Pub Date : 2024-06-13DOI: 10.1177/15554120241261513
Jan Gonzalo-Iglesia
Combining a historical perspective and game studies and using information from the BoardGameGeek online database, we analyze how board wargames simulate the Indian wars and represent Native North Americans. Based on 125 games published between 1960 and 2023, first, we identified the main historical moments reproduced, followed by an iconographic and formal analysis of these games. The conclusions reveal that, like other cultural products (novels, films, or video games), the focus is on the mythical founding moments of the history of the United States, mainly the late 19th-century war on the prairies and conflicts between European powers to gain control of the continent. Despite everything, it is observed that board wargames do not avoid traumatic themes such as raids on settlements and that in recent years there have been dynamics that offer new themes and perspectives dealing with the subject.
{"title":"Analog Simulation and the Indian Wars: Encountering the Other Through Board Wargames","authors":"Jan Gonzalo-Iglesia","doi":"10.1177/15554120241261513","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241261513","url":null,"abstract":"Combining a historical perspective and game studies and using information from the BoardGameGeek online database, we analyze how board wargames simulate the Indian wars and represent Native North Americans. Based on 125 games published between 1960 and 2023, first, we identified the main historical moments reproduced, followed by an iconographic and formal analysis of these games. The conclusions reveal that, like other cultural products (novels, films, or video games), the focus is on the mythical founding moments of the history of the United States, mainly the late 19th-century war on the prairies and conflicts between European powers to gain control of the continent. Despite everything, it is observed that board wargames do not avoid traumatic themes such as raids on settlements and that in recent years there have been dynamics that offer new themes and perspectives dealing with the subject.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141345991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-04DOI: 10.1177/15554120241257007
Filip Jankowski
The auteur theory, when applied to collaborative pieces like digital games, has faced criticism. This article aims to explore the feasibility of reviving the auteur theory by illustrating the work of screenwriter Meg Jayanth as a case study. Assuming that symbolic authorship can be identified through recurrent themes, distinctive game mechanics, and recognizable authorial signatures, Jayanth can be considered an auteur, despite frequently performing supportive roles for more prominent designers and directors. Jayanth's contributions, classified per Deleuze and Guattari as minor literature, encompass critiques of colonialism, advocacies for environmental consciousness, distinctive game mechanics associated with her name, and cameos. The article advocates for the revitalization of auteur theory studies to facilitate progressive dialogues on individuals whose contributions have been overshadowed in the discourse surrounding digital games.
{"title":"Auteur Theory and Minor Literature: Meg Jayanth as a Game Auteur","authors":"Filip Jankowski","doi":"10.1177/15554120241257007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241257007","url":null,"abstract":"The auteur theory, when applied to collaborative pieces like digital games, has faced criticism. This article aims to explore the feasibility of reviving the auteur theory by illustrating the work of screenwriter Meg Jayanth as a case study. Assuming that symbolic authorship can be identified through recurrent themes, distinctive game mechanics, and recognizable authorial signatures, Jayanth can be considered an auteur, despite frequently performing supportive roles for more prominent designers and directors. Jayanth's contributions, classified per Deleuze and Guattari as minor literature, encompass critiques of colonialism, advocacies for environmental consciousness, distinctive game mechanics associated with her name, and cameos. The article advocates for the revitalization of auteur theory studies to facilitate progressive dialogues on individuals whose contributions have been overshadowed in the discourse surrounding digital games.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141387072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-24DOI: 10.1177/15554120241257030
José Gamir-Ríos, Lorena Cano-Orón, David García-Casas
Twitch is one of the leading platforms for live streaming audiovisual content, with a broad audience among the Gen Z population. Its growth in recent years has solidified a large Spanish-speaking streamer community that goes beyond gaming or eSports. The objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the activity of the most popular Spanish-language channels on Twitch, the demographic profiles of their streamers, and their trajectories in content creation. Additionally, we study the production, formats, advertising funding, and the relationship with followers during broadcasts categorized as In Real Life. We apply a quantitative analysis to 250 channels and a content analysis to 84 h of video. The results show that streamers, mostly millennial men who migrated from other communicative fields, have diversified the content and genres of their streams while professionalizing their production and monetizing their activity by establishing a close relationship with the audience.
