Flanagan - Hippies, Hackers, & Wargames (A Secret History of War & Peace)
Sunday, October 7, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
What do Call of Duty and the Parachute playground game have in common? How did Alan Turning affect computer games? These phenomena may not be as disparate as they seem. The 20th century bore witness to opposing yet dominant threads that led to what we know as the indie game movement today. First was the invention of the computer and the games that emerged as an entertaining byproduct of the military industrial complex. Second were the physical games from the New Games Movement which brought revolutionary ideas about play and its role in society to the mainstream.In this keynote, Flanagan weaves the history of computer gaming and the clandestine birth of computer science in with the peaceful play of hippie visionaries who saw games as a means to get in touch with one's essential humanness.Exploring the complicated relationship between games, war, and peace, Flanagan will draw connections from these historic phenomena and demonstrate their influence the present moment. How are the radical ideas from computer science and the optimism of generations past being realized in experimental games of today and tomorrow?
Speakers: Mary Flanagan