Noah Wardrip-Fruin
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n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin
@n-w-f.bsky.social
4K followers 410 following 100 posts

UC Santa Cruz professor; makes/studies games, elit, AI, etc; co-editor MIT Press Software Studies series; parent; Quaker; Henson/Muppet fan; disabled; he/him

New book on Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the U Chicago Press Replay series .. more

Videos

Noah Wardrip-Fruin is a professor in the Computational Media department of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is an advisor for the Expressive Intelligence Studio. He is an alumnus of the Literary Arts MFA program and Special Graduate Study PhD program at Brown University. In addition to his research in digital media, computer games, and software studies, he served for 10 years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Electronic Literature Organization. .. more

Computer science 46%
Sociology 15%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

jkmahal.bsky.social
Jen @jkmahal.bsky.social · 4d
It’s a miracle!! They did it!! After lo these many years, the people at Disney figured out how to make The Muppet Show. Yaaaaaaay!! Appointment TV for Wednesdays.
kermit the frog is dancing in front of a red curtain on a stage .
Alt: kermit the frog is saying yaaay and flailing his arms in front of a red curtain on a stage .
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

danilynrutherford.bsky.social
danilynrutherford.bsky.social @danilynrutherford.bsky.social · 25d
So excited to share a stage with @n-w-f.bsky.social
-- whose book is beautiful and so illuminating -- not to mention @djeanneh.bsky.social and @megancmoodie.bsky.social. Thanks so much to Megan, for her hard work making this happen, and to the Humanities Institute for hosting us.

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · 28d
Next week I'll be joining @danilynrutherford.bsky.social at UC Santa Cruz to talk about our new books with @djeanneh.bsky.social and Megan Moodie. It'll be a mix of the scholarly and personal, with two experiences of parenting and disability at the core

thi.ucsc.edu/event/nurtur...
Events for January 2026 – The Humanities Institute
thi.ucsc.edu

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

anasalter.bsky.social
Anastasia Salter @anasalter.bsky.social · 29d
As the book exhibit at #MLA26 is wrapping up this morning, consider dropping by to check out the new Replay series from @uchicagopress.bsky.social with my book on Undertale and @n-w-f.bsky.social on Animal Crossing.
The first two books in the Replay series on display at MLA 2026 in Toronto

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Jan 5
I'm quite curious to hear responses to this.
noahspringer.com Noah Springer @noahspringer.com · Jan 5
🚨Calling all new media scholars🚨

If (and I emphasize if) a 2nd edition of the New Media Reader happened to be in the works, what additions would you like to see? What do you think could be excised? @docmofo.bsky.social @n-w-f.bsky.social @psssssssss.bsky.social

mitpress.mit.edu/978026223227...
The New Media Reader
This reader collects the texts, videos, and computer programs—many of them now almost impossible to find—that chronicle the history and form the foundati...
mitpress.mit.edu

Reposted by Erik Champion, Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

noahspringer.com
Noah Springer @noahspringer.com · Jan 5
🚨Calling all new media scholars🚨

If (and I emphasize if) a 2nd edition of the New Media Reader happened to be in the works, what additions would you like to see? What do you think could be excised? @docmofo.bsky.social @n-w-f.bsky.social @psssssssss.bsky.social

mitpress.mit.edu/978026223227...
The New Media Reader
This reader collects the texts, videos, and computer programs—many of them now almost impossible to find—that chronicle the history and form the foundati...
mitpress.mit.edu

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Noah Wardrip‐Fruin, Talia Schaffer , and 1 more

elmcitytree.blacksky.app
Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · Dec 17
For civilians: an academic dept typically has to out maneuver other depts to get a tenure line! I tell grad students applying to red state jobs to indicate that they are familiar with & would be happy spending a decade or more there. A single sentence has moved them to the top of a pile. 1/

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · Dec 11
New from Colin Milburn and @ritaraley.bsky.social, this rich and extended meditation on the ubiquitous institutional discourse of appropriateness and what it would mean to think “Inappropriate AI”: uchri.org/foundry/inap...
“From this perspective, then, it would never be a question of defining “appropriate” or “proper” usages of AI as such in different contexts—whether corporate, academic, or political—because we would acknowledge that there is nothing proper to AI to begin with. It would always be a matter, instead, of reappropriating or disappropriating whatever the AI has gathered up, decomposed, and transformatively recomposed, as if all on its own.”

