I believe in creating histories that imagine better futures. My talks, writings, and other imaginings focus on computer and video game histories, with special emphasis on obsolete technology, everyday practices, and marginalized users and makers. 

Currently, my time is devoted to writing an industry history of the home entertainment software company Sierra On-Line, entitled Before We Were Gamers. As part of this work, I travel across America conducting extensive oral histories with dozens of past employees. Many of these interviews are being transcribed and preserved with the assistance of The Strong Museum of Play, and will comprise one of the largest oral history projects ever undertaken within the discipline of video game history. 

I am an Assistant Professor of Media and Information Industries in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. Prior to NYU, I was an Assistant Professor of Digital Media in the School of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Tech, and held a postdoc through the Intel Science and Technology Center for Social Computing at New York University.

As part of my long-standing interest in expanding knowledge of game history within the academy and beyond, I am currently co-founding ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories, alongside Henry Lowood and Raiford Guins. ROMchip will be an open access, hybrid-audience, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to fostering the historical study of games. Anticipated launch date is Winter 2017/Spring 2018.

I have a successful background coordinating events that build community across industry and academic divides. I've made my mark producing events like the first Different Games Conference, Mistakes Were Made, and Command Lines. Additionally, I am an advisor to the Softalk Apple Preservation Project, and served the Journal of Visual Culture in varying capacities, including Managing Editor, for 9 years.

In past lives, I was a C-List Internet celebrity, received a medal for my writing as a graphic design critic, worked in newspaper and book design, and had a stint as a short-order cook. I carry a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Stony Brook University, a M.A. in Cultural Studies from Kansas State University, and a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from the University of Dayton.

[email] laine [dot] nooney [at] gmail.com
[twitter] @sierra_offline

Photo credits | Laine Nooney (top), Kette Thomas