Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 3d

The trick is to curate your timeline until it tells you about the new Agriculture album instead.

Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 5d

The Zone of Interest
La Chimera
Furiosa
Drive My Car
Decision to Leave
Bacurau
Petit Maman
RRR
I Saw the TV Glow
Aftersun

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 6d

One Battle After Another has been getting a lot of “best movie of the decade” talk, and I’m inclined to agree but I’m curious — what’s the competition?

Reposted by Daniel Vella

Elina Roinioti @elroin.bsky.social · 7d

DiGRA 2026 (Ireland) CfP is now live
Full paper and abstracts deadline: 1 December 2025
Workshop proposals deadline: 15 February 2026

www.digraconference2026.com

#games #gamestudies

DiGRA 2026 Conference | Maynooth University

Join the DiGRA 2026 conference at Maynooth University, 14–18 June 2026. Theme “Intersectional Pleasures.” A global hybrid event for game research, culture, design, and industry.

www.digraconference2026.com

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 7d

Dm an email address and I'll send it your way!

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 10d

Embrace the unexpected! Ride with what life throws at you! Be a yes man!

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Reposted by Daniel Vella

Jeremiah McCall (he/him) @gamingthepast.bsky.social · 12d

Please please please everyone (pls reskeet) who is involved with a uni/college academic program (broadly speaking) conected to games Could you write a quick comment + links if any apply to what you and your institution are doing in that sphere? I need to show what's out there. 1/
#AncientBluesky 🗃️

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 12d

On the Tech side, there's a focus on game engines, procedural content generation, machine learning and computational creativity.

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 12d

The M.Sc. programme blends academic and practical orientations, with units on experimental game design, designing gameworlds, writing and narrative, and group-based game dev projects. On the Analysis side: subjectivities and games, game ontology, representation, game sound, presence & involvement...

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 12d

At @indigitalgames.bsky.social at the University of Malta we have a taught M.Sc. in Digital Games with a central Game Design track combined with either Game Analysis (humanities based game studies) or Game Technology. Also an M.Sc. by Research option and PhD study. www.um.edu.mt/digitalgames/

Institute of Digital Games - L-Università ta' Malta

Institute of Digital Games

www.um.edu.mt

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 19d

I almost feel like I've been carefully suckered into a sales pitch now (and it's working...)

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 19d

Ahh, now I'm gonna have to go and play the Trails games :-D Not a franchise I'm familiar with, but this is definitely an interesting take (which also aligns with the theme of the library in the community, one of the aspects we discuss in the paper!)

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 19d

We focused mostly on libraries represented as places or concepts in games, but this is an interesting angle and, from the sound of it, a very relevant case study! Don't know about the Trails games, could you tell me more?

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 20d

Just some of the game libraries mentioned in the article: Fire Emblem: Three Houses // Elden Ring // Mutazione // Alone in the Dark

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 20d

Dm me your email and I'll send it over!

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 20d

The new issue of Countertext includes a paper by Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone and myself on libraries in digital games - their significances, (non-)functions, meanings. It's not open-access (boo), but ask and you shall receive
www.euppublishing.com/toc/count/11/2

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 21d

Pietro and Barnabás are doing promising work :-)

Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · 22d

Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan is awarded Adventure Game of the Year at the Polish Board Game of the Year awards! It's beyond amazing to see Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan continue to get recognition, especially right as we've wrapped up work on the second expansion.

A graphic of the three board games receiving an Adventure Game of the Year award from the Polish Board Game Awards, showing Fateforge as the winner and Thorgal and Tamashi as runners-up.

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Reposted by Daniel Vella

Klara Sterczewska @klarast.bsky.social · 25d

I think we should start using the term "long gamergate"

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · Sep 4

2 days into @historyofgames.bsky.social, so many great talks! @cielecka.bsky.social on dialogue structures in adventure games, Hajo Backe's alternative history of the FPS, Bruno de Paula on SFII knock-offs in Brazil, @electroslav.bsky.social on the late 90s professionalisation of Czech game devs...

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Reposted by Daniel Vella

SE Asian Games for Good @seagamesforgood.bsky.social · Sep 2

The Play for Peace: Games for Palestine charity bundle is now live! Nearly 400 games from creators all around the world, with proceeds going directly to Gaza relief efforts.

Bundle link: itch.io/b/2979/play-...

We made a launch trailer to celebrate this moment👇 Please RT.

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · Sep 3

At #historyofgames2025, where the focus is the 1990s! My own 90s in gaming involved playing NES game knockoffs on my cousin's Micro Genius, getting my first PC, and, as a 13-year-old, buying pirated PC games from a police officer running a side business from the trunk of a squad car. Ah, nostalgia.

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · Aug 25

It's been ten years since I defended my PhD at ITU - the community of researchers I met during my time there set me off on the academic path I'm still on, and it's great to be back this week to participate in this anniversary celebration. en.itu.dk/About-ITU/Pr...

25 Years of Games at ITU

This year, games research and education at the IT University of Copenhagen celebrates its 25th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated at ITU on 26 and 27 August, with talks and an exhibition ...

en.itu.dk

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Reposted by Daniel Vella

Paris Marx @parismarx.com · Jul 18

Silicon Valley’s alliance with Donald Trump was a mask off moment and showed the world we can’t depend on US tech companies.

For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!

Getting off US tech: a guide

I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.

www.disconnect.blog

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Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · Jul 19

Paging @vthewanderer.bsky.social who had curated a huge thread of (mosty video) games in movies back on Twitter!

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Reposted by Daniel Vella

Daniel Vella @danielvella.bsky.social · Jul 16

The future dystopian Rome of Lucio Fulci's Warriors of the Year 2072 (1984). My paper on the film's use of the gladiatorial combat trope has just been published in @gua-le-ni.com @domford.bsky.social and Riccardo Fassone's special issue of Eludamos on fictional games. eludamos.org/index.php/el...

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