Games Institute Podcast

On this episode of the GI Podcast, co-hosts Sid Heeg and Dr. Emma Vossen sit down with the Rhetoricon Team. Led by Dr. Randy Harris of the English Language and Literature department at the University of Waterloo, the Rhetoricon project is the longest running project at the Games Institute. Dr. Harris' project examines rhetorical figures in language for the purposes of building ethical language learning models and utilizing citizen science to contribute to the database. Joining the conversation are three students on the project Adeshola Ogunsanya, Drake Dong, and Nathan D’Silva, who provide their expertise from working on the database and explore how working on this interdisciplinary project has impacted them. Links https://rhetoricon.uwaterloo.ca/ https://gofigure.uwaterloo.ca/ https://uwaterloo.ca/english/profiles/randy-harris  

In this episode of the GI Podcast, co-hosts Toben Racicot and Sid Heeg sit down with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Eugene Kukshinov and his work in social virtual reality and exploring the concept of presence within VR environments.  Bio: Dr. Eugene Kukshinov is a media psychology and HCI postdoctoral researcher. He got his PhD in Media and Communication from Temple University, USA. His focus is on understanding psychological processing of media and technology. This includes immersive experiences and their interrelationships in different contexts such as (Social) VR, video games, or storytelling. Links: Dr. Kukshinov's website: https://eugenekukshinov.com/  Kukshinov, E. (2024). It’s (not) me: Dynamic Nature of Immersive Experiences in Video Game Play. Human Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-024-09768-9

This month, hosts Sid Heeg and Toben Racicot are joined by Pamela Maria Schmidt and Dr. Emma Vossen as they discuss the games they've played in 2024 and are looking forward to in 2025. Catch the latest details about their experiences with Balatro, It Takes Two, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. All this and more on this special edition of the GI podcast! Stay in touch with the Games Institute! LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/the-games-institute  Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thegamesinstitute.bsky.social  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegamesinstitute/ Links: "Playing as the Princess: Nintendo, Gender Roles, and Echoes of Wisdom" by Emma Vossen and Sarah Stang

Co-hosts Toben Racicot (English Language and Literature) and Sid Heeg (Environment) interview Dr. Luke Potwarka (Recreation and Leisure) and Greg Mittler (Athletics and Recreation). Together they are the founders of UWIN aka the University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Network for Esports.  Sid and Toben chat with Greg and Luke about Esports sustainability, the possible inclusion of Esports in the Olympics, and their recent trip to the University of Warwick for future collaborative research efforts on Esports development and research. Bios Dr. Luke R. Potwarka Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Director of the Spectator Experience and Technology Laboratory aka the SEAT Lab. His research involved thinking critically about sports spectatorship and consumer behaviour and wellbeing. Greg Mittler is the Esports and Gaming Coordinator in the Department of Athletics and Recreation and an alumnus of Waterloo’s Recreation and Business progra

This month co-hosts Toben Racicot and Sid Heeg interview incoming GI Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Geneva Smith about her research into NPC emotional believability in games.  Links: G-ScalE Lab at McMaster University. https://gscale.cas.mcmaster.ca/  “Start Your EM(otion En)gine: Towards Computational Models of Emo-tion for Improving the Believability of Video Game Non-Player Characters” - http://hdl.handle.net/11375/28699 “GLaDOS: Integrating Emotion-Based Behaviours into Non-Player Characters in Computer Role-Playing Games” -  http://hdl.handle.net/11375/21369 

This week co-hosts Toben (English Language and Literature) and Sid (Environment) interview faculty member Dr. Gerald Voorhees (Communication Arts), about his past, present, and future research on race, decolonization, whiteness, and masculinity in games. Voorhees reminisces on past research about masculinity and “Dadification” in games, and discusses his research in eSports examining the performance of gender, whiteness, and masculinity. He also talks about joining the GI and First Person Scholar over a decade ago and leading the ADE speaker series that was held at the GI last year. Links: Daddy Issues: Constructions of Fatherhood in The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite Masculinities in Play Performing Neoliberal Masculinity: Reconfiguring Hegemonic Masculinity in Professional Gaming The Culture of Digital Fighting Games: Performance and Practice: Todd Harper Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) About Us: Matt Howard ADE for Games Communities Workshop and Speaker Series Skins De