{"title":"Twitch's Second Phase of Development: Analyzing Streamer Profiles and Content Trends That Boost Its Evolution into a Mass Media","authors":"José Gamir-Ríos, Lorena Cano-Orón, David García-Casas","doi":"10.1177/15554120241257030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241257030","url":null,"abstract":"Twitch is one of the leading platforms for live streaming audiovisual content, with a broad audience among the Gen Z population. Its growth in recent years has solidified a large Spanish-speaking streamer community that goes beyond gaming or eSports. The objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the activity of the most popular Spanish-language channels on Twitch, the demographic profiles of their streamers, and their trajectories in content creation. Additionally, we study the production, formats, advertising funding, and the relationship with followers during broadcasts categorized as In Real Life. We apply a quantitative analysis to 250 channels and a content analysis to 84 h of video. The results show that streamers, mostly millennial men who migrated from other communicative fields, have diversified the content and genres of their streams while professionalizing their production and monetizing their activity by establishing a close relationship with the audience.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141100854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-22DOI: 10.1177/15554120241254876
Garry Crawford, Tom Brock
The concept of “fun” is widely used within the game design and game studies literature, and is frequently highlighted as a key component of good game design, as well as a key factor in why people play games. However, it is a term rarely unpacked, and fun in video games remains relatively underresearched, certainly in comparison to other associated terms such as “play.” This article therefore provides a much-needed sociological exploration of a term at the center of games design and studies, and moreover, argues, that doing so allows us to explore a range of important and related topics, such as the changing relationship between work and leisure and the blurring of fun and no-fun boundaries, as well as enabling us to delineate between often interchangeably used terms, such as happiness, enjoyment, and pleasure.
{"title":"Just Fun and Games? A Sociological Consideration of Fun in Video Games","authors":"Garry Crawford, Tom Brock","doi":"10.1177/15554120241254876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241254876","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of “fun” is widely used within the game design and game studies literature, and is frequently highlighted as a key component of good game design, as well as a key factor in why people play games. However, it is a term rarely unpacked, and fun in video games remains relatively underresearched, certainly in comparison to other associated terms such as “play.” This article therefore provides a much-needed sociological exploration of a term at the center of games design and studies, and moreover, argues, that doing so allows us to explore a range of important and related topics, such as the changing relationship between work and leisure and the blurring of fun and no-fun boundaries, as well as enabling us to delineate between often interchangeably used terms, such as happiness, enjoyment, and pleasure.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141111805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-20DOI: 10.1177/15554120241255425
Ahmed Al-Rawi
This article critically explores the historical representation of the Middle East in video games until 2002 and following the 9/11 event. Using thematic analysis, we identify four main themes and discuss how this representation shifts with time, offering a brief overview of the broader context. I argue that there is a clear association between political developments and this western representation, for we can clearly observe changes from the romantic, exotic, and orientalist views of the region and Arab and Muslim figure shown within the realms of the Arabian Nights theme to a more militant figure and dangerous place due to featuring armed conflict in the Middle East such as the first Gulf War. Though not included in the discussion, 9/11 introduced a more negative and Islamophobic representation that is associated with Islamist terrorism, and it marks the latest development in these themes.
{"title":"The Development of Video Game Representations of the Middle East","authors":"Ahmed Al-Rawi","doi":"10.1177/15554120241255425","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241255425","url":null,"abstract":"This article critically explores the historical representation of the Middle East in video games until 2002 and following the 9/11 event. Using thematic analysis, we identify four main themes and discuss how this representation shifts with time, offering a brief overview of the broader context. I argue that there is a clear association between political developments and this western representation, for we can clearly observe changes from the romantic, exotic, and orientalist views of the region and Arab and Muslim figure shown within the realms of the Arabian Nights theme to a more militant figure and dangerous place due to featuring armed conflict in the Middle East such as the first Gulf War. Though not included in the discussion, 9/11 introduced a more negative and Islamophobic representation that is associated with Islamist terrorism, and it marks the latest development in these themes.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141120690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1177/15554120241248487
Marcello Passarelli, Michele Masini, Tommaso Francesco Piccinno, Alessandro Rizzi
Board games provide immersive and enjoyable experiences for players, but they can also pose usability challenges. This article presents a comprehensive framework for analyzing board game design, focusing on identifying the elements that make play inadvertently difficult or fatiguing. The proposed framework analyses board games as a user interface between the players and the board game mechanics, thereby focusing on the presentation aspects without altering the underlying rules. The intent is to preserve the deliberate design challenges that enhance gameplay while pinpointing the elements that affect the game experience negatively. We employ a methodology that begins with the observation of players’ behavioral cues to infer internal states such as cognitive or visual fatigue. These inferred states serve as a basis to identify problematic features in the game components or presentation. We illustrate the framework through a series of case studies, providing practical examples of the analysis process through an idiographic approach.