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin, James Harrison, Jacob T. Levy , and 2 more

angusmain.bsky.social
Angus Main @angusmain.bsky.social · Dec 5
This is the most horrific trophy I’ve ever seen. It looks like a cursed object found in a desert crypt.
Trumps FA peace trophy. Several distorted severed hands reach up from the base trying a grab a floating globe.

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Dec 3
In normal academic writing, we use brief discussions of games to help us make a point. Writing a whole book about ACNH instead gave me an opportunity to explore complex, ambivalent experiences with the game — some of which I recently got to talk about with Emily Cerf

news.ucsc.edu/2025/12/anim...
Ahead of new game release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons book reflects on comfort, community, and capitalism
Professor of Computational Media Noah Wardrip-Fruin speaks on themes explored in his new book
news.ucsc.edu

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Nov 12
"[Writers] preferred inspiration outside generated content and did not find the proposed collaborative work with LLMs enjoyable or fulfilling."

ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/112...
Could vs Should: Exploring Prompting Strategies and Writer Perspectives Towards LLM Assistance in Storylet Authoring
Large Language Models (LLMs) and procedural narrative practices have grown significantly over the past few years, but there are many questions about their newfound capabilities. In the context of vide...
ieeexplore.ieee.org

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Nov 10
I'm honored to be included in this exciting collection of new university press books!

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

jon.inkle.co
Jon Ingold @jon.inkle.co · Nov 10
okay, seriously: if we were to corral this, would anyone be interested in contributing? Here is the google form:

forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

aupresses.bsky.social
Association of University Presses @aupresses.bsky.social · Nov 10
#TeamUP and #ReadUP in the arts, performing arts & media studies with works by @uchicagopress.bsky.social, @n-w-f.bsky.social, @cmupress.bsky.social, @nupress.bsky.social & more in the #UPWeek Gallery https://bit.ly/3WTl7XD
#TeamUP in the Arts, Performing Arts, and Media Studies, University Press Week, featuring 3 book jackets: -Animal Crossing, New Horizons: Can a Game Take Care of Us? -Time Well Spent: An American Architect in Europe, 1893 -We Are Civic Media

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

englishscribe.bsky.social
Andy Walsh @englishscribe.bsky.social · Nov 8
OPPORTUNITY! Creative Assembly - UK - Principal Narrative Designer

Not affiliated. Shares welcome!

www.creative-assembly.com/careers/view...
Principal Narrative Designer | Creative Assembly
As a Principal Narrative Designer, you will be tasked with creating and implementing engaging dialogue and compelling characters. You will craft the game's narrative journey while collaborating with t...
www.creative-assembly.com

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin, Peter Jacobs

megueyb.bsky.social
MegueyB @megueyb.bsky.social · Nov 6
Here We GO! Come along, my dearies!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...
Apocalypse World: Burned Over
The 3rd edition of the groundbreaking original.
www.kickstarter.com

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

jkmahal.bsky.social
Jen @jkmahal.bsky.social · Nov 6
Bribing people to donate to @ucscmonsters.bsky.social
. We’re raising money for the 2026 Festival of Monsters and the $ is matched. So, if you would like me to make you an emotional support ghost, donate $30+ and send proof/address to ucscmonsters at gmail and I’ll make you one! bit.ly/monstergive
A crocheted ghost with a UCSC Center for Monster Studies button on a table with marigolds and candles.

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

ucscmonsters.bsky.social
Center for Monster Studies @ UC Santa Cruz @ucscmonsters.bsky.social · Nov 5
Bring the 2026 Festival of Monsters to life! It's Giving Day at UC Santa Cruz and monster matches magically turn $1 into $2. bit.ly/monstergive Your support means the monsters live to lecture another day, #give2ucsc @dsas #monsters

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Nov 4
That makes sense. And maybe that's a way of articulating what's changed — people are publishing non-ethnographic books on single games?

