Nick LaLone

Nick LaLone

My work focuses on how people and objects get to know each other. I work in crisis response, human-computer interaction, and simulation, all through the lens of play.

Blog posts

2020

Consequences of a mobile fetish: logging back in to the virtual world after 10 years afk.

11 minute read

Published:

With the Coronavirus coming around, so many of us are forced indoors for a time, forced into isolation where digital tools will be forced to become the norm. We’re already seeing things like Netflix Party gain immediate popularity or exercise programs like Ring Fit Adventure sell out suddenly. I was struck by the similarities the pandemic response and social distancing has had to the year following the World Trade Center disaster. We all went inside, purchased a ton of food to make at home, and began to rethink about what was important in life. Read more

2018

Fantasy Console Class Semester Wrap-up

12 minute read

Published:

My first course with PICO-8 as an introductory space for games programming is just about complete. What went right? What went wrong? This post gets into the weeds and explores what I need to change, adjust, and transform. Read more

A Meaningful Play After Action Report

9 minute read

Published:

My relationship with games and game studies is often one of curiosity. I find the concept of ‘play’ useful yet I find that ‘play’ is more useful to study something else than it is to study games themselves. Despite this, I do try to keep an eye on games and game studies. There is always so much stuff to watch, so many authors to keep track of, and so many academic moves to remember. Read more

All These Gandalfs

7 minute read

Published:

Or how we all want to stay home instead of go on adventures. I wrote this introductory bit for my dissertation and i’m not sure it will stick with it so I thought i’d put it here. Read more

2017

On the Impact of Nonhumans in Social Network Analysis

10 minute read

Published:

I got some reviews back the other day on my first attempt to produce something from my dissertation research. Of the reviews, one aspect that stood out was that there was a need for “more detail.” Simple associations like those found in Social Network Analysis just aren’t enough for something substantial. And, for the most part, I agree. Read more

2015

Ludic Gatekeepers and the Unclear Simulation

15 minute read

Published:

In early 2014, I began to lay the groundwork for a simulation meant to train crisis management personnel on the growing impact of social media during response efforts. Later, this work would make its way into a proposal submitted on behalf of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) meant to do just that. Our proposal outlined the need and benefit of a simulation that was created to be engaged in-person, was low fidelity, low technology, and meant for for resource strapped crisis management services in rural portions of the European Union. Simulations like these are invaluable for all manner of training. Read more

2012

One-Shot Review: A Slow Year

5 minute read

Published:

In Austin, Texas about 6 or 7 years ago there was this strange rebirth of alternate ways of making and riding bicycles. Most would associate this with the generally weird and purposefully alternative atmosphere that makes Austin…weird. But as these bikes rode around town, people began to talk about how nostalgic these bikes were. It was as if they came from a different time, a time when the bicycle may have had a different future, a different look. It is with this nostalgia that we take a different sort of trip to a place where the future of video games could have been a different one. In this future, we will begin with Ian Bogost’s A Slow Year. Read more