Competition and Skill in Games
Channel: Rym DeCoster
Date: 2012-10-08

At PAX Prime 2012, we presented three mini lectures as part of "Short Subjects in Gaming" on Friday in the Wolfman Theater.

http://prime.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/short-subjects-in-gaming

Some discussions, important as they may be, require not an entire hour for one to come to a satisfactory conclusion.  Your PAX minutes are precious, so take this opportunity to get three panels for the price of one!  We present for the approval and consideration of the audience three short subjects in gaming.

In no particular order: "When the Game Plays the Player", "A Competitive Test of Skill", and "On the Ethics of Mind Control".  From rhythm games to CounterStrike, casino gambling to euro-style board games, the relevance of these topics is not to be understated.

"A Competitive Test of Skill," the second of these, is a treatment of one particular class of games: competitive games where "skill" determines the victor. But what is skill? How do we determine what "skill(s)" a game is actually testing? What does fairness mean, and can it be measured? This is a deep examination of versus games from a variety of perspectives.

The Penny Arcade Expo is a place where gamers of all stripes come together, and while the competitive ones do pay at least subconscious attention to the idea, most don't really consider what it means to play, and more importantly, to try to win, games.  We've lectured on this at previous PAXes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06bz-v5J5wc) in more detail!


GeekNights presented two additional events at PAX Prime 2012 and PAX Dev 2012: The GeekNights Tabletop Workshop and Academia vs. Reality: Psychology, Game Theory, and Games.

http://frontrowcrew.com/news/91/pax-prime-2012/


For more GeekNights lectures, see our Convention Lecture Youtube Playlist!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD03FB084B11A0454&feature=mh_lolz