Games and Culture recent issues

Introduction to the Games Learning & Society (GLS) Conference Special Issue

Steinkuehler, C. — 2008-06-19

Video Games and Embodiment

Gee, J. P. — 2008-06-19

In this article, the author discusses one way in which modern video games can illuminate the nature of human thinking and problem solving as situated and embodied. The author first discusses why, over the last several years, many people have become interested in video games as a site to study human thinking, problem solving, and learning. The author then discusses what he call the "projective stance," a type of embodied thinking characteristic of many (but not all) video games, as well as a form of thinking that is also, but more subtly, pervasive in everyday life and social interaction as well.

The Meaning of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

DeVane, B., Squire, K. D. — 2008-06-19

This research study investigates how youths actually play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and what meanings they make from it. This study finds that players use their own experiences and knowledge to interpret the game—they do not passively receive the games' images and content. The meanings they produce about controversial subjects are situated in players' local practices, identities, and discourse models as they interact with the game's semiotic domain. The results suggest that scholars need to study players in naturalistic settings if they want to see what "effects" games are having on players.

Fantasy Baseball: The Case for Competitive Fandom

Halverson, E. R., Halverson, R. — 2008-06-19

The authors propose the concept of competitive fandom to describe the learning, play, and engagement of fantasy sports. Competitive fandom draws together contemporary research on fan cultures and game design and game communities to describe the interaction present in fantasy sports. Fantasy sports games require a combination of fan culture practices and gamers' skills and habits of mind. Fandom becomes competitive when the knowledge acquired in the fan domain is transformed into strategic information to guide play in a new kind of game. This combination of frames helps describe the kinds of knowledge and motivation required to play fantasy sports and how such participation sparks further learning. Through analysis of individual game play within the context of the league community in which fantasy team owners play, the authors aim to understand what and how people learn from playing in competitive fandom settings and the implications of these findings for the design of learning environments.

Making Computer Games and Design Thinking: A Review of Current Software and Strategies

Hayes, E. R., Games, I. A. — 2008-06-19

This article provides an overview of computer software and instructional strategies intended to engage young people in making computer games, to achieve a variety of educational goals. It briefly describes the most popular of such programs and compares their key features, including the kinds of games that can be created with the software, the types of communities and resources that are associated with each program, claims made for learning outcomes resulting from use of the software, and the results of empirical research (if any) on the application and outcomes of the software in formal or informal educational settings. A key finding is that existing software and educational applications stress the goal of teaching users about computer programming and place little or no emphasis on teaching concepts related to game design. It concludes by discussing the potential value of explicit attention to "design thinking" as goal of game making in education.

Critical Ethical Reasoning and Role-Play

Simkins, D. W., Steinkuehler, C. — 2008-06-19

Role-playing games provide a particularly fruitful environment for the development of critical, ethical reasoning skills, a core component in developing a citizenry capable of fully participating in a cosmopolitan, democratic society. In this study, ethnographic interview participants recount particularly engaging ethical situations in their own game play. Through their responses, thematic trends develop that help us identify key elements in games that provide opportunities for the development of these crucial skills.

Well Played: Interpreting Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Davidson, D. — 2008-06-19

This article engages in an in-depth close reading of the game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time to parse out various meanings to be found in the experience of playing the game. The experience is approached from the perspective of its narrative development and its game design. This enables an analysis of the relationship between the game's story and its game play. Sequences in the game are analyzed in detail to illustrate and interpret how these various components of a game can come together to create a fulfilling playing experience unique to this medium.

Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men

DiSalvo, B. J., Crowley, K., Norwood, R. — 2008-03-28

The authors present an exploratory study of Black middle school boys who play digital games. The study was conducted through observations and interviews with Black American middle school boys about digital games as an informal learning experience. The first goal of the study is to understand the cultural context that Black students from economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods bring to playing digital games. The second goal of the study is to examine how this cultural context affects the learning opportunities with games. Third, the authors examine how differences in game play are potential factors in the discrepancy between White male gamers and Black male gamers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Finally, the authors address several opportunities within the field of informal learning to augment game play by bridging the learning that takes place within game play to the real world.

