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IAP 2008 Activities by Category

Games and Tournaments

BOARD GAME WORKSHOP
Clara Fernandez
Mon Jan 28, Thu Jan 31, 02-05:00pm, NE25-375

Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Signup by: 07-Jan-2008
Limited to 20 participants.
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)

In each session established board games will be played and modifications based on game play will be made.
Contact: Clara Fernandez, Ne25-315, x4-9115, telmah@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies

Bridge Tournament
Richard Stanley, Tom Leighton
Fri Jan 25, 12-06:00pm, 2-290

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

The Mathematics Department challenges all MIT bridge players to a team-of-four tournament. Those without a full team can still come and hope to find teammates. Refreshments offered, prizes awarded. Come and have a good time.
Contact: Richard Stanley, 2-375, x3-7930, rstan@math.mit.edu
Sponsor: Mathematics

Designing Serious Video Games for Autism Research and Therapy
Matthew Belmonte
Fri Jan 11, 01-02:30pm, NE25-375

No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 07-Jan-2008
Limited to 25 participants.
Single session event

Why use video games to do science? Well, if you've ever participated in a psychology experiment, you probably don't remember it as being particularly entertaining! This is bad for all concerned, the scientist isn't going to get good data unless the subject is engaged with the task. My research group is answering this challenge by embedding experiments in a video game which we use to study autism. I'll discuss the player-centred, event-driven design philosophy behind the game, talk about how neuroscientists and game designers work interactively to make the game relevant to people with autism spectrum conditions, and describe our goals for making the game a platform not only to measure autistic cognitive skills, but also to facilitate autistic cognitive skills by removing barriers to their expression.
Web: http://www.AutismCollaborative.org/
Contact: Matthew Belmonte, NE25-385, (617) 715-2049, belmonte@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies

FROM FILM TO VIDEOGAMES
Matthew Weise
Tue Jan 29, Wed Jan 30, 02-05:00pm, 4-237

Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 50 participants.
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)

Discussion of adaptation: How film-Genres get translated into videogames
Contact: Matthew Weise, NE25-365, x4-9113, sajon@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies

GAMBIT VIDEOGAME LECTURE SERIES
Philip Tan
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)

Members of Comparative Media Studies' GAMBIT Research Staff will deliver from 2-3PM each day a different videogame based lecture.

Monday 14 Jan Storytelling in Games: The Adventure Game Genre

Tuesday 15 Jan Once More With Meaning: Expanding the Emotional and Thematic Scope of Digital Games

Wednesday 16 Jan Bringing commercial videogames into the classrooms

Thursday 17 What is the Casual in Casual Games?

Friday 18 Jan We're Swimming in Blood and We Feel Fine: Czech Gaming Culture of the Early 90's
Contact: Philip Tan, NE25-367, x4-9129, philip@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies


Clara Fernandez-Vara
Storytelling in Games: The Adventure Game Genre
Mon Jan 14, 02-03:00pm, 2-151


Doris Rusch
Once More With Meaning: Expanding the Emotional and Thematic Scope of
Digital Games
Tue Jan 15, 02-03:00pm, 2-151


Pilar Lacasa
Bringing commercial videogames into the classrooms
Wed Jan 16, 02-03:00pm, 2-151


Jesper Juul
What is the Casual in Casual Games?
Thu Jan 17, 02-03:00pm, 2-151


Jaroslav Svelch
We're Swimming in Blood and We Feel Fine: Czech Gaming Culture of the Early 90's
Fri Jan 18, 02-03:00pm, 2-151

GAMBIT-MIT GAME LAB TOUR
Generoso Fierro
Fri Jan 18, 03:30-06:00pm, NE25-Lobby

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

This event is a guided tour of the new MIT-GAMBIT videogame laboratory. Interested participants are asked to gather in the lobby of 5 Cambridge Center at 3:30PM on Friday January 18th 2008 when they will be escorted to the 3rd floor. The tour concludes with our weekly Friday Games at GAMBIT where you will have a chance to play some of the newest videogames available and meet GAMBIT staff and students. Refreshments will be served.
Contact: Generoso Fierro, NE25-385, x3-5038, generoso@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies

IAP Mahjong Tournament
ATS Exec, Alex Jiang, Allen Lin, Christine Hsueh
Sat Jan 12, 07-11:00pm, McCormick Dining

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None

Get ready for the annual ATS Mahjong Tournament! Come learn to play, then go head to head to head to head against MIT's best! Play for fun, for honor, or for gift certificates!

Prizes to the top four players and best performance by a newbie. Note that to be eligible for the newbie prize, you must come to the teaching session.

