For your theoretical entertainment, Eludamos Journal Vol 9 no 1.
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Sky LaRell Anderson
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1-15
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Antranig Arek Sarian
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17-32
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Erik van Ooijen
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33-45
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Pierantonio Zanotti
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47-74
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Victoria McArthur
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Author: Jesper
Game Studies Vol 18 no 2
For your theoretical scrutiny: Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research has just published its latest issue (Volume 18, Issue 2, September 2018). All articles are available at http://www.gamestudies.org/1802
Articles
by Meghan Blythe Adams, Nathan Rambukkana
This paper investigates non-monogamy in videogame narratives with a focus on games that include scripted non- monogamous gameplay options, such as Mass Effect (BioWare, 2007), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED, 2007), along with the current limitations on this form of representation in mainstream games.
by Jonne Arjoranta, Marko Siitonen
This article analyses Hearthstone players’ forum discussions. The analysis illustrates how forum participants interpret the game’s limited emote system and talk about ways of misusing the emotes for negatively loaded purposes, despite the designers’ intention of making player-to-player interaction positive.
The Semiotics of the Game Controller
by Johan Blomberg
How the video game experience can be characterized is an important question in video game research. I argue that the video game controller has a crucial role for the interactive experience. This paper presents a semiotic analysis of the relation between player, video game, and controller.
by Ahmed Elmezeny, Jeffrey Wimmer, Manoella Oliveira dos Santos, Ekaterina Orlova, Irina Tribusean, Anna Antonova
Using a qualitative content analysis, this study analyses the differences between trolling strategies and reactions to trolling in two nationally distinct gaming image boards (Russia and Brazil). The research shows that while there are differences in both samples, overall trolling is somewhat homogenous, indicating a transcultural standard.
by Rob Gallagher
Narrated by a father who bonds with his autistic son via Minecraft, Keith Stuart’s novel A Boy Made of Blocks highlights the important role videogames now play in discourses of gender, ability, education and parenting. This article draws on Stockton’s work on ‘queer childhood’ to assess the book’s implications for conceptions of gamer masculinity.
Walking, Talking and Playing with Masculinities in Firewatch
by Mellisa Kagen
The story, mechanics and genre of Firewatch subvert traditional, hypermasculine videogame norms and encourage players to perform a care-oriented masculinity.
No Straight Answers: Queering Hegemonic Masculinity in BioWare’s Mass Effect
by Theresa Krampe
This article discusses the ludic and narrative presentation of non-hegemonic masculinities in BioWare’s Mass Effect trilogy from an intersectional queer game studies perspective. In-depth and multidimensional character analyses reveal the complex power structures permeating the game and regulating its identity politics.
The Wasteland of the Real: Nostalgia and Simulacra in Fallout
by Kathleen McClancy
This article discusses how the intersection of fictional worlds, game rules, and narratives in videogames challenges the creation and ideological employment of Baudrillard’s simulacra through an examination of the Fallout franchise’s engagement with Cold War nostalgia and computer technology.
Everything Merges with the Game: A Generative Music System Embedded in a Videogame Increases Flow
by Joshua D. Sites, Robert F. Potter
Designers strive to create games conducive to flow, “the optimal experience.” This study demonstrates that a generative music system in place of a traditional game soundtrack can help players reach flow, even when they are unaware of the novel music system. The benefits of a generative system were most apparent in the first minutes of gameplay.
Assistant/associate professorship in Games/Interaction/Media in Copenhagen
Come work with me in Copenhagen!
Assistant/associate professorship in Games/Interaction/Media at KADK in Copenhagen
We have an opening for an associate/assistant professorship in games, interaction, and/or media at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design (KADK) in Copenhagen.
The vacancy is affiliated with the Institute of Visual Design, where you will be part of a multidisciplinary research environment and help shape our degree programs in the field. The vacant position should ideally be filled as of 1 November 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter.
We are looking for an applicant with experience within one or more of the following fields:
- Game design
- Game studies
- Practical game development
- UI/UX
- Film & media studies, animation
- Art direction for production design
This is a permanent full-time position with dedicated research time.
The Application deadline is August 31st, 2018.
Click here for the full posting – scroll to the bottom for the English version.
Further information
Information about qualification requirements, the application process and the e-recruitment system can be obtained by contacting HR Officer Sine Kildevang Madsen, skmad@kadk.dk, tel. +45 4170 1815.
Information about the position can be obtained by contacting Head of Institute Martin Sønderlev Christensen, mach@kadk.dk, tel. +45 4170 1859.