The Truth About Baby Boomer Gamers: A Study of Over-Forty Computer Game Players

Pearce, C. — 2008-03-28

This article describes a study conducted in the summer of 2006 aimed at exploring the play patterns and lifestyles of gamers who fall into the loose demographic of "Baby Boomers," typically defined as people born between 1946 and 1964. This independent study, including more than 300 participants, combined quantitative and qualitative techniques to paint a multifaceted picture of the gaming lifestyles and tastes of this understudied population. The study findings show that Baby Boomers comprise a vibrant video game audience, that they are devoted players, and that they have distinct needs and interests that have gone ignored by both the mainstream game industry and the game press. They also provide some detailed data about their play styles and gaming interests, the role of gaming in their larger media mix, as well as specific case studies that paint a nuanced portrait of this understudied and underserved audience.

Rounds, Levels, and Waves: The Early Evolution of Gameplay Segmentation

Zagal, J. P., Fernandez-Vara, C., Mateas, M. — 2008-03-28

This article explores the early evolution of the structure and management of gameplay in videogames. The authors introduce the notion of gameplay segmentation to capture the role that design elements such as level, boss, and wave play in videogames and identify three modes of segmentation. Temporal segmentation limits, synchronizes, and/or coordinates player activity over time. Spatial segmentation breaks the game's virtual space into sublocations. Challenge segmentation presents the player with a sequence of self-contained challenges. The authors describe each mode, and additional submodes, by analyzing vintage arcade games. The analyses illustrate how these games represent a "primordial soup" in which many current game design conventions were first explored. Their simplicity provides the authors with access to the original "building blocks" of videogames, thus allowing them to develop a rich vocabulary for the discussion.

Technological, Content, and Market Convergence in the Games Industry

Ip, B. — 2008-03-28

Convergence has been touted in recent years as the next big leap in the digital era. Having received considerable attention across a wide range of technologies, markets, and economies, there is comparatively little academic research on convergence in the computer and video games industry. This article investigates this issue by drawing attention to three salient areas of gaming convergence—technological, content, and market. A detailed examination is provided, drawing from a broad selection of literature and practical examples of gaming hardware and software to illustrate the prevalence of convergence in its various forms. The results provide a unique chronological overview of the impact of convergence on the previous and current generations of games and games platforms. The discussion focuses on the new demands placed on the creation of game technology and content, emerging market trends, and the ramifications as a result of the evolving nature of gaming convergence.

The Presence of Stigma Among Users of the MMORPG RMT: A Hypothetical Case Approach

Grundy, D. — 2008-03-28

In those massive multiplayer online role-play games in which the real money trade (RMT) is specifically prohibited by the end user license agreement and terms of service, researchers should be aware of the impact of their work into potentially sensitive topic areas. If these users of the RMT secondary market feel they are a stigmatized community, this will potentially directly affect access to data, data integrity, data bias, and the ability to disclose and disseminate back to the research community. A hypothetical qualitative case study approach is applied using three separate research elements to aid in the understanding of why prospective research candidates could potentially feel stigmatized.

Erratum

2008-03-28

Guest Editor's Introduction

Hjorth, L. — 2007-12-11

Convergence, Connectivity, and the Case of Japanese Mobile Gaming

Chan, D. — 2007-12-11

The specificities of Japanese mobile telephony are giving rise to new cultural economies of games production and engendering new paradigms of gameplay. These topical developments have considerable technosocial bearing and consequence. The tension between the virtual and the actual resides at the heart of topical debates about the modalities of co-presence in mobile telephony. The potential loss of anonymity in location-based mobile gaming and the increasing awareness that mobile games are mostly played at home add considerable complexity to the already-blurred boundaries of physical and virtual co-presence. The micronarratives of such newly configured and articulated social tropes arguably need to be incorporated into macroperspectives on convergence culture if only to invest the latter with additional levels of nuance and complexity. Japanese mobile gaming therefore has strategic utility in this article as a situated context for analyzing the localized cultural politics of convergence and connectivity in mobile telephony.

Culture and Business of PC Bangs in Korea

Huhh, J.-S. — 2007-12-11

In this article, the culture and business of PC bangs in Korea are explored. Once just a convenient spot for high-speed connection, the PC bang has become a space for nurturing online gaming cultures. This article addresses two central characteristics of PC bang that have ensured its success. First, the paper explores the social and cultural dimensions of the PC bang as a space that nurtures the negotiation of offline and online relationships around online gaming cultures in Korea. Second, the paper discusses the role PC bangs play in the emergence of online games as a dominant game genre for Korean players. On the business side, a specialized pricing policy for PC bangs has made a vibrant business environment both for game publishers and PC bangs. Recent introduction of a micropayment business model, however, could be read as the demise of game publishers and PC bangs' synergies.

