2024-03-29T15:55:20Z
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/oai
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/2
2016-07-19T19:42:05Z
press-start:ART
"141121 2014 eng "
2055-8198
dc
An Analysis of Open World PvP in LOTRO's PvMP as a Case Study for PvP Games
Weimin, Toh
National University of Singapore
This article focuses on the analysis of emergent gameplay, based on a case study of the author's subjective gameplay experience of Player versus Monster Player (PvMP) in The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO). The argument presented here is that although there is a core system of Player versus Player (PvP) which LOTRO shares with other online games, each type of online game has a specific kind of PvP system which attracts players to engage in the gameplay. For instance, the open world sandbox type of PvP attracts certain players to play in LOTRO's PvMP. One of the main aims of this study is thus to investigate some of the core systems of PvP gameplay in open world sandbox PvP. In this article, LOTRO is shown to offer unique opportunities for studying emergent gameplay in open world games, with particular relevance to PvP studies. Two of the core systems of PvP discussed include the design of the simple gameplay rules to support emergent gameplay, and the community's attitudes towards player's behaviours. The types of emergent gameplay discussed include free play versus negotiated fair play, the players' utilisation of strategies in open world PvP to support collaborative and competitive gameplay, and the changing dynamics of open ended gameplay. It is hoped that the analysis provided in this article would form the basis of future work on a more general framework for understanding PvP in other online games.
Press Start
2014-11-21 08:36:10
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/2
Press Start; Vol 1 No 1 (2014)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/4
2016-07-19T19:42:05Z
press-start:ART
"141121 2014 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Compassionate Play in The Ludic Century
Dyer, James
http://jamesdyer.co.uk
In 2013 game designer Eric Zimmerman wrote a provocative manifesto entitled ‘Manifesto for a Ludic Century’ (2013a), in which Zimmerman declares the 21st Century’s dominant cultural form to be games. Consequently, Zimmerman proposes that the individual occupant of the century is therefore in a continuous state of game engagement. As such, this re-contextualisation of game space and play, indefinitely articulates the individual as a constant player and character, and thusly challenges the notions of selfhood. Importantly it should be noted, the state of a ludic century is explicitly assumed as a truth, however superficial it may appear. Accordingly, this paper is then afforded to be an extended hypothesis of the proposed ludic century, rather than a critical dissection and response to Zimmerman’s manifesto. This enables a hermeneutic framing of the questions: ‘What does it mean to live in a ludic century?’and ‘in what capacity may the self exist in the ludic century?’ These questions will attempt to distinguish play as an inherent cultural logic that extends beyond the limitations of explicit ‘gamification’ or instrumental play (Stenros et al., 2009; Zichermann, 2010). Concluding, it is claimed that the ludic century elicits a sustained delusion of self, as the player is confined to the designed game structure, which inhibits authentic engagement and interaction with environment and self. It is proposed that this evokes a form of suffering, the compassionate play within the ludic century.
Press Start
2014-11-21 08:36:10
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/4
Press Start; Vol 1 No 1 (2014)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/6
2016-07-19T19:42:18Z
press-start:ART
"150617 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Insight: Exploring Hidden Roles in Collaborative Play
Shi, Tricia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Game Lab
Tambasco, Bruno
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Game Lab
This paper looks into interaction modes between players in co-located, collaborative games. In particular, hidden traitor games, in which one or more players is secretly working against the group mission, has the effect of increasing paranoia and distrust between players, so this paper looks into the opposite of a hidden traitor – a hidden benefactor. Rather than sabotaging the group mission, the hidden benefactor would help the group achieve the end goal while still having a reason to stay hidden. The paper explores what games with such a role can look like and how the role changes player interactions. Finally, the paper addresses the divide between video game and board game interaction modes; hidden roles are not common within video games, but they are of growing prevalence in board games. This fact, combined with the exploration of hidden benefactors, reveals that hidden roles is a mechanic that video games should develop into in order to match board games’ complexity of player interaction modes.
