neils clark

$10 ringits ($2.8 USD), for an 11:30PM Big Mac delivery, after 2 weeks of street food, makes Neils a happy camper.

…

Mmmmmmmmmm

Neils Clark :: Aug.31.2007 :: General :: 2 Comments »

So I was sitting in Malaysia, writing a book on videogame addiction, and watching an episode of the Hills, when I had an amazing idea. Reality TV that focuses real life research.

But how?!

How do you aknowledge wonderful ideas - and the people behind them? How do you take the excitement of something like Survivor, and then fuse that with the real-feeling drama of something like the Hills, or Virtual Laguna Beach?

People love things like the Amazing Race and Survivor, original reality TV. But I think that taking things past the surfacey attraction of something like the Hills could prompt a hugely malnourished market to turn their televisions back on.

More importantly, it would bring our values back into areas like knowledge and understanding. They’ve already got the “next great inventor” shows - why not recognize researchers and students who have invested years - without the expectation of massive reward or recognition?

But… how the hell would it work? Any ideas?

Ye olde evil neccessity for television, product placement, wouldn’t be a problem. Our emphasis on technology and learning would bring in some lucritive markets there.

It’s just… how do you make research and the researchers behind interesting?

Can it be done?

Neils Clark :: Aug.31.2007 :: General :: No Comments »

Tonight is the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence - and I’m in Kuala Lumpur. For the last two nights, sounds reminiscent of artillery have rung out in the night as massive firework mortars were set off all around the small hostel where I’m staying. Last night, trucks tied with dozens of Malaysian flags sped haphazardly down roads, Malaysians with faces painted ran shrieking at anyone and everyone who walked the streets, and massive fires have been set only a few yards from our front door here.

These guys know how to throw a party!

Neils Clark :: Aug.30.2007 :: General :: No Comments »

I’m thinking about submitting a talk for this February’s 2008 GDC. The deadline is Oct 01, but I wanted to get some feedback on what you think would help the most. My thoughts are to either propose a panel, maybe asking a few other academics and developers if they might want to talk on what the industry should be doing about “game addiction.” Something that I think could be more useful, though, might be 20 or 60 minute lectures - on either the theory behind game addiction, how healthy play works, or both.

Right now I’m in Kuala Lumpur - polishing a book proposal (we’re going to start querying agents today or tomorrow). I won’t be able to start work on an abstract for a couple of weeks, but I’d love any and all comments on this - and what you think would be most proactive.

Neils Clark :: Aug.30.2007 :: Games :: No Comments »

I was grabbing some extra info on the SoP when I stumbled upon Nic Suzor’s blog. He has some great thoughts on the panels, and on some of what was happening behind the scenes. If you’re interested in getting more on the academic conversations at SoP, then check his blog [here].

Neils Clark :: Aug.26.2007 :: General, Research :: 3 Comments »

Well, that was fun. If you’re looking for my coverage of the State of Play V, then look [here] for day one, and [here] for day two. As the youtubes and flickrs of my drunken bacchanials in Singapore start to filter in, just keep in mind my relative average of about 2 hours (of sleep) a night over the last few days.

My editor (and people whom I hadn’t even met yet at the conference) let me know that Gamasutra was one of the only news outlets covering this. That is completely and totally unacceptable , but expected. Sure, coming soon enough, “games,” are going to permeate more facets of our life than anybody could predict. But we can’t be surprised when nobody seems to care. Ian Lamont talked about this, and I want to see it become an issue - predominantly, the popular press will either misrepresent or ignore altogether gaming. Why should they care about the tangible issues behind gaming?

Why should they care about the fact they may willfully change their identities, or that legal precedents in games might erode their basic rights (rights they’re not even aware of yet)? Who cares that not understanding the draws to a game might be cause for their friends, family, and even themselves to loose their ability to balance gaming? What about the fact that games could be a massive platform for peace, if treated right, but of sharp International tensions if not?

When this many academics convene so as to talk about the real and meaningful issues, I can’t help but have an immense and powerful respect for each and every one of them - regardless of my feelings on the stances they take.

Neils Clark :: Aug.22.2007 :: Games :: 3 Comments »

Strolling the streets of Singapore’s Little India, it’s not hard to float into the false belief that you’ve been tossed into Calcutta or Bombay. Intense Hindi music blares at every other store front, smells of musty spices penetrate deep into your skin, and it’s really difficult to spot any ethnicity - save for genuine Indian. So I sat down for some curry. Real curry. The kind that’s got me earnestly confused.

So here’s a game that shouldn’t be too hard to leave behind: see if you can’t successfully complete a full sentence from the following:

1) Intensely ethnic Indian food

2) Surprise chicken head

See, while that combo is still trying to coax a purging from my stomach (and it’s been a persistent) — There’s no denying that it was delicious.

Neils Clark :: Aug.18.2007 :: Games :: No Comments »

Ok, so maybe one part of the harrowing ordeal got under my skin. The leet kiddie who stole my account - also changed my characters’ names. Now instead of cool, cheeky names, I’ve got characters that sound like they’re being played by a hyperactive, 13 year old tool. (Fits me perfect!)

Le Sigh.

Neils Clark :: Aug.13.2007 :: Games :: No Comments »

That’s right, I recently experienced the sheer ecstasy that is having your WoW account hacked!

This isn’t the account that I was playing on most recently, but rather the very first account that I’d made, with the two characters that I painstakingly raided with: “Weevil,” and “Hawtgrrlirl.” Yeah, hawtgrrl got some pretty interesting tells. Yeah, I saved a couple of them for later scientific inquiry. Between the two was about 91 days of /played, and in the short time between my friend spotting “Weevil,” and me calling Blizzard support, they had been transferred to another server.

I think the whole thing is kind of funny. The story goes best as a MasterCard advertisement.

Two character transfers: 50 dollars.
Burning Crusade expansion: 50 dollars.
Two month time card: 32 dollars.
Spending 130 dollars simply so that the real owner can take back the account you stole?

Priceless.

So I guess now that I’ve got BC and 2 free months, I might as well play, right? Well see, it’s kind of perfect for a game addict, because the two 60s I poured myself into are stuck in another dimension. I guess I could go play on that other server, but the cool doodz i knoez are on Tichondrius.

And I’m going to Singapore with a kick ass book proposal.

Whats a Tauren to do?

Neils Clark :: Aug.13.2007 :: Games :: No Comments »

“Quite possibly the most influential book on gaming worlds by Neils Clark… ever.”

-Danny Miller

Neils Clark :: Aug.07.2007 :: General :: No Comments »