{"title":"Don't Flip the Table Yet: A Framework for the Analysis of Visual and Cognitive Ergonomics in Board Games","authors":"Marcello Passarelli, Michele Masini, Tommaso Francesco Piccinno, Alessandro Rizzi","doi":"10.1177/15554120241248487","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241248487","url":null,"abstract":"Board games provide immersive and enjoyable experiences for players, but they can also pose usability challenges. This article presents a comprehensive framework for analyzing board game design, focusing on identifying the elements that make play inadvertently difficult or fatiguing. The proposed framework analyses board games as a user interface between the players and the board game mechanics, thereby focusing on the presentation aspects without altering the underlying rules. The intent is to preserve the deliberate design challenges that enhance gameplay while pinpointing the elements that affect the game experience negatively. We employ a methodology that begins with the observation of players’ behavioral cues to infer internal states such as cognitive or visual fatigue. These inferred states serve as a basis to identify problematic features in the game components or presentation. We illustrate the framework through a series of case studies, providing practical examples of the analysis process through an idiographic approach.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140837408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1177/15554120241251523
William Helmke
With increasing focus on global markets for media, video game localization continues to be an essential process for the industry. However, video game localization only sometimes effectively handles the unique cultural elements of video games. In some cases, these localizations intentionally erase such elements to make the game more marketable or remove controversial content in an American cultural context. This article explores the localization of Megami Ibunroku Persona (retitled Revelations: Persona for its U.S. release) and considers how its localization changed various elements to convert the setting from a Japanese city to a U.S. one. Using a Neoformalism-inspired approach to game studies, I analyze playthroughs of both the original Japanese version and the U.S. localization, noting how changes erased cultural uniqueness in the original. Then, from the standpoint of cultural imperialism, I discuss how localization can function as a defense mechanism for limiting the cultural impact of imported media.
{"title":"Cultural Imperialism and Video Game Localization: A Case Study of Revelations: Persona","authors":"William Helmke","doi":"10.1177/15554120241251523","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241251523","url":null,"abstract":"With increasing focus on global markets for media, video game localization continues to be an essential process for the industry. However, video game localization only sometimes effectively handles the unique cultural elements of video games. In some cases, these localizations intentionally erase such elements to make the game more marketable or remove controversial content in an American cultural context. This article explores the localization of Megami Ibunroku Persona (retitled Revelations: Persona for its U.S. release) and considers how its localization changed various elements to convert the setting from a Japanese city to a U.S. one. Using a Neoformalism-inspired approach to game studies, I analyze playthroughs of both the original Japanese version and the U.S. localization, noting how changes erased cultural uniqueness in the original. Then, from the standpoint of cultural imperialism, I discuss how localization can function as a defense mechanism for limiting the cultural impact of imported media.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140837061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-15DOI: 10.1177/15554120241246840
Xinyang Zhao
This article delves into why audiences perceive virtual reality (VR) art as a game-like experience and how it impacts audiences’ reception of culture by examining two VR art pieces and their respective audience responses in focus group discussions. Through qualitative analysis, two factors are identified: the cognitive association of VR with gaming due to audiences’ preconceptions about VR, and the immersive environment of VR creating the “magic circle” that fosters the sense of play. The study argues that the intersection of VR and art generates the affordance allowing audiences to “play” with culture. However, the “not-serious” feature of play in VR may work against the norms and mores of a specific culture in the real world, especially when it relates to religious or ethnic culture. This article sheds light on the implications of the game-like experience in VR for creating VR applications beyond gaming, particularly in art and cultural heritage.