Co-hosts Toben Racicot (English Language and Literature) and Sid Heeg (Environment) interview Computing and Software PhD candidate Sasha Soraine (McMaster University) about her experiences with games and games research. Sasha is part of the interdisciplinary Gaming Scalability Environment (G-ScalE) Lab at McMaster. Fun fact, G-ScalE was a part of the IMMERSe network that helped establish the GI! For our 51st episode, Sasha goes in-depth about the concept of "mechanically achievable gameplay" and how it could help the game industry. This concept systemically evaluates if the target demographic will be able to play the game that is being developed. Sasha explains, “If we are building a game that we know we're going to target kids eight to nine [years old] or adults fifty to sixty [years old], are we, in our design thinking, in our design stage, when we're planning out the games, is that actually something they can even engage with or is it something that, in our design, is so far out of the realm of what they c

For our 50th episode, Toben (English Language and Literature) and Sid (Environment) interview OG GI member Dr. Emma Vossen about her academic life with games before becoming the GI’s Research Communication Officer. She discusses how she got into games as a kid, her time as EIC of First Person Scholar, and how much game studies has changed since she started her PhD in 2012. Links First Person Scholar Emma’s FPS essay about GG Katherine Cross’ essay about GG Emma’s dissertation Steve Wilcox Steve’s writing about middle-state publishing Historiographies of Game Studies: What it Has Been, What it Could Be - ***Not “Game Studies Historiographies” as Emma said*** Adrienne Shaw CBC Documentary Doppelganger by Naomi Klein Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom by Alan Moore Ducks by Kate Beaton It’s a Good Life if you Don’t Weaken by Seth Pentiment Night in the Woods The Excavation of Hobs Burrow Inscryption Tunic

This month, hosts Sid Heeg and Toben Racicot are joined by Pamela Maria Schmidt and AC Atienza as they discuss the games they've played in 2023 and are looking forward to in 2024. Catch the latest details about their experiences with Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, and some exciting indie games. All this and more on this special edition of the GI podcast! Stay in touch with the Games Institute! LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/the-games-institute X: https://twitter.com/GamesInstitute Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegamesinstitute/

This week we are joined by Joe Tu, who is a PhD student and GI member pursing a degree in Systems Design Engineering. Follow along as we discuss Joe's experiences with gaming, his educational journey at The University of Waterloo, and his experiences/work at the GI. Further, we dive into the insights of Joe's recent project on incorporating heartrate monitors into gaming, and his goals for potential future projects. In addition, we reminisce about Joe's experiences at CHI Play (Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction), and gaming in his free time. Email: joseph.tu@uwaterloo.ca Or find Joe's desk at the GI (It has a Christmas tree)  

 This month we are joined by Shawn Desouza-Coelho, who is GI alumni, U-Waterloo Graduate with a Masters in English - Experimental and Digital Media, avid gamer and theatrical performer. Follow along as Shawn discusses topics around the amazing impacts of gaming in games like Final Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Baldurs Gate, and ­­­­plenty more. Shawn also explores his experience’s in the early days of The Game Institute, the projects he worked at the GI and how they relate to digital games and modern cinema. In addition, Shawn discusses his love of theater and his current research in how racialized performers navigate and negotiate theatrical space in the southern Ontario theater industry.   Links: Email: shawnddc@yorku.ca

This month we are joined by Dr. Derritt Mason, who is a associate professor in English at the University of Calgary. Follow along as Dr. Mason discucsses topics surrounding their love of video games, queer representation in games, and coming of age stories in gaming. Dr. Mason additonal dives into how adolescent roles are displayed in horror games, the unique aspects of "bildungsroman" in gaming, and his book “Queer Anxieties of Young Adult Literature and Culture”.    Email: derritt.mason@ucalgary.ca   Website: https://derrittmason.com/   Book: Queer Anxieties of Young Adult Literature and Culture   University Profile: https://english.ucalgary.ca/profiles/derritt-m

Dr. Neil Randall is not only the Executive Director of the Games Institute Research Facility at the University of Waterloo, but also an avid guide and participant in the fellowship of the Lord of the Rings universe. Here, he discusses interesting particulars in how the Lord of the Rings franchise has reconfigured itself through decades of adapatations. Alongside the scope of adaptation, our three experts touch on the importance of medium in adaptation, the specific cultures affiliated with adapatations, and issues surrounding the importance of source text.  More information:  Phrase "LOTRO": Lord of the Rings Online  LOTRO: Play Lord of The Rings Online Dr. Niel Randall: See his bio here

Dr. Lili Liu, Dean of Health at the University of Waterloo, and Dr. Hector Perez, Postdoctoral Fellow, discuss the concept of serious games and their application in research for the aging population This includes how Drs. Liu and Perez have used games in their research such as exercise games, games for memory, social interaction, and cognitive thinking. Their work has been used to with the intent of decreasing the effects associated with older adults living with dementia, and has led to collaborative research and design processes with First Responders in First Nations communities in Quebec, Canada. Check out their work with the Aging and Innovation Research Project (AIRP):  https://uwaterloo.ca/aging-innovation-research-program/

