Hugh Davies

@hughdavies.bsky.social

890 followers 1.2K following 77 posts

Artist, Curator, Media and Games Researcher
President of Chinese Digital Games Research Association
https://www.hughdavies.au/

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Hugh Seymour Davies was a musicologist, composer, and inventor of experimental musical instruments.

Source: Wikipedia

Political science 18%

Sociology 16%

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Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · Jan 10

My 2024 paper interrogating the intersection of AI, future forecasting, and games is now freely available online. "this paper reveals and critiques the unannounced spiritual mysticism surrounding contemporary AI and its increasing embrace within late-capitalist future forecasting". bit.ly/4h9JLLH

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Nancy Kanwisher, Stephen R. Carpenter , and 35 more Joanna Bryson, Nancy Kanwisher, Stephen R. Carpenter, Shadd Maruna, John Horgan, John McLaren, Robert W. Wallace, Henning Melber, Erica Chenoweth, Fabián Muniesa, Joseph Schafer, Inderjeet Parmar, Daniel W. Drezner, Jo Barraket, W. Andy Knight, Gerald Friedman, Tom Griffin, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Richard Larouche, Erol Akçay, Jen Schneider, Mary Jane Curry, Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Nelson Flores, Richard M. Carpiano, Hugh Davies, Meredith Farkas, Christina Pagel, Charles T. Mathewes, Thomas E. Murray, Francesco Nicoli, Juliet Johnson, Colin Woodard, Kevin Grant, Élisabeth Vallet, Peter Jacobs, Kristina McElheran, Patrick D. Culbert

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 17d

in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Raymond Wilton @raymondwilton.bsky.social · 18d

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Police confirmed that two women and a man have died, and another man has been taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Three people dead and gunman on the run after shooting in NSW town

Two women and a man have have died after a shooting at Lake Cargelligo as police urge locals to stay inside

www.theguardian.com

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · 19d

Yep. Water is so 2024.

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · 20d

Gonna fund the keynote through a lemonade stand.

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Adrian Hon @adrianhon.bsky.social · 20d

Psst - over half the tickets have sold out in just two days!

We might be able to increase capacity a bit but we’re limited by the number of GMs we can rustle up, plus the space itself…

(More announcements about games coming soon!)

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Dan Golding @dangolding.com · 20d

The first Parallels ran on a real budget of ~$800. The ten-day festival in 2015 ran on around $10k. That was sweat and tears of volunteers and me as director (never let me do a ten day festival again pls). But I’m sorry that’s just what Freeplay is. Freeplay is unprofessional, plan accordingly.

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Dan Golding @dangolding.com · 20d

On Freeplay itself: many of the people running it and on the board are good friends of mine, but (sorry!) I think I should say this in public: let Freeplay be unprofessional. It cannot be sustained if the director/s need a salary. Look around. How many cultural events beyond games have managed this?

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Brendan Keogh @brkeogh.bsky.social · 20d

First and most importantly is to recognise its legacy. Freeplay was the longest-running independent games festival in the world. It was one of the first dedicates spaces for the countercultural and political side of gamemaking.

Screenshot of a Tweet from Katharine Neil that say "Conference banner on the wall at the first #freeplay20 in 2004. "Innovation in the Field of Excellence" was a dig at the bullshit corporate themes that the Australian Game Developers' Conference used to go with every year."

The photo is a banner with "Innovation in the field of excellence" crossed out and replaced with "Freedom and independence in game development!"

Reposted by Hugh Davies

BURD @tezamondo.bsky.social · 21d

i'm gonna run the Freeplay awards out the back of the bikeshed

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Freeplay @free-play.bsky.social · 21d

An update: Unfortunately Freeplay didn’t secure multi-year funding and is potentially looking at its last year of operation. We’re exploring what comes next & want your input.

Read our full statement here: www.freeplay.net.au/survey2026

Help us decide our next step here: forms.gle/W4ZSns1bGCX1...

Freeplay | 2026 Survey

An Update from Freeplay

www.freeplay.net.au

Reposted by Hugh Davies

The Scales ⚖️ @shakethescales.bsky.social · 29d

Two headlines on the BBC website:

1. Iran protesters defy crackdown as videos show violent clashes

2. Thousands march and dozens arrested in Minneapolis protests against ICE

The two most pertinent editorial word choices here are 'crackdown' and 'arrested.' See how this works?

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · Oct 29

First as Simpsons, then as farce.

