Title: How alternative are alternative videogame controllers? Reflecting on game design hegemony via non-conventional interfacing

Abstract:  Alternative game controllers (or “altctrls”) involve the use of non-conventional interfaces for games. This is a shifting mix that ranges from crafting original devices to reappropriating and remixing existing ones, proposing novel ways of engaging with play. As a movement, it has gained momentum via game jams, exhibitions, festivals and other specialized events. Altctrls present a crossroads from which to imagine and experiment with alternatives to the materials, conditions, and processes of gameplay. They are often romanticized as frontiers of game design innovation and creativity. I argue it is necessary to question their alterity politically, interrogating how they push (or not) at the forms of hegemony in games. In this talk, I discuss my ongoing doctoral research work on altctrl game design practices and what are some key political possibilities around them. Specifically, I will focus on questions of designing for alternative circulation models which impact both games and game-making, touching on tools, practices, and conditions of game design.

Bio: Enric Granzotto Llagostera is a game designer and researcher from São Paulo, Brazil. He is currently a visiting scholar and lecturer at CU Boulder and creative in residence at the Whaaat?! Lab, as well as a PhD candidate at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. He studies alternative game controllers as a game making practice, and how it can foster reflection and support engagement with political critique. His alternative controller game Cook Your Way (2019), about commodification of culture and immigration systems, has been exhibited at major game festivals and art exhibitions. Enric has a background in programming and social communication and a keen interest in experimental and DIY play devices, community organizing, and public play. Enric has previously worked as a lecturer, teaching about game development. He has completed a MSc in Games at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies at the State University of Campinas, Brazil. https://enric.llagostera.com.br 

Title: How alternative are alternative videogame controllers? Reflecting on game design hegemony via non-conventional interfacing

Abstract:  Alternative game controllers (or “altctrls”) involve the use of non-conventional interfaces for games. This is a shifting mix that ranges from crafting original devices to reappropriating and remixing existing ones, proposing novel ways of engaging with play. As a movement, it has gained momentum via game jams, exhibitions, festivals and other specialized events. Altctrls present a crossroads from which to imagine and experiment with alternatives to the materials, conditions, and processes of gameplay. They are often romanticized as frontiers of game design innovation and creativity. I argue it is necessary to question their alterity politically, interrogating how they push (or not) at the forms of hegemony in games. In this talk, I discuss my ongoing doctoral research work on altctrl game design practices and what are some key political possibilities around them. Specifically, I will focus on questions of designing for alternative circulation models which impact both games and game-making, touching on tools, practices, and conditions of game design.

Bio: Enric Granzotto Llagostera is a game designer and researcher from São Paulo, Brazil. He is currently a visiting scholar and lecturer at CU Boulder and creative in residence at the Whaaat?! Lab, as well as a PhD candidate at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. He studies alternative game controllers as a game making practice, and how it can foster reflection and support engagement with political critique. His alternative controller game Cook Your Way (2019), about commodification of culture and immigration systems, has been exhibited at major game festivals and art exhibitions. Enric has a background in programming and social communication and a keen interest in experimental and DIY play devices, community organizing, and public play. Enric has previously worked as a lecturer, teaching about game development. He has completed a MSc in Games at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies at the State University of Campinas, Brazil. https://enric.llagostera.com.br