The Game Innovation Lab in collaboration with Babycastles hosted the series Indie Tech Talks. Pioneers and influential developers in the field of gaming talked to the audience about their work, followed by an informal talk with our host and Assistant professor at NYU Poly, Andy Nealen. Stay tuned to our website for more exciting events happening in the Game Innovation Lab.
Indie Tech Talk 01 : Scott Anderson
Scott Anderson, creator of Shadow Physics, spoke about using technology for gameplay innovations, specifically signed distance fields.
Kaho Abe is currently the Artist in Residence at the Game Innovation Lab at NYU Poly, where she researches and builds games that utilize technology to bring people together face to face.
Indie Tech Talk 03 : Kevin Cancienne – Punks Not Thre3D: A Pragmatic Approach to Indie Technology
Kevin talks about his work, why he thinks it might be time for a 3D revolution in the indie scene, and the benefits of being a mediocre programmer.
Indie Tech Talk 04 : Ivan Safrin – Engines, Frameworks and the means of Production
Ivan Safrin takes a look at the motivation behind writing a cross-platform development framework from scratch, discusses why open source tools are key to the future of independent game development and attempts to answer once and for all if it's a really good or a really terrible idea to spend years reinventing the wheel.
Indie Tech Talk 05 : Cindy Poremba
Cindy Poremba is a digital media researcher, artist and curator, exploring the intersection of documentary, videogames and interactive art. She is interested in the intersection between creation practices and technology– specifically how meaning is read through digital technologies. Her research explores documentary in videogames and digital media, art and independent videogames (particularly the new arcade movement), emerging artistic/cultural practice related to photography, videogames and robotic technologies, and research-creation methodology in interactive art and design.
Indie Tech Talk 06 was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy
Indie Tech Talk 07 : Noah Sasso – Building Barabariball and Beyond
Brooklyn-based game developer and musician Noah Sasso discusses the interesting challenges that come with building and tuning a competitive multiplayer fighting game, as compared to the other types of games he has worked on. He also demonstrates the effects of tuning by modifying the source code live, and discusses how his musical background has influenced his approach to game development.
Indie Tech Talk 08 : Zach Gage – Conceptual Art as Technical Practice
Zach Gage is a game designer, programmer, educator, and conceptual artist from New York City. His work often explores the power of systems, both those created by social interaction in digital spaces, and those that can be created for others, through the framing of games.
Indie Tech Talk 09 : Dona Bailey – Centipede +30
Game developer and educator Dona Bailey discusses how she created the classic arcade game Centipede at Atari in the early 80's, how she came to leave the company afterwards, and how these experiences have informed her thoughts on education and technology.
Indie Tech Talk 10: Don Miller
Don Miller discusses the 6502, the 8-bit microprocessor responsible for your fondest childhood memories: the Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 2600, Commodore 64, and Apple IIe. More than just a tech talk, he will covers the beauty of Assembly Language programming and why having a low-level understanding of hardware is awesome.
About the speaker:
DON MILLER is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. He performs live visuals in real time under the alias NO CARRIER. Miller works with nearly obsolete repurposed electronics to create psychedelic low resolution video art. Part of the 8bitpeoples artist collective, he performs, exhibits, and lectures worldwide. He is a graduate of NYU's ITP program and works as a Learning Designer at the Institute of Play.
Indie Ted Talk 10 with Don Miller from Vici Shaweddy on Vimeo.