Ludotopia II
Conference and Workshop Series


The University of Salford, Greater Manchester, UK
THINKlab, Maxwell Bldg. 7th floor (get map >>)
24 February - 25 February 2011

Public Panel Discussion 25 February 11.00 am, free entrance

David Hancock, University of Salford: Sea of Ice, Painting 200 x 120 cm, ©2010

"LUDOTOPIA" is the key term and programmatic notion for spatial aspects of computergames.
The questions we are interested in range from cartography in games, pervasiveness of game spaces, narrative and spatiality,
theories of space as applicable to videogames, space as threat, and analyses of videogame space in terms of traditional conceptions of topology.

Scholars from Game Studies, Philosophy, Media Studies, Cultural Studies and related
fields handed in proposals for the Ludotopia I held in Copenhagen in May
2010. Ludotopia II built upon the findings and emerging questions raised at
Ludotopia I and tries to critically review and revise the body of research accumulated at an earlier stage.
Some of the general questions we intend to raise focus on:

* Presentation and perception of computer game-spaces
* Classification of computer game-spaces
* Site-specifity in computer games
* Function of maps in computer games
* Media history and media archeology of game-spaces
* Space in cinema, painting, computer- and videogames

So far papers and impact lectures have been produced (read abstracts and papers >>)
to cover these specific topics (selection):

Espen Aarseth
Ludoforming in Science Fiction Game Worlds
Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen

Sebastian Domsch
Space and Narrative in Computer Games
Uni München

Teun Dubbelman
Seeking an Alternative for Cinematic Storytelling in Game Design.
Towards a Spatial Aesthetic of Presence in 3D Avatar-driven Computer Games.
Utrecht University

Mathias Fuchs
itineraria picta - itineraria scripta
The University of Salford, Art & Design

Alison Gazzard
Routes through Gamespace: Maze Paths and Tracks in Videogames
Alison Gazzard, University of Bedfordshire, UK

Stephan Günzel
Computer Games as Spatial Concepts
University of Potsdam, Germany

Michael Nitsche
No End of Worlds
Digital World & Image Group, Georgia Institute of Technology

Souvik Mukheriee
Videogame Wastelands as (Non)Places and 'Any-Space-Whatever's
De Montfort University, Leicester

Sebastian Möring
Distance and Fear – Defining the Play Space
Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen

Stephan Schwingeler
Simulation of Arbitrary Perspectives in Video Games
University Trier

Niklas Schrape
The Rhetoric of Game Space in Global Conflicts: Palestine
Film and Television University "Konrad Wolf", Babelsberg, Germany

and PhD students from the University of Salford, Art & Design: David Hancock and Umran Ali

Click here to read the abstracts and papers!

The panel will present research questions and findings to a wider public.

For more information, please contact Dr. Mathias Fuchs.
The workshop series is a project of: