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The Journals of Doc Surge is the personal blog of Chris Billows. This blog’s purpose is to explore ideas and concepts through the discipline of writing as an exercise to further personal understanding.

Check out more about me, some of my thoughts on Games and Hockey.

Dec 15

Playstates Theory Definition – Version 2.0 (Dec/19)

December 15, 2019 by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy, Games Analysis, Playstates
I’ve updated and enhanced my Playstates Definition below. My plan is to continue to develop this theory and eventually establish a website dedicated to demonstrating how the theory works. Playstates is a theory that explains how different types of play coexist, combine together, and are recursive. The different types of play are each defined by a singular core trait that acts as a both a distinguishing and complementing characteristic. At present there are five different kinds or states of play.   Toygrounds Sign-Plays Puzzles Games Sports   Each of the five Playstates can be defined as “The Play of …” which represents the core characteristic of that Playstate. These are as follows:   Sign-Plays – The Play of Meaning. Signals  – signs that require constant encoding and decoding and interpretation Symbols – signs that are more static and require subtle interpretation Role-Plays – using our behavior to communicate and experience meaning   Toygrounds – The Play of Exploration. Toys – objects that are played with freely and with transient rules Playgrounds – spaces that are played with freely and with transient rules   Puzzles – The Play of Matching. Symbols – letters or numbers as basis for matches Shapes – […]
Dec 15

Playstates Theory Update

December 15, 2019 by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy, Games Analysis, Playstates
I recently finished reading Brian Upton’s book Aesthetics of Play and I found it containing many insights into Games Design which also can be applied into our understanding about theory of Play.  Of particular interest for me was his description about the emotional state of anticipation being a form of mental play. This anticipatory plan he then applies to our interaction with media like books, film, theater, and music. Our delight in anticipating what will happen next in these linear medias is still an active form of play according to Upton and I can’t help but agree with him. This prompted me to consider updating my Playstates theory since I first wrote about it in May 2017 and established its first version in April 2018. When I wrote these posts I considered Play to be an overtly interactive activity. It was Upton’s explanation about how the media of books, theater, movies, and music are fundamentally practices of Play. While they don’t overtly possess agency and interactivity, Upton is brilliant in illustrating that it is the anticipation of what will happen next is where the Play takes place. This can happen in a chess match when you wait your turn to […]
Sep 28

Resetting Priorities

September 28, 2019 by Chris Billows in Business Beller, Hobby Heedings, Jets Flight Control, Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Blogging, Change of Mind
This past summer has been a time of review in relation to this blog and my ventures (billo.ws/cyber.holdings). I’ve followed enough game developers on Twitter to witness the carnage in the industry and have decided that I am not going to put any effort for the next year or two on new game projects. My plan is to re-launch CreateOrConquer.com, do some promotion to its mailing list, do exploration of viability for Urbaniacs.com, and casually work on design ideas for Heropath.com. I still love the industry as a fan and advocate, but there simply is no way to justify any serious time investment. There is almost no Return on Investment in Video Games as a game developer. The Video Games industry has become just like the other creative industries with the barrier to entry becoming so low that anybody and everybody is doing game development. This is an abundance of riches and comes with its own downside which is that it is extremely difficult to compete. My focus will shift to website properties which can be developed to attract an audience. I have a couple of projects that I will be turning my attention to, one is related to Sports […]
Oct 30

Playstates in the Visual Arts

October 30, 2018 by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy
I am beginning to recognize Playstates not only being a sorting system for play, it has also become a lens by which to discern different cultural activities. After seeing the Playstates in Books I now see that Playstates can even be applied to the world of Visual Art. Marshall McLuhan said that the medium (the singular of media) is the message. His insight was revolutionary at the time, and I believe I found a new demonstration of this insight. It occurred when I apply the Playstates model as a lens to evaluate how we interact with media, and in this post’s focus, showing how the five different Playstates are found in the medium of visual art. Below I have listed examples of all five and this has forced me to rethink my stated position that books are inherently passive. It is quite possible that there is a continuum of activeness to passivity found in all media. I will need to take some time to explore that further! Let’s explore examples of Playstates in the Visual Arts: Toygrounds or the Play of Exploration –  Museums with their artifacts to admire and Galleries with their pieces to purchase. Role-Plays or the Play […]
Sep 09

Nostalgia – The Chemicals Between Us

September 09, 2018 by Chris Billows in Republic of Bloggers 0 comments tags: Defining Life, Human Condition, Virtuous Discourse
Thank you Chris for inviting others to suggest a topic for your Virtuous Cyborg project and thank you for your treatment of my suggestion on nostalgia.   Your post elicited my own nostalgic experience. It is as if you mentioning Micronauts acted as a chemical trail to other memories such other action figures, comics, Choose Your Own Adventure, D&D, and Fighting Fantasy. I remember vividly being at home during the summer break in 1982, lying on a bed, watching music videos on a small box television, and playing Final Fantasy/Sorcery books. It was one of those moments in time that is seared in my mind and brings a smile. Thinking about the past in this way initiates a sub-routine program in myself. This is not simply a bunch of electrons firing off, there is an actual change in my mood which has been documented in people who are exposed to nostalgia. There is no doubt that computers are chemical creations (drawing a circuit board alters the state of it) and I would propose that establishing nostalgia is like the etching of a circuit board in our nervous system. We know that nostalgia makes us emotionally settled but what is it […]
Aug 28

Winnipeg Jets Former Players Summary 2011 to 2018

August 28, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Former Players
The Winnipeg Jets arrived in 2011 from the old Atlanta Thrashers team. Between 2011 and the most recent 2017-18 season there has been players that have come and gone. I thought it would be a fun exercise to go through all of the former Jets players who has played with this franchise and see where they are at. Below we see the list of players who played at least one game (regular season or playoff) for the Winnipeg Jets and have left the organization. Other GP is the total NHL Games Played before and after playing for the Jets. I will consider changing this in the future to count only those games played after playing for the Jets. This list is current up to June 30, 2018.   Ex-Jets Status Summary from 2011 to 2018 (Regular and Playoff Seasons) Players not included: Those currently playing with Jets or Moose Player Name Pos. GP G A Pts PIM Seasons Yrs Reason Where To Other NHL GP Notable Events Tim Stapleton R 63 11 16 27 10 2011-2012 1 Did Not Resign Europe 55 Johnny Oduya D 63 2 11 13 33 2011-2012 1 Traded NHL 893 Stanley Cup Championships in 2013 […]
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