Short instructional session will be given at 7pm, and the tournament starts at 8pm. Snacks and drinks (and a list of rules) will be provided. We hope to see you there!
Contact: ATS Exec, ats-exec@mit.edu
Sponsor: Association of Taiwanese Students

Integration Bee
Todd Kemp
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)

See individual session descriptions below.
Contact: Todd Kemp, 2-308, x4-1507, tkemp@math.mit.edu
Sponsor: Mathematics

Integration Bee Qualifying Testing
Todd Kemp
Stop by at any point during the session, for a quick test of your single variable integration skills. Top scorers qualify for the Integration Bee. No knowledge beyond 18.01 necessary.
Mon Jan 28, 06-08:00pm, 34-101

Integration Bee
Todd Kemp
No enrollment limit. No advance sign up (but contestants must qualify, see Monday, Jan. 28th). Single session event. Come watch your fellow students match wits and single variable integration skills for prizes and the title of "Grand Integrator."
Tue Jan 29, 06-08:00pm, 26-100

Intro to Shogi (Japanese Chess)
Shinya Umeno, Yoshiaki Kuwata
Thu Jan 17, 05-06:30pm, 1-246

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

This is an introductory class to Shogi (Japanese Chess). Shogi is similar to chess, but has additional twists. For example, when a piece is captured, it becomes a piece for the capturing side, and can be dropped back onto the board! We will go over the basic rules, do some demos, and you will be able to play a game of your own at the end of the session. The rule is very simple. Bring your friends along and join us playing this fun game!
Web: http://web.mit.edu/~jam/www/
Contact: Shinya Umeno, nihonjinkai-request@mit.edu
Sponsor: Japanese Association of MIT

Introduction to Contract Bridge
Brian Duran Bridge Teacher
Tue, Thu, Jan 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31, 07-09:30pm, 4-149

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)

Come and discover the fun and intellectual challenge associated with contract bridge! In this course, we explore the fundamentals of the game, including bidding, declarer play, and defense. The lessons are based on The Club Series by Audrey Grant, as published by the American Contract Bridge League.

Each session will consist of a lecture, several examples, and supervised play. By the end of this eight-session course, the student will have learned enough to play bridge socially, and start exploring the exciting world of duplicate bridge. There will also be an individual tournament at the end of the course, with prizes for the winners.

No bridge experience necessary. Please bring a $10 deposit to the first class for a text book. The $10 will be refunded upon completion of the course.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/mitdlbc
Contact: Brian Duran, iap-bridge-08@mit.edu
Sponsor: Mathematics

Learn to play Diplomacy
Peter McNamara
Thu Jan 31, 06-10:00pm, 2-139

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

This is a beginner-friendly introduction to the game of Diplomacy - a seven player strategic game where negotiation and skill guide the outcome of the game through a unique mechanism of simultaneous movement devoid of the random chance of dice or cards. We will teach the rules of the game, and then run a short game for you to play in.

All skill/experience levels are welcome.

For those intending to come, a short email indicating intend would be nice to get some indication of numbers, but is by no means a prerequisite for attendance.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/pjmcn/www/diplomacy.html
Contact: Peter McNamara, 2-314, x4-1459, pjmcn@mit.edu
Sponsor: Peter J McNamara, 550 MEMORIAL DR APT 5E-4, 617 225-1150, pjmcn@mit.edu

Nethack: Ascend to the status of Demigod this IAP!
Rachel Dillon
Tue Jan 8, 15, 22, 29, 08-10:00pm, 1-115

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: None, but RPG or Roguelike experience is a big plus.

Ascend to the status of demigod(-dess) this IAP in Nethack! Nethack is a game where you are the @ and you push j to go south, where you are killed by a newt. If you enjoyed Diablo but it was much too easy, or enjoyed adventure games but want something more tactical, Nethack is for you. In four simple classes, members of MIT's third-in-the-world Nethack team (really!) will teach you to handle everything from lichen (F) to arch-liches (purple L).
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/nethack
Contact: Rachel Dillon, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-nethack@mit.edu
Sponsor: Student Information Processing Board

Weird: Assassins' Guild IAP Tenday
Weird GMs
Fri Jan 25 thru Sun Feb 3, 06-03:00am, TBA

No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 15-Jan-2008
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session

A nuclear explosion has the world on the brink of anarchy
amid fears of terrorist attacks that could rival the Night of Blood. The balance of the supernatural underground's factions is being upset by a convergence of ley lines that connect throughout the globe. The NASA/Google moon
base is set to self-destruct unless someone can replace a
lot of code, quickly. And you're right in the middle of it.

Weird is a 10-day game run by the MIT Assassins' Guild. From Jan. 25 to Feb. 3 (you'll have time for other activities), campus will become a remote island full of deadly traps, powerful artifacts, and devious secrets. You could save the world, conquer it, or destroy it.

Email us with questions, or send us an app to play. The fate of the world depends on you.
Web: http://weird.mit.edu
Contact: Weird GMs, weird-gms at mit dot edu@mit.edu
Sponsor: Assassins Guild


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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Last update: 30 September 2004