Since the conference site is now online, I can start talking about how excited I am about the 1st History of Games International Conference: Working With, Building, and Telling History which is taking place this June in Montreal. Video game history is exactly my research, and so I’m incredibly excited to be able to participate in a conference so clearly aligned with my interests. As described on the conference web site:

The International Conference on the History of Game is the first event dedicated in its entirety to the ongoing research on the history of games in all its shapes. It brings together many researchers working in such disciplines as media archeology, preservation, museology and the formatting of history, as well as industry professionals. The development of games in the digital era represents the main object of inquiry, but historical research on all ludic manifestations will also be presented.

My presentation at the conference, “8-Bit Exhortations: Shocking Graphics, Promotional Ballyhoo, and the Marketing of the Arcade Game” (tip of the hat to my friend John Cline for the title), draws on my ongoing work on cabinet graphics, flyers, and other marketing strategies that helped shape interpretations of early arcade games.

I’ll be teaching a course on the History of Video Gaming come fall, so the conference comes at a particularly helpful time for me, but regardless, I’m thrilled to be in such good company on the program, and I’m definitely looking forward to visiting Montreal for the first time.