This is just a reminder that proposals (abstracts) for the special issue of of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing devoted to the history of computer games are due today.

Here is the Call for Papers.

Welcome to the new website of the How They Got Game project!

Since its inception in 2000 as one of the founding projects of the new Stanford Humanities Lab, How They Got Game has been focused on the history of interactive simulations and digital games.  We are still going strong, with new projects such as "Preserving Virtual Worlds" funded by the U.S. Library of Congress, our partnership with HPS Simulations, and the Machinima Archive. 

This is a Call for Papers for a special issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Proposals due: 15 May 2008
Response to authors: 1 June 2008
Drafts due: 15 October 2008
Submissions due for editorial review: 1 December 2008

Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi (Interactive Screens. Cinema in Videogames) is a new collection of essays that explore the complex relationship between film and digital games edited by Matteo Bittanti, Associate Researcher at the Stanford Humanities Lab. Published by Meltemi Editore, the book was originally conceived and written while Matteo was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford and it is part of How They Got Game.

Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi is the result of a collective effort.

This is a Call for Papers for a special issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Proposals due: 15 May 2008
Response to authors: 1 June 2008
Drafts due: 15 October 2008
Submissions due for editorial review: 1 December 2008

Some of you might be interested in my latest piece on machinima, part of a new volume published by MIT Press for the Macarthur Foundation Initiative on Digital Media and Learning:

"Found Technology: Players as Innovators in the Making of Machinima."

If the link asks for a password, that's only because I copied the link from a Stanford IP address. Just google the article title and follow the link to MIT Press -- there is a free version for upload.

Just a short note to let everyone know that the previously announced project, "Preserving Virtual Worlds," funded by the U.S. Library of Congress, officially began quietly on 1 January. We are in business! We welcome contact from anyone interested in the work of historical preservation of digital games and virtual worlds.

I'm teaching an on-line course for San Jose State University's School of Library & Information Science on "Games & Libraries." Last Friday, I tried something that I think might have been a first (though I'm not sure about that): having a class session not in Second Life (easy) but in World of Warcraft (crazy).

ABC News Video offers a short feature on NDIIPP (the National Digital Information Infrastrucure Preservation Program), who are sponsoring our game preservation project. You can see the feature here (there will be a short lead-in ad). If you stick to the end of the interview, you will see a bit on the "Preserving Virtual Worlds" project; that's us!