Press Start
2015-12-10 15:16:16
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/6
Press Start; Vol 2 No 2 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/8
2016-07-19T19:42:05Z
press-start:ART
"141121 2014 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Brechtian Alienation in Videogames
Dunne, Daniel Joseph
Swinburne University of Technology http://waryludo.blogspot.com
Immersion is constantly being broken in video games via the intrusion of mechanics and features that cause no end of distraction, breaking the player’s engagement in both the game’s narrative and in the gameplay. Yet these breaks are an integral part of games, whether through loading, saving or any other mechanical system that detracts from the playing the core game. These aren’t analysed as thoroughly as they could be in current game academia. However Bertolt Brecht’s “Verfremdungseffekt”, or distancing effect, provides a much needed foundation in the analysis of these sections within games that provoke a feeling of alienation.
Press Start
2014-11-21 08:36:10
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/8
Press Start; Vol 1 No 1 (2014)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/10
2016-07-19T19:42:05Z
press-start:ART
"141121 2014 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Precarious Play: To Be or Not to Be Stanley
de Wildt, Lars A.W.J.
Leiden University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6901-6903
Modern game scholarship in the past two decades has known two dominant, yet paradoxical, tendencies in theorizing the subject of play: an interpellationary account and a deconstructivist one. Going from Miguel Sicart's concept of the ethical player as an initial compromise between the two, this article argues for an ideological subject of play that is a split subject. While a 'playing subject', as a phenomenologically present Foucaultian subject constructed by the governing structure of rules, we must recognize the parallel subjectivity of the fixed 'played subject', inherent to – and narrativized by – the game as an avatar, visual narrator or sheer content. In this constellation, the player shows to have a merely precarious position over the played, ready to lose control at the whim of the game.
Press Start
2014-11-21 08:36:10
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/10
Press Start; Vol 1 No 1 (2014)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/13
2016-07-19T19:42:05Z
press-start:ART
"141121 2014 eng "
2055-8198
dc
From Team Play to Squad Play: The Militarisation of Interactions in Multiplayer FPS Video Games
Duell, Adam
Keele University
Since the onset of E-sports we have seen the development from casual players to professional players who push the boundary of game mastery to new heights via coordinated team play. In this short paper I explore how a group of video game players adopt military-style communication methods and strategies to coordinate their actions in the popular tactical First Person Shooter (FPS) video game DayZ (Bohemia Interactive, 2014). Utilising the key components of team interaction in the context of distributed and ad-hoc military teams (Pascual et al., 1997), I show how a group of players evolved their interactions from team play to squad play. I argue that squad play is an advancement of the strategic and tactical thinking embodied in team play through the adoption of real-world military interaction and communication strategies.
Press Start
2014-11-21 08:36:10
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/13
Press Start; Vol 1 No 1 (2014)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/15
2016-07-19T19:42:05Z
press-start:ED
"141121 2014 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial
Barr, Matthew
University of Glasgow http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5147-0673
Right now, video games are being discussed, dissected and developed by students from a huge range of disciplines. With some notable exceptions, the overwhelming majority of higher education institutions lack a dedicated game studies department. As evidenced by the continued success of respected institutions such as DiGRA and ground-breaking publications such as Game Studies, however, our discipline is thriving. It just happens to be thriving in some unlikely places.
Press Start
2014-11-21 08:36:10
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/15
Press Start; Vol 1 No 1 (2014)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/18
2016-07-19T19:42:09Z
press-start:ART
"150605 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Parasocial and Social Player-Avatar Relationships: Social Others in Thomas Was Alone
Loyer, Elizabeth
University of South Florida
The nature of the relationship between the player and a video game avatar has been the cause of much academic discussion and debate. While in the past most studies focused on parasocial relationships, the new Banks-Bowman social categorization system provides a beneficial and enlightening new framework with which to examine how the player relates to the avatar. The interactive mediums through which players relate with playable characters separate such relationships from those created with film or literary protagonists. This interactivity allows for social player-avatar relationships, including the avatar-as-social-other relationship exemplified in the game Thomas Was Alone, and creates new possibilities important for game designers to consider. This article first briefly explores the academic discussions surrounding the player-avatar relationship in light of the new Banks-Bowman categories, then turns attention to the ways in which the avatar-as-social-other relationship and its corresponding emotionally intense gameplay are exemplified in the game Thomas Was Alone.
