Game philosophy expo coming in '07

The Philosophy of Computer Games conference will be held January 27 to 29 in Italy.

A Philosophy of Computer Games Conference is to be held in Reggio Emilia, Italy, from January 27 to 29. According to their Web site, the organisers are a team of various professors of philosophy, the classics, and art subjects in Europe and have chosen to hold the conference for the purpose of "initiating an investigation into how current research on computer games touches upon philosophical issues."

28 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Oct 21, 2006 11:21 pm PT

    I wonder what exactly they will discuss

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 8:04 am PT

    Game philosophy? I don't think it will be of much interest to gamers. Maybe developers will be interested in his.

  • sun_wyvrn

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 10:13 pm PT

    Murpheus007
    Video games are what you make them. If you see them as art they are, if you see them as just entertainment, then that's all they are. If you see them as harmful to the youth of the world, then that's what you see them as. It would take a proverbial stick of dynamite to change your mind.

    ~~~

    What's funny is that philosophy IS that proverbial stick of dynamite ^_^

    But yeah, I hope that there will be some coverage of this. If anyone gets a chance to read/hear the dialogue these guys have, it'll be interesting to see their views and how people analyze ideas.

  • Murpheus007

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 1:55 pm PT

    Video games are what you make them. If you see them as art they are, if you see them as just entertainment, then that's all they are. If you see them as harmful to the youth of the world, then that's what you see them as. It would take a proverbial stick of dynamite to change your mind.

  • keinuveye

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 1:02 pm PT

    ... interesting ...

  • manapsal

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 12:49 pm PT

    wtfuzz

  • sun_wyvrn

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 10:40 am PT

    w00t. I'm a philosophy major (among other things, I really need to narrow down how many majors I am). This is exciting.

    For those confused, studying the philosophy of anything is not a good or bad thing. It is a matter of perspective, analysis, and logic. For the video game world, having philosophers look into this can be a resource the gaming world can tap into later, especially with the recent arguments of "Video Games are more than products, they are works of art."

    Chances are, they will cover three main aspects of philosophy when it comes to videogames. Metaphysics, Logic, and Ethics. Metaphysics will probably touch into things such as MMORPGs, where there is a boundary of what is "real" and what isn't, and if ideas can be "real." Sounds simple enough, right? Please understand that this is incredibly important. After all, ideas can be very influential, even if they aren't physical. For example, numbers aren't physical objects, they are ideas, thoughts, and representations of things we can wrap our brains around, but just because it isn't "real" doesn't mean it isn't useful. In the same way, they could justify MMOs and other situations to be influential, useful, and something people should take seriously.

    Logic and Ethics are fairly self explanatory. PM me if you want more detail, and I'll share what I know, and I'll tell you what I don't, so you can further look into stuff.

    This COULD be revolutionary...

  • Lord_Bafford

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 10:27 am PT

    don't these profs have something better to do?

  • Myke_Kreed

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 10:19 am PT

    So is this philosophy OF video games, or philosophies ABOUT video games, or just a combination of philosophy AND video games?

  • Fibonacci-Seq

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 10:07 am PT

    Don't you guys understand??? This philosophy conference is definitely going to touch off on how these games create other realities whihc are based on the fundemental aspects of physics. This is sorta like Descartes proposition that was conveyed in the matrix. How we are being deceived. Whos to say the characters we play with in the games don't have minds of their own, and when we aren't playing aren't present in their own realm? Video games are the very foundation of how physical everything is.

  • wisebandit

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 8:44 am PT

    Uau...why not!

  • gamerchikrpg

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 8:27 am PT

    ryusage is right..

    the information is a little vague. i wanna know what kind of philosophy they are looking at? from the way it sounds, the art in general...

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 8:25 am PT

    Philosophy of Computer Games conference ???

    Is Jack Thompson gonna be there to talk about Computer Game Violence?

  • RyuSage

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 7:44 am PT

    I'm not sure this is really what all the comments so far seem to assume. I highly doubt Xenogears will be even be mentioned at this thing...I don't think it's about the philosophies that are actually presented in games' stories themselves, per se. I also don't think it's really going to be much like a typical "Game Show". It sounds to me that this is more of an *academic* conference that will address the philosophical issues with games (as a whole) in our culture, or perhaps philosophies in the processes in designing games. It certainly won't be about how deep and enlightening the plot of Xenogears is.

  • solidleader

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 6:54 am PT

    Huh... A conference about philosophy in games? Anybody say Xenogears?

  • GMAN32X

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 6:05 am PT

    Man, I would love to go to this, and not just because it is being held in Italy.

  • Timonius

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 2:31 am PT

    Hopefully this is the start of seeing games as media, they've been around for long enough now. Sooner people realise the huge amount of work that goes into this stuff, the beeter imho.

  • mad_gamer23

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 2:16 am PT

    They are introducing a Faculty of Gaming in most Universities in 2007.
    Requirements:
    -No life

    I'm soooooo getting in!

  • _solidsnake_2

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 1:06 am PT

    this will be cool as long as its not devoted to making all games look like "Columbine Simulators"

  • TryMe01

    Posted Oct 19, 2006 12:35 am PT

    at least they can say that they will be the first game show on the new year...

  • paranoiasurviva

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 10:36 pm PT

    eh?

  • McDog3

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 10:02 pm PT

    Sounds interesting. Looks someone finally is seeing videogames as art just as literature, movies, paintings..etc.......

  • dukerav

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 9:24 pm PT

    *Yawn* Ughh, sorry what were we discussing

  • Paperlink64

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 9:16 pm PT

    ???

  • VegetaMaelstrom

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 8:27 pm PT

    I hope they don't come up with some bull about video games=violence like German, Australian and US politicians seem to believe.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 8:06 pm PT

    about time? lol.

  • standcm12

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 7:58 pm PT

    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  • Pablo620

    Posted Oct 18, 2006 7:52 pm PT

    Maybe a college course will be next

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