Brendan Keogh @brkeogh.bsky.social · Oct 28

damn, not again

The Independent @the-independent.com · Oct 28

BREAKING | Truck hauling monkeys carrying hepatitis C, herpes and Covid overturns in Mississippi

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Hugh Davies

Brendan Keogh @brkeogh.bsky.social · Oct 28

damn, not again

The Independent @the-independent.com · Oct 28

BREAKING | Truck hauling monkeys carrying hepatitis C, herpes and Covid overturns in Mississippi

Truck hauling monkeys carrying hepatitis C, herpes and Covid overturns in Mississippi

www.independent.co.uk

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Jonathan Birch, Zen Faulkes , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Jonathan Birch, Zen Faulkes, Hugh Davies

Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · Oct 15

kids teacher just sent this home as part of an assignment he's doing and i want to smash every computer at the school

Reposted by Hugh Davies

The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · Oct 9

Losing my mind and what look like video game assets but instead were used to justify war crimes and genocide in the real world

NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites

The style is unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war.Our analysis of 43 official IDF videos found recycled 3D environments, spatial inaccuracies, and assets lifted from unrelated artists and institutions.We traced over 30 unique assets to Washington-based 3D creator Ian Hubert, who makes bespoke models created for his sci-fi project Dynamo Dream, available to his Patreon subscribers.

Models of parking lots, antennas, + pipes were repurposed as Hamas and Iranian military sites

@evanhill
·
11m
Fascinating work here tracing how the IDF recycled 3D assets from a cyberpunk sci-fi art project, the Scottish Maritime Museum and elsewhere to populate its widely-seen models of supposed enemy locations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. One of the most infamous, the alleged underground Hamas command center at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, used to justify an unprecedented assault on the biggest medical center in Gaza, was actually an animation the IDF had used the previous year, saying at the time it was a tunnel beneath a UN school.

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · Sep 4

I am intensely proud of my wife Yoko who has just had her book published! Next Wednesday, Yoko will be book signing at Kinokuniya in Sydney. Please book a seat and come along if you are in town. tinyurl.com/bdfxrs9z

Reposted by Steven French, Hugh Davies

LeftwardSwing ☭🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈 ♿ @leftwardswing.bsky.social · Aug 21

The Thai cover band you didn't know you needed in your life.

Crank it! 😀 🎸

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Resist 🕎🍉 @antizionistjew.bsky.social · Aug 17

Tel Aviv Anti-War Riots

Riot police - most without identification tags and some masked - violently attack protesters and beat them, while their colleagues shield the actions with their bodies and stand in a ready-to-attack position

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · Aug 17

Bendigo Writers Fest confirms that 59% of speakers withdrew.
What an own goal.
I hope those responsible for trying to silence writers are feeling good about themselves. Wrecked an important cultural institution.

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Kate Knibbs @knibbs.bsky.social · Aug 14

so so excited that we were able to excerpt Seth Harp's incredible new book, The Fort Bragg Cartel, which was one of the most jaw-dropping reading experiences I've had this year. www.wired.com/story/the-fo...

The Rise of the US Military’s Clandestine Foreign War Apparatus

Seth Harp’s new book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” goes deep into the forming of the Joint Special Operations Command and its origins in the aftermath of 9/11.

www.wired.com

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Meg Penvose Clark @megpenvose.bsky.social · Aug 14

If you have plans to attend the Bendigo writers festival as a speaker or participant, now would be a good time to loudly withdraw

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Writers festival requires ‘complete self-censorship’ over Gaza war, academic claims, as speakers withdraw in protest

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah among those to boycott Bendigo writers festival, arguing she cannot appear ‘as a Palestinian’ due to speaker code

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Hugh Davies

Damon Young @damonyoung.com.au · Aug 14

Yeah, here’s a piece by @alexmckinnon.bsky.social: www.deepcutnews.com/p/authors-wi...

Authors withdraw from Bendigo Writers Festival over anti-Palestinian 'censorship'

Festival organisers sought compliance with controversial definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel

www.deepcutnews.com

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · Aug 14

This weekend as part of the IndieCade Festival, I will be discussing Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) in the Age of “Alternative Facts” with Michael Andersen and Celia Pearce. The event is online and in US/European time. www.indiecade.com/playablethea...

Playable Theatre Symposium – IndieCade

www.indiecade.com

Reposted by Euan G. Ritchie, Martin Tomko, Hugh Davies

Ren Wyld @wyld.bsky.social · Aug 14

Wow! Bendigo Writers Festival (15 - 17 Aug) is making guest speakers sign a last-minute agreement to not mention Israel's genocide of Palestinians. Writers who care about human rights are cancelling. Any writer/guest still thinking of appearing should seriously reconsider. Stand up! Refuse to comply

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · Aug 7

Outstanding words by Ge Zhang on Sino-Sinopessimism madeinchinajournal.com/2025/08/05/o...

On Sinopessimism, or Junkies of Futility | Made in China Journal

This essay is written precisely so that it could be dismissed. —Paul Mann (1991: 141) Gary Zhexi Zhang (2021) first coined the term ‘Sinopessimism’ as a speculative counterpart to Afropessimism, ima...

madeinchinajournal.com

Reposted by Hugh Davies

💢Marx Was Right.🕊 @paulwalker44.bsky.social · Aug 4

Israel doesn’t want anyone to see this aerial photo.

Hugh Davies @hughdavies.bsky.social · Aug 3

Deadline extended! Following popular demand, we have extended the deadline for abstract submissions to the Video Games in Museums event in Shanghai this November. New deadline is August 12th. chinesedigra.org/934-2/