Press Start
2015-06-11 13:47:15
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/18
Press Start; Vol 2 No 1 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/19
2016-07-19T19:42:18Z
press-start:ART
"151209 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Games-Based Learning as an Interdisciplinary Approach to Literacy across Curriculum for Excellence
O'Donnell, Hugh
University of Edinburgh http://bluetanso.wordpress.com
Literacy remains an area of concern in early secondary education in Scotland (ages 12-14), with recent research suggesting a continued decline in attainment levels. As literacy underpins learning, interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to teaching literacy are now being emphasized through the new Curriculum for Excellence that aims to address this issue. It is not clear, however, what types of learning activity are most appropriate for implementing this new, more cooperative approach. One candidate is the use of educational games and reflective writing. So, to what extent do learners demonstrate transferable literacy skills through engaging with educational games? This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the multi-user simulation game, Mars Colony Challenger (MCC), which portrays a scientifically accurate Mars colonisation mission in a way that aims to facilitate both scientific and literary development. A class of secondary school pupils (n=28) used the game within the context of a science class on ‘The Three States of Matter’. They then produced written narratives that captured the experiential learning undertaken. Comparing these narratives with the remaining pupils in the cohort, who had not used MCC in their science class, revealed a statistically significant difference in literacy ability. Further qualitative analysis of the narratives themselves highlighted a high level of engagement and inspiration evoked through the experience. Consequently, these results highlight the efficacy of MCC as a means of literacy development, and they suggest a means to elicit greater frequency of opportunity for pupil engagement with, and subsequent assessment of, literacy competencies.
Press Start
2015-12-10 15:16:16
application/pdf
application/zip
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/19
Press Start; Vol 2 No 2 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/20
2016-07-19T19:42:09Z
press-start:ART
"150611 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Would You Kindly Consider the Consequences?
Walker, Yvette Ann
University of Southern California, Gould School of Law
This article seeks to introduce the application of laws to the plot lines of videogames as a source of legal scholarship and reflexive social critique through an analysis of the legal liability for the killing of Big Daddies in Bioshock.
Press Start
2015-06-11 13:47:15
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/20
Press Start; Vol 2 No 1 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/22
2016-07-19T19:42:09Z
press-start:ART
"150605 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
One Simulated Hand, Two Real Hands: Antisimulation and Phenomenological Correspondence in Videogame Control Schemes
Garvin, Joseph
University of Bristol http://gameintellectual.tumblr.com
This paper sets out a framework for understanding the control schemes of computer games in terms of ‘phenomenological correspondence’. The complexity of the simulated action corresponds with the complexity of the player’s action on the controls. With this, the traditional or popular view of controls as either ‘simulator’ or ‘arcade’ controls makes sense as different forms, either ‘completionist’ or ‘reductionist’, of correspondence. As well, a third kind of control scheme can be made sense of, the ‘antisimulation’ seen in games like QWOP. These controls involve an ‘excessive’ phenomenological correspondence, where one simulated hand requires two player’s hands to control.
Press Start
2015-06-11 13:47:15
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/22
Press Start; Vol 2 No 1 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/24
2016-07-19T19:42:18Z
press-start:COM
"151209 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Nintendo Creators Purgatory: Why YouTubers should think twice before registering for the Nintendo Creators Program
Walker, Yvette Ann
University of Southern California, Gould School of Law
Recently, Nintendo launched the Nintendo Creators Program, designed to share profits generated from YouTube advertising revenue with YouTube creators using copyrighted Nintendo content. While the program is an insightful response to the problems many content rights holders face in policing YouTube for copyright infringement and submitting take down notices, it as has several pitfalls for creators including exposure to censorship, bureaucracy and content use and abuse.
Press Start
2015-12-10 15:16:16
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/24
Press Start; Vol 2 No 2 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/25
2016-07-19T19:42:09Z
press-start:ART
"150605 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
The Legal Nature of Video Games – Adapting Copyright Law to Multimedia
Stein, Julian Simon
University of Glasgow
Johannes-Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
In Copyright Law, video games are still a contentious matter. The multimedia nature of games brings up the question on how to define their legal nature. While there are several original underlying works in video games such as computer programs, artistic works, musical works, dramatic works etc., video games enjoy protection as films or audiovisual works respectively in many jurisdictions, making video games an arrangement of a multiplicity of works. However, some have argued to define video games as a single 'multimedia work' rather than a product of many works of copyright.
This article analyses the different types of original and derivative works contained in video games before evaluating the necessity and feasibility of a multimedia category of work, arguing in favour of the current system.
