Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th June, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Campus
Multiplatform is the annual symposium for the Manchester Game Centre.
Multiplatform 2024 has a dual focus on analogue and digital games and is themed around a concern with queer and dissident games and gaming practices. In addition to a day of academic and industry talks on the theme of queer gaming, we will also be hosting the UK Game Lab Network annual meet-up and launching our retro gaming archive, which contains computers and consoles from the past 40 years, together with a range of games. The activities will also include an introduction to the Archive and its future.
The event is funded by Manchester Metropolitan University and Game in Lab.
Tuesday 11th June: Academic and industry talks, panels, and workshops (all day)
Wednesday 12th June: UK Game Lab Network Meet-up (AM) and the Manchester Game Centre Archive Launch (PM)
Symposium Schedule (Day 1). Available to Available to download.
Kenote Speakers
Jess Metheringham, Dissent Games
Jessica Metheringham is a game designer and campaigner. In 2019 she founded Dissent Games, making games on political and cultural themes. She is the Chair of Unlock Democracy, and campaigns on democratic issues including voter ID and restrictions on protest. She has previously worked in Parliament, for the Electoral Commission, and for Quakers in Britain. Her games include Disarm the Base (about the peace movement), Library Labyrinth (showcasing 60 women in history and literature) and the forthcoming Trickle Down (the economy).
Jess will be running a workshop, ‘Dissent Through Play’. This workshop explores the messages communicated through games, and how to use these to challenge norms and propose solutions. How can we speak truth to power through fun? Who are we targeting with games, and what are we trying to demonstrate? How do overall themes and specific game mechanics contribute to the message? Participants will discuss the different ways in which games can influence opinion, educate players, and build relationships.
Gaspard Pelurson, Kings College London
Gaspard grew up in France and Belgium and first obtained his BA in English Studies at the University of the Sorbonne-Nouvelle (Paris III). He then completed his Masters in English Literature at the University of Cambridge in 2012 and MA in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex in 2013. While working as a Doctoral Tutor and a Research Associate at the University of Sussex, he received his doctorate in Media and Cultural Studies in 2018. He started as a Lecturer in Media at Leeds Beckett University from 2019 to 2022 and retains fond memories of the North. Gaspard serves on the editorial board of Convergence and Continuum. His first monograph, Manifestations of Queerness in Video Games, explores the integration of video games with queer culture, including drag, cyborgs, sissies, flânerie, monsters, and the latent homoeroticism found in wrestling. His primary research interests lie at the intersection of queer and game studies. Drawing from cultural studies, game theory, gender studies, and queer theory, his work views games as a multifaceted medium and a platform for critical societal reflections. Of particular interest are alternative and 'deviant' gaming experiences, the mapping of game spaces, and the interplay between gaming and everyday life practices.
Hanne Grasmo, Tampere University
Hanne Grasmo is a doctoral researcher at Centre of Excellency for Game culture studies, Tampere University. Her PhD-research centers around embodied role-play and sexual emotions, both in Nordic larp and in BDSM communities. Focus areas are role-play design, immersion, queer play and transformative play. Both personally and professionally she is interested in exploring borders, edges, brinks and unknown possibilities. Grasmo holds a MA in sociology, and have additional background from sexology, education, theatre and larp design. She has discussed and written about larp for more than 20 years, founded the Knutepunkt larp conferences, wrote the first book about Nordic larp (1998) and have recently published a monograph of her well know larp: “Just a little lovin’ larp script” (2021).
Please direct any queries about this event to C.Germaine@mmu.ac.uk by March 29th, 2024.