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

lupdistribution.bsky.social
Liverpool Distribution Services at Liverpool University Press @lupdistribution.bsky.social · Oct 31
👻 Happy Halloween!
What better time to discover the inaugural volume in Lever Press's film|minutes book series?:
'Bride of Frankenstein' by @shanedenson.bsky.social dissects the 1935 classic through sound, technology, and time itself minute-by-minute.🎃 🍿
bit.ly/3JzEdPr
@leverpress.bsky.social

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Oct 31
Yeah. When I saw that it was going to use the camera, I thought maybe it would be some janky expression recognition that would try to choose a reaction to match. Or put that expression on a Mii. Having it just be your face doesn’t feel very Nintendo to me

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

everest.bsky.social
Everest Pipkin @everest.bsky.social · Oct 31
Come work with me!



We've opened the search for a full time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in Game Arts at Pratt Institute.



A good match would be an artist, game developer, or educator with an active creative practice in indie games, game studies and theory, playful coding, or art games.
Assistant Professor Digital Arts, Game Arts 2026 (71102)
The Department of Digital Arts at Pratt Institute invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in Game Arts at the rank of Assistant Professor, beginning in Fall 2026. The successful ca...
www.schooljobs.com

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Oct 31
I think Nintendo is betting that we look back on the community around ACNH will fondness. That in a time of division, we'll (unexpectedly) want more of the community feeling we got when we were in Covid isolation. And that will sell Switch 2s, cameras, and Nintendo online subscriptions

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Oct 31
And with the 3.0 update (plus a subscription), players will have three “slumber” islands where they can play and decorate with their friends, instead of just having the one island normally available on each Switch console

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Oct 31
It's the social aspect that Nintendo is leaning into for these updates. ACNH’s new Switch 2 edition will (w/ a subscription) increase the number of players who can be on an island from 8 to 12. It will (w/ a compatible camera) place live video images of players above the heads of their characters

n-w-f.bsky.social
Noah Wardrip-Fruin @n-w-f.bsky.social · Oct 31
Today Nintendo announced a Switch 2 and 3.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Why would they make a major new update for a game more than five years old? Why would they bet on nostalgia for something from the Covid-19 pandemic?

www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/...
Animal Crossing: New Horizons sails ashore with a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and free content update Jan. 15 - News - Nintendo Official Site
Ahoy! New things are en route to your island getaway, whether you’re planning to arrive on these shores for the first time, or already a seasoned Island Resident. The Animal Crossing: New Horizons – N...
www.nintendo.com

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

felipepepe.bsky.social
Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · Oct 30
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t...

It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.

Please share :)
The Video Game History Expansion Pack – Pitch your story
Today I’m putting my money where my mouth is and launching a new project — a book focused on game history outside of the usual North American perspectives.
crpgbook.wordpress.com

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · Oct 30
In happier news: for Critical Inquiry, I reviewed @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer’s WHY WE FEAR AI, which has just lately been catching some deserved hotness. 🔥 Read my take here: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/matthew_kirs...
Critical Inquiry
A journal of Art, Culture and Politics, Published by the University of Chicago
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

lauraehall.bsky.social
Laura E. Hall @lauraehall.bsky.social · Oct 30
*Three* sandbox islands per player?!! We’re so back
a close up of a cartoon character 's face with the words get on animal crossing below it
Alt: The villager from animal Crossing glitches out into a slightly spooky, but definitely excited blur. The text reads “get on animal crossing”.
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Noah Wardrip‐Fruin

eurogamer.bsky.social
Eurogamer @eurogamer.bsky.social · Oct 30
Nintendo has announced it's reviving Animal Crossing: New Horizons early next year with a new Switch 2 Edition, a major content update for all players - including a new on-island Resort Hotel - and a special Lego collaboration. https://bit.ly/4qOGJ5o