This month, the GI podcast is joined by Dr. Daria Ho, who is a professor in History at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Daria Ho talks about her passion for history, her childhood with gaming, and the importance of performance and choice in teaching. Using avant garde teaching techniques, Dr. Ho talks about the incredibly creative and diverse experiences she and her students have shared through the implication of realism and role-play in the classroom.  Teams: Daria.ho@uwaterloo.ca Email: Daria.ho@uwaterloo.ca DMZ Project Trailer: https://youtu.be/dr1KJpAdHrI DMZ Project Documentary: https://youtu.be/E5pV4oSgoak If you are interested in learning to play Gō with Dr. Daria Ho, please reach out through the above email. 

Co-hosts Sid Heeg and Toben Racicot talk with Dr. Brianna Wiens and her involvement in social media activism campaigns, as well as her fresh take on integrating media theory into graduate and undergraduate level courses.  Show Notes: DOHR (Digital Oral Histories for Reconciliation): https://dohrprojectca.wordpress.com/ MeToo: https://metoomvmt.org/ FTT (Feminist Think Tank): https://www.feminist-think-tank.com/  qLab (q collaborative): https://www.qcollaborative.com/ Dr. Brianna Wiens' Socials  Instagram: aesthetic.resistance Twitter: https://twitter.com/biwiens   

Co-hosts Sid Heeg and Toben Racicot speak to Dr. Steve Wilcox about accessibility in gaming, First Person Scholar (FPS), Gamergate, his academic trajectory and social impact games!  Shownotes: Allergory: https://praxisgames.itch.io/allergory  Factorio: https://www.factorio.com/ Learn more about FPS: http://www.firstpersonscholar.com/ Check out the projects Dr. Steve Wilcox undertook at the GI: https://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/steve-wilcox Check out Dr. Steve Wilcox's Wilfrid Laurier University profile: https://www.wlu.ca/academics/faculties/faculty-of-human-and-social-sciences/faculty-profiles/steve-wilcox/index.html  Dr. Steve Wilcox's Socials Personal website: https://www.helloworlds.ca/cv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevemwilcox?lang=en 

Dr. Oliver Schneider joins the GI Podcast to talk about custom board games, the origins of the Haptics Experience Lab (HX Lab), haptics and accessibility, Disney Research, and much more with hosts Toben Racicot and Sid Heeg!  Shownotes: Learn more about DualPanto: http://oliverschneider.ca/dualpanto/  Check out CanHaptics: http://canhaptics.ca/  CanHaptics training course (CanHap 501 or MSCI 720 at the University of Waterloo): https://wiki.canhaptics.ca/ One of Oliver's Disney Research projects: https://la.disneyresearch.com/publication/tactile-animation/  FeelCraft: http://oliverschneider.ca/feelcraft/  Check out Oliver's GI profile: https://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/people-profiles/oliver-schneider Oliver's personal website: http://oliverschneider.ca/  Learn more about the HX Lab: https://uwaterloo.ca/haptic-experience-lab/ Oliver's Twitter https://twitter.com/oschneid 

AC Atienza joins Toben and Sid to discuss their pathway to becoming a board game designer and consultant, as well as their experiences in those roles. Learn about the board game industry, design philosophies, and the importance of hands-off playtesting.  Other topics covered include:  Why are there fewer resources for learning board game design as opposed to video game design? How does one get a job in the board game industry? What are the secrets to success with a board game Kickstarter? What is the difference between input and output randomness in design? Why are some games more fun to design than play? How do you identify systemic problems while playtesting? And what is Gen Con, the largest tabletop game convention in North America, really like?   SHOWNOTES: Learn more about Wiggles 3D here: https://wiggles3d.com/ Check out Captain's Gambit: Kings of Infinite Space: https://www.cloudfallstudios.com/captainsgambit About GenCon: https://www.gencon.com/aboutus Who is Tom Vasel? https://www.dicetower.com/team-

Toben returns to the podcast studio with new co-host Sid Heeg. They talk pandemic pasttimes, Sid's new academic trajectory, and what games have kept them busy throughout the COVID lockdowns.   To learn more about Sid Heeg: https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/people-profiles/sid-heeg Hear more from Sid on the Games Institute Podcast: https://gamesinstitute.libsyn.com/010-farming-simulators-and-achievement-hunting-with-sid-hee https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/010-farming-simulators-achievement-hunting-sid-heeg/id1465789684?i=1000451821829