Recent Stories with tag gaming

If you don't yet know who Jane McGonigal is, you are missing out. Ms. McGonigal is a game designer and theorist who claims that gaming is necessary to the survival of the human race. Her new book, Reality is Broken, is an Epic Win. Watch her on TED and then go see her live on Thursday. Buy the book. Collaborate, cooperate, live the dream...

2/7/2011 12:05 p.m. Seattle Public Library
Thrilling Tales
Story Time for Grown-Ups
Monday lunch hour series at the Central Library.

2/7/2011 6 p.m. Pilot Books
Writer's Group
New exercises every week. Come prepared to write and discuss. Aye, Cap'n!

2/7/2011 6:30 p.m. Queen Anne Books
Sarah Blake
The Postmistress
Ms. Blake will read and sign. QAB has chosen this as their March Book Club selection.

2/7/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Sailesh Chutani, Jessica Rothenberg Aalami, & Akhtar Badshah
Technology at the Margins: How IT Meets the Needs of Emerging Markets
Geeks save the world! "A must-read for nonprofit leaders and technologists who want to leverage the power of IT to help solve global poverty. Authors Chutani, Aalami, and Badshah have given the sector one of the best handbooks filled with stories, advice, and best practices." - Beth Kanter

2/7/2011 7 p.m. Richard Hugo House
Works in Progress
Open Mic
A monthly open reading series. Sign up begins at 6:30 p.m.

2/8/2011 -3/6/2011 Queen Anne Books
Book-It Theatre
Great Expectations
QAB has partnered with Book-It to promote the current production. Season ticket holders receive 15% off any title that Book-It performs. From 2/8/2011-3/6/2011, the company will be performing Dicken's overworked novel of narcissistic social climbers. Ahem.... (more)

Penny Arcade Expo 2010 is over now, and some 60,000 gamer nerds have gone back to their basements with backpacks stuffed with free decks of Magic cards, wearing Portal 2 t-shirts, and clutching fistfuls of beta invites for new online games like Firefall and Rift: Planes of Telara. The free stuff is nice, but the unabashedly nerdy companionship at the Convention Center this weekend was better. Until next fall, when PAX returns, the community will have to settle for bullshitting on the forums, gathering in homes for D&D and Munchkin Cthulhu, or playing games together online. No one could blame them if they are, as I am, suffering from a mild but pervasive post-PAX depression.

I went to PAX Prime (as opposed to the newer East Coast version) primarily as a curious observer, since the closest I've personally come to the hardcore gaming lifestyle is plunking down at my computer for marathon hours of Solitaire. How can such a huge convention throw down in Seattle every year with such little mainstream press? Well, we're a music town, and Bumbershoot is usually this same weekend.

But game giants like Valve, ArenaNet, Nintendo, and Microsoft live here too, and I'd venture to say that gaming generates significantly more money than music in Seattle does—and has just as much emotional impact on its consumers. Penny Arcade itself has a hell of a human interest angle or two I'd like to see more fully explored (funny, insightful Northwest gamers with wives/kids/a webcomic make big, use their influence to create a safe and rad place to be a gamer, raise many dollars for kids with cancer, remain humble while doing so). Plus, PAX has music too! For PAX Prime 2011, we must do better, Seattle.... (more)

On Saturday, August 21, 1-4:30 p.m., you can learn to use basic tools (paper, pencils, microphones) to draw characters and scenery, add music, and see these made into a video THAT YOU TAKE HOME. This video game workshop is led by Brent Watanabe, one of the artists featured in the museum's current Cultural Transcendence art exhibit and who currently works for Microsoft. Participants must pre-register by calling (206) 623-5124 x114; space is limited. This workshop is for ages 10-13, an $8 fee includes snacks.