General information about KADK and the Institute of Visual Design can be found at www.kadk.dk.
American Journal of Play Vol 10 no 2
For your theoretical consumption, American Journal of play Vol 10 no 2.
Editor’s Note
Articles
Book Reviews
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Will “core” Games dominate Mobile?
We’ve had a long period where mobile platforms (were seen as) dominated by casual games (games flexible towards different use cases, and mostly positive in their fictions), but with the release of Fortnite on iOS, we suddenly have a situation where a more traditional shooter is top grossing.
In an MCV interview, Tim Sweeney argues that this is the future: that “serious” games (sic) will be dominant in the mobile charts.
Well. It’s true that Fortnite is new in this context in terms of being a top-grossing shooter. But the news is not so much that it is a “serious” game, meaning one that has depth and that players can keep improving their skills at. Candy Crush is an involved game if you try to get far, and so is Clash Royale, and the latter one is about multiplayer competition as well.
The news is really that a traditional “core” game genre, in this case the shooter, has been successfully launched on mobile platforms.
How to sue a cloner
The question of cloning usually leads to great agitation, and I’ve written about the technical issues of what is legal before.
I think I am in the minority for believing that weak copyright protections are preferable to strong ones, but I do believe that strong copyright protections would eventually lead to all game genres effectively being owned by large companies with many lawyers.
So, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS: When Fortnite Battle Royale came out (the more successful game as of now), it was widely seen as copying PUBG’s battle royale format – except
a) this wasn’t invented by PUBG
b) a game format like battle royale is not the kind of thing you can copyright (it’s an idea), but you have copyright over the expression of that idea, so legal action has to happen on the grounds that the offending party made too many similar design decisions that were not necessary.
Now Ars Technica reports that PUBG corp is suing Chinese developer Netease. Their legal argument is illustrative of how such lawsuits can be made: the general game structure of PUBG cannot be legally defended, but a developer that makes too many similar choices in game design, level design, and visual design will be legally vulnerable:
The suit individually describes characteristics of the game as “a copyrightable audio-visual work, individually and/or in combination with other elements of Battlegrounds,” and it includes screenshots of the competing game to make a case of infringement. Remarkably, PUBG Corp lists what it believes are 25 copyrightable characteristics about the game…
PUBG Corp’s argument appears to hinge on that “in combination with other elements” label, as both targeted games include examples of each of the 25 elements by way of screenshot or gameplay description. As the lawsuit contends, “The use of cookware as a weapon or armor in a shooter game, the use of certain vehicles and landscapes and combinations thereof, the use of distinctive supply boxes, and the celebratory reference to chicken are elements of ornamental flair that are not functional but have acquired secondary meaning, as shown by their use by players in memes, parodies, skits and other contexts to refer to the Battlegrounds game and to its developer, i.e., PUBG.”
The Impossibility of the Internet of Things
XKCD is right: The Internet of Things is not going to work, as long as there is no guarantee of security updates, which there won’t be.
(I will start posting more.)
Apply to the Visual Game and Media Design Master’s program in Copenhagen, deadline March 1st
This is for the program that I run in Copenhagen. Join us!
Apply to the Visual Game and Media Design Master’s program at KADK in Copenhagen. The Application deadline for the 2018-2020 class is March 1st.
The application process is now open for the Visual Game And Media Design master’s program at KADK – the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in Copenhagen.
This is a two-year program running from September 1, 2018. The application deadline is March 1st.
Visual Game and Media Design is an intensive two-year program for students wishing to do creative work in game design, visual media, and beyond. During the program, you will continually combine the hands-on creation of digital games, animations, motion graphics and visual designs with innovative conceptual approaches to game design and storyworld design.
Who can apply?
The master’s program in Visual Game and Media Design is in English, and is open to all students, Danish and International, with a relevant bachelor’s degree in fields such as graphic design, game design, animation, or 3D modeling. We encourage students with nontraditional backgrounds to apply.
More about the program and application process
To learn more about the program, and to apply, go to the website or email program head Jesper Juul, jjuul@kadk.dk
https://kadk.dk/en/programme/visual-game-and-media-design
Why study at KADK in Copenhagen?
KADK is a leading academy in Scandinavia in the fields of architecture, design and conservation. It is located centrally by the Copenhagen harbor.
Copenhagen is a hub for video game development, with a vibrant English-language game development community, and home to both small and large companies such as Sybo games, IO Interactive, Playdead and Unity3D.
KADK works closely with (and is situated next to) the National Film School of Denmark, and with the professional TV and Film community in Denmark.