Every games market has its challenges, but making downloadable games succeed in those thousands of versions you need to produce from every single title aimed for today’s fragmented global phone and operator market is perhaps even more challenging than some. Jami Laes from Sumea/Digital Chocolate spoke today in G&S series, emphasizing that mobile is its own medium. Design needs to understand ‘casual’ as easy approachability for any phone user, mobile as the “social computer”.
Category: moblog
mobile blog notes
portti sf prize
Tonight another party (guess it is the season), the evening of Portti SF prize, the best science fiction short story of the year. Jenny Kangasvuo, the winner, celebrates tonight after several years in second or other places. Fantasy story finally convinced us in the jury this year. A fine, ambiguous reworking of the ancient Seal Woman tale. Congratulations!
rules of irrelevance
The last conference of this week (I hope), the bi-annual meeting of cultural studies in Finland takes place today and tomorrow in the University of Tampere. Aki Järvinen gave an interesting Goffman-inspired talk exploring the concept of ‘context’ from within the framework of his thesis-in-progress. Listening, it occurred to me that we need a theory of insignification, as much, or more, than we need signification theories. Among infinite polysemy, you need to know where not to watch.
documented life
-720220.jpg)
This is sort of characteristically ‘post’-style game, taking photo of a photo, documenting someone documenting themselves. Sitting here, listening to Jill Walker talking about digital photographs, and about portraying oneself with modern technology. Of course, a blog is a way of self-representation, too, but also a way of documenting the life, and world. It is sort of easy see this a a gratuitous and endless self-reference, but there are alternative traditions of perceiving these practices of reflection. And that is all the talk is all about, of course. 
a perfect moblogging device?
When your work is mostly oriented towards the theoretical and general, having something concrete and tangible at hand is somehow relaxing. (Just trying to rationalize being a gadget freak here, of course.) Anyways, I have been trying to think about a perfect moblogging device lately. Currently, my T43 handles nicely the more robust work tasks, but I also carry a Nokia 9210 Communicator because of its solid synchronization with the Outlook calendar, and keyboard, which is essential for note taking and text messaging. And would also be for email and blog writing, except that the mobile data connection (HSCSD) is so slow that I never use it to access anything online. And to fill the holes, I carry another Nokia product (ain’t it great living here in the nokialand), a Nokia 6600 camera phone, which is where PicoBlogger and Agile Messanger software are installed. But oh damn, it is missing the full keyboard. And there is not so much to brag about in the camera, either. So, how to fit these together: fast connectivity, good keyboard, hi-quality camera? I have been thinking about a Treo, or some of the new Windows Mobile/Phone Edition handhelds, but with our Finnish language requiring all these weird characters in our keyboards, it very well might be that I need to stick to the Nokia branded ones, since they at least keep on offering multi-language support and localized keyboards. There is some talk that the forthcoming Nokia 770 “Internet Tablet” would be the “perfect device” — for some uses at least. (I cannot rely on Wi-Fi connectivity only, and this will also miss the camera and keyboard.) They also recently announced a Blackberry style E61, but I am suspicious about the keyboard. And it does not have camera, either. E70 on the other hand might make it: it features fast GPRS/EGPRS/WCDMA connections, plus Wi-Fi, plus a 2 megapixel camera. And it has a full keyboard (well, sort of). And it is small, which is a big plus, as the model I have been forced into considering before, Communicator 9500, is just as bulky as the 9210 I am currently hauling around. Oh dear…
Nikunen on fans
Again in Finland; another doctoral defense in Media Culture. This time, Kaarina Nikunen has written a book about fans, including the “cult” fandom of Xena: Warrior Princess. Well worth reading (in Finnish).
 |
pervasive week
This week, many of European pervasive games researchers are gathering in Stockholm. IPerG project meetings and workshops whole week; exhausting but also interesting.
 |
Provence, day 8
Return. After a rather intensive week in France, it is great to be back in home in a few hours. (And also good still to have a couple of days to recover.) Finished Light by M. John Harrison on the Helsinki flight; one of the greater SF novels, no doubt, even if it is stronger in sense of wonder than in some single insight provided. Great!
 |
Provence, day 7
Driving here can be really exhausting. The traffic culture is very different, roads are often very narrow, and routes marked differently. The sum total for a Nordic visitor can create the dizzying feeling of riding in a deadly carousel. Today we visited a “Village des Tortues” (a turtle conservation park), and drove back to Cte d’Azur. Juan les Pins appears to be a typical combination of beach and tourist hotels. Early into bed, for tomorrow.
 |
Provence, day 6
The over+30C heat and constant travelling is starting to take its toll, and there was a moment this morning we consired staying in bed today. Nevertheless, we managed a visit to Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine village, and to Palais des Papes after that. Couple of bottles to take home, as well as some memories of history, and views of this arid landscape.
 |
frans goes blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.