Category Archives: Travel News

Thank you MAGFest!

I just returned from MAGFest in Maryland and I have had a terrific time. I am so proud to be part of the MAGES group at MAGFest and enjoy giving panels to talk about my experiences as a gamer and game creator. Plus, the music rocks!

I have a full writeup now up at Tap-Repeatedly.com, but I want to just shoot this quick entry here for anyone who found my blog via meeting me at the festival.

I have done a big update today to my Upcoming Events Calendar, so if you missed me at MAGFest or if you want to see me again somewhere else, check there to see where I’ll be next! This list isn’t final, so I may add a few more things, particularly in April as Philly Tech Week gets more planned out.

You may notice there’s a bit of a gap in March. Sadly, I will not be attending GDC this year. I’m taking the month for some needed vacation, to visit family, and to work on some other professional projects. You’ll see more video blogs from me on Channel 9 really soon! If you haven’t yet, please check out my latest on the Game Dev Show: “What Does a Universal Application Platform Mean for Game Devs?”

Quick Events Update

Just a reminder that I am heading to Grace Hopper Women in Computing starting tomorrow! On Wednesday, I have a panel with three other amazing women! Here’s details: http://schedule.gracehopper.org/session/design-and-development-considerations-in-serious-games/

Hope to meet lots of great new people! I intend to post some video content about this trip too, schedule permitting.

For more information about my other travels, please view my Events calendar, which is updated with all my upcoming plans! I’m looking especially forward to our HoloLens event in Atlanta (which may be sold out already) and upcoming Windows 10 events! And next year… I’ll be back at MAGFest (and I may plan to cosplay).

Where to Find Me

A quick update on my upcoming plans and appearances:

I just got back from IndieCade East (look for more coverage soon).

Now I am heading to the Capital Region Celebration of Women in Computing where I am presenting a TouchDevelop session on Saturday!

After that, I am speaking at the Narrative Summit at the Game Developers Conference! I’m very excited about this opportunity, where I will be discussing my game narrative research in a presentation focused on how gamers make moral choices. If you want to find me at GDC, let’s chat!

And when I’m back in town, I’ll be a mentor at LadyHacks, Philadelphia’s women-focused hackathon. See you soon!

Hello MAGFest

This is my first time attending MAGFest, and I’m really excited!

I’m on three different panels in the MAGES segment of the show. Hope you come find me! Or if this is how you found me already, welcome to my humble blog!

These are the panels I’m scheduled for:

  • Video Games, Society, and Education: Friday, 5:30 PM in the Forum
  • Problematic Fun!: Saturday, 12:00 PM in the Forum
  • The Value of Game Critique and Reviews: Sunday, 12:00 PM in MAGES2

That last panel is my panel, and I’m going to use some slides to start up discussion. Watch for them right here in this space after the show.

Travel Schedule and Downtime Update

Technical posting will mostly be on hold starting July 19. That’s because I am getting ready for a busy travel schedule in the second half of July…

Starting with MGX and TechReady, in Atlanta and Seattle, in the next two weeks. These are internal Microsoft events so I won’t be able to post much or tweet much publically. Sorry! If I’m quiet, that’s why. I return August 2.

After that, I am speaking (!) at VGU Con in DC on August 16! If you’re in the area hope to see you there!

ETA: I was hoping to get another post out, but I gotta board a plane for a wedding. Ah, summer. See you next month!

To give you some more game tech content to whet your appetite, check out my co-worker Dave going over the Prime 31 plugins. These are the same free plugins I plan to try out to enrich my game for Windows Phone. You can find plugins for all platforms here: https://prime31.com/

Now at GDC!

I’m going to be at GDC all week, starting with Critical Proximity today!

Come find me! But sorry in advance if I have my head down writing today – trying to document everything so that I can bring some trip reports later. If you’re interested in Crit-Proximity there’s a live feed going on right now!

I’m at PAX East this weekend!

…And I made a post about it!

http://tap-repeatedly.com/2013/03/my-friday-at-pax-east-2013/

I’ll hopefully make some others, though I’m working right now on hotel wireless.

One thing that’s missing from my roundup post is a special shout-out to League of Legends.

I’ve tried out League of Legends a little, but I haven’t played it enough to say I get at all what’s going on. The fact is, I’m big fan of games with story, and I try out a lot of different games. Combine those factors, and sticking with one multi-player game long enough to get really good is a big challenge for me. That goes double if that multi-player game isn’t a fighting game or a shooter, two genres I know fairly well, and triple if the game has no proper single-player mode on which to learn the basics.

Suffice to say, LoL so far eludes me. When my friends go on about AD Carries and Bottom-feeding from the Top or whatever, I wonder if that’s how I typically sound to non-gamers all the time. Enough of my friends play it that the number one question I got fielded to me about my impending PAX trip wasn’t “can you check out X while you’re there,” but was instead, “can you pick me up some LoL codes?” And then they go back to talking about how, like, Teemo can pentakill. They aren’t even using me for my witty game writing and secret info. I’m just a warm body to stand in a line.

So here’s to you, League of Legends, with your inscrutable terminology and your improbably-busomed women-folk. Maybe some day I’ll get you. In the mean time, I’ll keep a set of codes for myself.