Harvard panel: Evolutionary Biology Looks at Videogames

Eric Chadwick

Who Plays Games and Why: Evolutionary Biology Looks at Videogames

Wednesday, June 2, 2010
5:30-7:30 pm. (registration begins at 5:00 pm.)
Harvard University Science Center, One Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

Electronic games are competing with television for that essential resource: consumer attention.

• Who is playing these games?
• What is their appeal?
• Why do people find them “fun” at all- from simple word-games to immersive 3D fantasy worlds?
• Are males and females necessarily drawn to dramatically different forms of play?

Survey the many genres and formats of games in a brief multimedia overview. Consider the different populations that play these games. Explore the biological roots of our attraction to games with human-behavioral scientists and game-design professionals.

Panelists include:

Richard Wrangham, Harvard College Professor, Ruth B. Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Director of Graduate Studies of Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, author of Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence.

Joyce Benenson, Associate Professor of Psychology at Emmanuel College, and Associate Member of Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology.

Kent Quirk, Director of Engineering for Client Software, Linden Lab (creators of the “Second Life” virtual world).

Noah Falstein, President, The Inspiracy (design and production of entertainment and serious games).

Dan Scherlis (moderator), Principal, Scherlis.com (executive production and market strategy for online games and social media).

Alumni and friends of the Harvard community: $10
Undergraduate Students: complimentary