Age of New Media Empires: A Critical Interpretation of the Korean Online Game Industry

Dal Yong Jin, , Chee, F. — 2007-12-11

In this article, the authors attempt to ascertain the factors involved in the swift growth of online games in the context of broader sociocultural elements. Through political economy and ethnographic analysis, they show that online games, like other forms of technology, are sociocultural products that have been historically constituted by certain forms of knowledge and social practice. First, they map out the forces driving their development by examining government policies and competition among online games companies in Korea. They then explore capital flow to investigate the major players in the market. Finally, they explore the sociocultural elements contributing to the diffusion of online games in the cultural milieu specific to Korea.

"Just Like the Qing Empire": Internet Addiction, MMOGs, and Moral Crisis in Contemporary China

Golub, A., Lingley, K. — 2007-12-11

This article examines discourse about Internet addiction and video—game—related suicide in the People's Republic of China. Through an analysis of media reportage, interview transcripts, and chat rooms, a preliminary account of the origins of contemporary Chinese concerns with Internet addiction is provided. This approach differs from biomedical models, which see Internet suicide as a form of mental illness, similar to drug or gambling addiction. This approach draws on anthropological and sociological models of the cultural construction of social problems and argues that concerns with Internet addiction are part of a more general moral crisis faced by Chinese, in response to rapid consumerism, the medicalization of mental illness, and new forms of public and publicity.

Relating Online: Managing Dialectical Contradictions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Relationships

Nan Li, , Jackson, M. H., Trees, A. R. — 2007-12-11

The theory of dialectical contradictions (L. A. Baxter & B. M. Montgomery, 1996) is used to examine relationships developed in a Chinese online role-playing game, Legend of Mir. Analysis of discourse on a Web-based Legend-theme bulletin board system and a series of online articles identified oppositional tensions in discussion about relationships. Seven contradictions representing three basic thematic families—integration—separation, expression—nonexpression, and stability—change—were identified. Four contradictions signified internal tensions between relational partners, and the rest addressed a relationship's connection with others. Players coped with these contradictions in various ways, drawing on game infrastructure and elements of offline life.

Enmeshed in Games with the Government: Governmental Policies and the Development of the Chinese Online Game Industry

Ernkvist, M., Strom, P. — 2007-12-11

The policies and regulations of governments affect the online game industry in a variety of ways, especially in countries with extensive state involvement and a low degree of transparency in the economy. This article examines the influence of governmental policies on the development and operation of online games in China. The stance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) toward online games has been influenced by three aspects of state policy: (a) information control, (b) technonationalism, and (c) social fears/pragmatic nationalism. CCP's specific policies toward the online game industry were put forward by CCP ministries and the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) as a response to the economic potential and increasing influence of the rapidly growing online game industry in China. The interaction of these different policy fields has had complementary and contradictory elements shaping their implementation.

Performing the Self: Subverting the Binary in Combat Games

Hutchinson, R. — 2007-12-05

This article analyzes the quick-response binary combat game genre, suggesting that so-called "finger-twitch" games, often maligned by academics, are both complex and significant for cultural studies. While the game structure of binary combat is most often seen in terms of simple entertainment, lacking narrative power and encouraging an apathetic and passive attitude to violence, the author argues that games such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Soul Calibur are complex in terms of their construction of stereotyped identity and in the binary structure of combative play. Further, the significance of the genre lies in the performative aspects of gameplay, which problematize accepted models of identification and immersion. Once the player is introduced into the superficial binary structure of combat, then that player's choice and agency become the primary factors in gameplay, ultimately creating space for the inversion of stereotype, the subversion of gender roles and the possible transcendence of the binary system.

Of Mods and Modders: Chasing Down the Value of Fan-Based Digital Game Modifications

Postigo, H. — 2007-12-05

This article is concerned with the role that fan-programmers (generally known as "modders") play in the success of the PC digital game industry. The fan culture for digital games is deeply embedded in shared practices and experiences among fan communities, and their active consumption contributes economically and culturally to broader society. Using a survey of the most commercially successful PC games in the first-person shooter category from 2002 until 2004, this article answers a series of questions concerning fan-programmer produced content: (a) What is the value of the fan produced game add-ons in terms of labor costs? (b) What motivates fans to make add-ons for their favorite games? and (c) How does the fan-programmer phenomenon in PC gaming fit into broader trends in the high-tech economy?

