We’re doing another simultaneous single player game this week, and we’re taking a break from our BioWare habits to play Portal this time. (Who knows, maybe we’ll even finish this one?) In a happy coincidence, Michael Abbott’s recent post “Portal on the booklist” has increased the amount of recent discussion of the game; maybe the article “Portal and the Deconstruction of the Institution” by Daniel Johnson that Michael referred to might provide some seeds for conversation.
We’ll be holding the discussion over Skype; if you’re planning to attend, please leave your Skype info below, and add me (davidbcarlton) to your contacts list. We’ll play this Thursday at 9:30 EDT / 6:30 PDT. Hope to see you there!
Video Games and Human Values Initiative 
I’ll try to mention this again on Thursday, but: if you get dropped from the Skype conversation, don’t bother contacting me with chat or wait for me to notice, instead try calling me directly. I’ll be looking at the game rather than my Skype window, but I’ll hear the ringing sound of you trying to call me, and I’ll re-add you.
Definitely going to be there!
I’ll do my best to attend!
I’ll be there with bells on.
I’ll be there!
I probably will be there if I can figure out this new fangled ‘skype’ thing all you kids are raving about these days.
Sounds good; I’ve got you all on my Skype contact list now, so we should be set.
Finally a game I can play will all of you again. I’ll be there as soon as I can.
I should be on tonight. I think it’s interesting that we’re playing this in the middle of Kotaku’s Gun Week. Hopefully we can talk about the ways Portal challenges the conventions of the first-person shooter.
I have Portal, so I will definitely join tonight. Looking forward to discussing it with you all, especially after the recent articles.
Harlan, I don’t believe I have your Skype info? (Unless you’re the person I was chatting with this afternoon.) Can you send me a Skype contact request at davidbcarlton?
That was fun! I should try to make it to more of these; I’m bad at being a social gamer (in all senses of the word).
Definitely fun, it was great to join in again. I just wish I had noticed that my mic wasnt working before it ended.
Heh, I was kind of wondering about that, but there were so many people on (not all with super-familiar voices for me) that I didn’t take the time to check. Sorry about that!