{"title":"The Game-Like Experience of Virtual Reality Art: Sensational Players and Critical Audiences","authors":"Xinyang Zhao","doi":"10.1177/15554120241246840","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241246840","url":null,"abstract":"This article delves into why audiences perceive virtual reality (VR) art as a game-like experience and how it impacts audiences’ reception of culture by examining two VR art pieces and their respective audience responses in focus group discussions. Through qualitative analysis, two factors are identified: the cognitive association of VR with gaming due to audiences’ preconceptions about VR, and the immersive environment of VR creating the “magic circle” that fosters the sense of play. The study argues that the intersection of VR and art generates the affordance allowing audiences to “play” with culture. However, the “not-serious” feature of play in VR may work against the norms and mores of a specific culture in the real world, especially when it relates to religious or ethnic culture. This article sheds light on the implications of the game-like experience in VR for creating VR applications beyond gaming, particularly in art and cultural heritage.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140593620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-13DOI: 10.1177/15554120241242332
Corey T. McKechnie-Martin, Andrew Cunningham, James Baumeister, G. Stewart Von Itzstein
Video games have become a significant component of popular culture, with the reasons why players pursue particular gaming experiences being a heavily explored topic within games research. Player motivations toward games have seen classification in many motivation models, resulting in diverse outcomes covering a variety of scopes within games media. We performed a meta-ethnography to explore the findings of this diverse topic and provide a comprehensive overview of the existing body of knowledge, resulting in our synthesized 28 Dimensions of Play. Through the definition of these Dimensions, we are able to observe the gaps present in explored sources and propose a more complete model of player motivations.
{"title":"A Meta-Ethnography of Player Motivation in Digital Games: The 28 Dimensions of Play","authors":"Corey T. McKechnie-Martin, Andrew Cunningham, James Baumeister, G. Stewart Von Itzstein","doi":"10.1177/15554120241242332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241242332","url":null,"abstract":"Video games have become a significant component of popular culture, with the reasons why players pursue particular gaming experiences being a heavily explored topic within games research. Player motivations toward games have seen classification in many motivation models, resulting in diverse outcomes covering a variety of scopes within games media. We performed a meta-ethnography to explore the findings of this diverse topic and provide a comprehensive overview of the existing body of knowledge, resulting in our synthesized 28 Dimensions of Play. Through the definition of these Dimensions, we are able to observe the gaps present in explored sources and propose a more complete model of player motivations.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140593537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-11DOI: 10.1177/15554120241246839
Paul Atkinson, Farzad Parsayi
The art museum or gallery is not a neutral space for housing works. As much as it accepts new types of media, they have to adapt to suit the context of viewing and the conventions of an art-historical discourse. This type of institutionalized aesthetic underpins the evaluation of art objects and even imposes a definition on what art is. Working critically through this discourse, this article examines the limitations of art museums and galleries in presenting, evaluating, or addressing the ludological and temporal aspects of video games. First, it outlines how assumptions pertaining to the visual arts carry over into the selection of games as well as their placement within exhibitions. Second, it examines how this discourse, which is invested in the architecture and structure of the art museum, also privileges a particular regime of spectatorship based on shared viewing, the autonomy of art, and aesthetic contemplation.
{"title":"Institutionalized Aesthetics: Video Games and the Contemporary Art Gallery","authors":"Paul Atkinson, Farzad Parsayi","doi":"10.1177/15554120241246839","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241246839","url":null,"abstract":"The art museum or gallery is not a neutral space for housing works. As much as it accepts new types of media, they have to adapt to suit the context of viewing and the conventions of an art-historical discourse. This type of institutionalized aesthetic underpins the evaluation of art objects and even imposes a definition on what art is. Working critically through this discourse, this article examines the limitations of art museums and galleries in presenting, evaluating, or addressing the ludological and temporal aspects of video games. First, it outlines how assumptions pertaining to the visual arts carry over into the selection of games as well as their placement within exhibitions. Second, it examines how this discourse, which is invested in the architecture and structure of the art museum, also privileges a particular regime of spectatorship based on shared viewing, the autonomy of art, and aesthetic contemplation.","PeriodicalId":12634,"journal":{"name":"Games and Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140603232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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