The Digital Dollhouse: Context and Social Norms in The Sims Online

Martey, R. M., Stromer-Galley, J. — 2007-12-05

This article investigates the relationships between norms and the rich visual environment of the multiplayer game The Sims Online (TSO). Literature suggests that people exhibit normative behavior in online environments. The complex actions and interactions possible with the game's avatars and a minimal game structure make TSO an evocative online space in which to examine social interaction. Through participation and observation, we examined conversation and avatar conduct in TSO and found norms for verbal and nonverbal behavior that governed both text and avatar use. These norms are related to offline expectations of politeness and etiquette associated with visiting and hosting in people's homes, and they correspond with the visual dollhouse-like environment of TSO and its characters. This game is a special context where social norms are clear and powerful, affecting not only players' game play but also their social interaction.

Toward a (Kin)Aesthetic of Video Gaming: The Case of Dance Dance Revolution

Behrenshausen, B. G. — 2007-12-05

Against the hegemony of ocularcentrism currently pervading video game theory, the author situates the practice of video gaming for further inquiry by performance studies to account for it as a wholly embodied phenomenon. Personal narratives of players engaging in performances of the game Dance Dance Revolution indicate the necessity of accounting for both the intersubjective and interobjective elements of video game play. The performativity of video gaming insists on a consideration of its material and discursive dimensions that not only refuses to metonymically reduce the gamer's body to a pair of eyes but also complicates popular dualistic understandings of the player—game relationship.

What if Baudrillard was a Gamer?: Introduction to a Special Section on Baudrillard and Game Studies

Simon, B. — 2007-12-05

Jean Baudrillard and the Definitive Ambivalence of Gaming

Coulter, G. — 2007-12-05

Baudrillard's "game" was writing and in it, he had interesting things to say about games. This article explores his thought concerning our passion for games and the experimental role gamers perform in our culture. It concludes that Baudrillard was ambivalent about gaming despite the fact that he saw it as a central aspect of the obsession of our age—the lack of distinction between the real and the virtual.

Fighting Hyperreality With Hyperreality: History and Death in World War II Digital Games

Kingsepp, E. — 2007-12-05

To describe the virtual worlds of digital games as hyperreal and simulacra has become almost a cliché. The perfect copy without an original, complete and even flowing over with signs adding to its real appearance but simultaneously disguising a basic loss of referentials—many of the games can be looked on as substitutes for the real world (if there is such a thing). In this article, I use World War II digital games as examples of hyperrealities, using some of Baudrillard's thoughts on hyperreality and simulacra, on our relation to history and on what he considers to be a fundamental longing for reality that has been lost to us in (post)modern Western society.

Radical Illusion (A Game Against)

Galloway, A. R. — 2007-12-05

There are two voices in the work of Jean Baudrillard, the early voice, which lasted less than 10 years, and the mature voice, which lasted about 30. The first voice is younger and more conventionally leftist. It was fully embedded in the intellectual debates of the late 1960s. A committed Marxist, the younger Baudrillard wrote on labor and needs, use-value and production. But after this period as a young man, Baudrillard transitioned into a very different thinker in the middle to late 1970s. He developed a whole new theoretical vocabulary that was completely in tune with that decade's historical transformation into digitization, postindustrial economies, immaterial labor, mediation, and simulation. His theories of play and games are at the very heart of this transformation. Through a close reading of several texts, this essay explores Baudrillard's interest in play and games through the concepts of seduction, the fatal strategy, illusion, and what he called the "principle of separation."

A 'Pataphysics Engine: Technology, Play, and Realities

Giddings, S. — 2007-12-05

This article plays a game with Jean Baudrillard's thought and the intellectual traditions on which it draws. Or rather, it plays Baudrillard's game but with a cheat code. The game or program here is the hyperreality of the contemporary world—Baudrillard's integral or virtual reality characterized by the dominance of things—of objects over subjects. The cheat code identifies and accentuates the development, application, and interconnection of theories of play, waste, technology, and multiple realities in aspects of 20th-century French avant-garde and social scientific thought and practice. It suggests ways in which everyday technoculture, not least videogame culture, can be addressed as at once playful and simulacral.

Remembering (Forgetting) Baudrillard

Crogan, P. — 2007-12-05

Baudrillard, the "most famous theorist of simulation," exists on the margins of the emerging field of computer game studies where he most often appears as a perfunctory reference to "postmodern" theory that the emerging discourse supercedes in its passage to specificity. By turns strange and symptomatic, the relegation of his thought to marginality where it could have been considered as central enables the unfolding of orthodox positions in game studies of both instrumental and conventionally critical hue. This article remembers the profound challenge to conceptual work in the era of computer simulation that Baudrillard posed in his writings, a challenge perhaps too quickly forgotten in the model-building race of games studies' early years.