IGP Newsletter No. 4, December 2018

INTERGENERATIONAL GAMING PLATFORM

Chair Prof. dr. Eugène Loos (Utrecht University and University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Board members: Liliana Costa, MA (University of Aveiro, Portugal), Dr. Teresa de la Hera (Utrecht University, the Nether- lands), Prof. dr. David Kaufman (Simon Fraser University, Canada), Dr. Sanela Osmanovic (Louisiana State University, USA), Dr. Amanda Paz (Erasmus University, the Netherlands), Prof. dr. Margarida Romero (Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, France), Prof. Dr. Bob de Schutter (Miami University, USA), Dr. Ana Veloso (University of Aveiro, Portugal), Dr. Fan Zhang (Simon Fraser University, Canada) The Intergenerational Gaming Platform is a network focusing on theoretical and empirical studies related to (digital) game design, and the dynamics and impact of gaming by members of different generations. The platform aims to share information about research, conferences and activities of institutions in this field by distributing a free bi-annual digital Newsletter that will pay attention to Research(ers) in the Spotlight, Journals, Publications, Conferences, Research Grants and Job Opportunities.

Research(ers) in the Spotlight Bob De Schutter (MFA, PhD) is the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Applied Game Design at the College of Education, Health & Society and the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies, a Research Fellow of the Scripps Gerontology Center of Miami University (Oxford, OH). His research and teaching interests include game design, the older audience of digital games, and the use of games for non-entertainment purposes. He has been active in the field of games and aging since 2004 and he has published intergenerational work as both a game designer (e.g., Blast From The Past or Brukel) and as an academic scholar (e.g., Gerontoludic Design or Oculus Riftirement). His work focuses on the importance of play in later life and speaks out against the stereotyping of older video game players in game design and marketing. www.bobdeschutter.be Brukel is a project by Bob De Schutter in his role as Belgian game designer. It is an educational horror game that explores the childhood and teenage years of Bob’s grandmother, Bie Verlinden, who was born at the Brukel farmhouse in 1925. Bob interviewed and recorded his grandmother reminiscing about her past at the farmhouse for over 5 hours, and these stories provided the foundation for the game.

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The unique design process of Brukel - in which the audio predates everything else - allowed for a game in which every audio fragment is not only authentic, but also spoken in the voice of the person who actually lived through them. Bie’s life story contained a lot of dramatic events, so there never was a need to add any fictional elements to it. While the game is not 100% historically accurate - as some objects had to be reconstructed based on Bie’s verbal descriptions - it is a very accurate subjective representation of the personal memories of a 90 year old lady. Through this project, Bob aims to motivate others to use contemporary, often freely available game technology to archive the history of their loved ones and family. Website: http://www.brukelgame.com Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN7lzQ5R3zM&t=6s

Recent publications Brites, J. I. Amaral, R. Patrício & L. Pereira (2018). Intergenerationality in a digital world: Proposals of activities. Edições Universitárias Lusófonas. Open access: https://www.is1401eln.eu/fotos/editor2/imagens/digitalactivities.pdf Hausknecht, S., Neustaedter, C., & Kaufman, D. (2017). Blurring the lines of age: intergenerational collaboration in alternate reality games. In Game-Based Learning Across the Lifespan (pp. 47-64). Springer, Cham. Romero, M., & Loos, E. F. (2018). Playing with robotic cubes: age matters. In M.J. Brites, I. Amaral, R. Patrício & L. Pereira, Intergenerationality in a digital world: Proposals of activities (pp. 55-56). Edições Universitárias Lusófonas.

Upcoming conference Parallel session Intergenerational use of new media, chaired by Eugène Loos, at the 5th International Conference on Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population (part of HCII2019) in Orlando, USA, July, 26-31, 2019 http://2019.hci.international/itap

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Any news for the 5th IGP Newsletter? Please mail this to [email protected] no later than July, 1 2019.

The Intergenerational Gaming Platform is linked to the focus area Game Research from Utrecht University (https://www.uu.nl/en/research/game-research), the University of Amsterdam (www.uva.nl), ACT (http://actproject.ca/), and the Dutch association for senior citizens ANBO (www.anbo.nl).

Would you like to (un)subscribe to this free digital bi-annual IGP Newsletter? Please contact Eugène Loos: [email protected]

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