These are my notes for the Replaying Japan Note: that these are being written live so there will be lots of inaccuracies and unfinished sentences. Please send corrections or check against the abstracts. The theme of the game was Pac-Man and the first keynote speaker was Toru Iwatani. Jeremie Pelletier-Gagnon has a nice reflection on the theme of the game.
The Prof. Beate A. She commented on how the University of Leipzig is one of the oldest universities in Germany. It was founded by professors in Prague. The University is well known for medicine and the humanities.
It is known for crossing boundardies and this conference definitely crosses lines. Ulrich Brieler then welcomed us on behalf of the city of Leipzig. He asked what playing meant today in a global 21st century.
Schiller said that only throug playing can a man become a man. He talked about the importance to Leipzig to history. Leipzig is the town where the peaceful revolution in began. Martin Roth, the organizer, then welcomed us.
He thanked the people who helped organize this, including the co-organizers, of which I am one. Iwatani talked about how games bring together engineering, math, literature, visual arts, sound, psychology. Games are complex and need efforts of many people. It is hard to convey Iwatani's sense of humor, but it came through even in translation. He explained the concept of the development. Many arcade games at the time were dominated by men and the arcades smelled.