Press Start
2015-06-11 13:47:15
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/25
Press Start; Vol 2 No 1 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/26
2016-07-19T19:42:18Z
press-start:ART
"151030 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Authorship and Moral Rights in Video Games
Stein, Julian
University of Glasgow
Johannes-Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
The complex and multimedia nature of video games results in several original and derivative works of copyright contained in a single game. Although there is no need to establish a new category of work and the current state of law offers comprehensive protection of the works, it also means there can be many different authors in a single production, so assignment of rights can be difficult.
This interrelation of works and their respective authors can also have a negative effect on authors' moral rights, or, more specifically, the right to claim authorship and the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work.
This article analyses the current law of the United Kingdom with regard to authorship and ownership of copyright in video games and underlying works before analysing and evaluating the moral rights of video games' contributors.
Press Start
2015-12-10 15:16:16
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/26
Press Start; Vol 2 No 2 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/29
2016-07-19T19:42:09Z
press-start:ART
"150605 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Conjuring the Ideal Self: an Investigation of Self-Presentation in Video Game Avatars
Maxwell Pringle, Holly
University of Glasgow
Self-presentation in online spaces has recently attracted a significant amount of attention in psychological literature. Video games allow players to create a detailed, unique character to represent themselves in the online social world. Research has found that there is a relationship between self-esteem and online self-presentation. However, little research has examined gender differences within this topic. The study aimed to address this gap in the literature by specifically examining gender differences in avatar creation, plus how this extends to gameplay choices, while confirming the previously noted effects of self-esteem on avatar creation. 40 participants created an avatar in The Elder Scrolls Online and completed questionnaires on General Self-Esteem, Body Self-Esteem plus an evaluation of their avatar. Results found that self-esteem predicted perceived avatar similarity, males and females engaged in the same amount of self-presentation, and gender affected class choice. Limitations and directions of future research are discussed.
Press Start
2015-06-11 13:47:15
application/pdf
application/zip
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/29
Press Start; Vol 2 No 1 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/30
2016-07-19T19:42:09Z
press-start:ED
"150611 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial
Barr, Matthew
HATII at the University of Glasgow http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5147-0673
While preparing this issue of Press Start for publication, I finally conceded that the word "Gamergate" probably belonged in my spellchecker's dictionary. Certainly, one could view the proliferation of this term – and its legitimatisation, implicit in my decision to stop having my word processor complain about its use – as a grim indictment of contemporary gaming culture. However, that a student journal of game studies can begin to address the issues surrounding Gamergate – however indirectly, in this case – demonstrates a laudable maturity in our discipline's approach to the phenomenon.
Press Start
2015-06-11 13:47:15
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/30
Press Start; Vol 2 No 1 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/32
2016-07-19T19:42:18Z
press-start:ART
"151104 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Playful Politics: Developing a Framework for Designing Video Games for Political Participation in the United Kingdom
Reid, Andrew James
Abertay University
Political participation in the United Kingdom among young voters (aged 18-24) has steadily declined over the past two decades. Alongside this decline, video game popularity has meteorically risen among the same demographic, resulting in video games becoming increasingly more integrated within modern society. While these instances are not necessarily related, there is opportunity to explore the use of video games’ popularity to increase political participation.
The basis of this research is to investigate video games as a medium for social change, and its application within a political context in order to encourage political participation in the United Kingdom. The research intends to critically analyse existing video game design theories with implications of social impact, such as transformative design, procedural rhetoric, ethical design, persuasive principles and the theory of play.
This research has assisted in the development of the Political Design Framework, a design methodology that provides ethical definition and validation for video games that intend to promote political engagement.
Press Start
2015-12-10 15:16:16
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/32
Press Start; Vol 2 No 2 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/39
2016-07-19T19:42:18Z
press-start:ART
"151129 2015 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Media Literacy: Using a Game to Prompt Self-Reflection on Political Truth Biases
Vacca, Ralph
New York University
In this paper we examine how games can both capture player biases around truthfulness and facilitate self-reflection on such patterns of biases as a pedagogical approach to media literacy. Our focus is on the study of a game called Fibber, conducted with 344 participants online. The gameplay entails guessing whether statements made by presidential candidates are mostly factual and receiving aggregate feedback on their judgment patterns and potential truth biases. Specifically we sought to answer the questions: 1) how can the game prompt self-reflection in players, 2) what player characteristics are linked to self-reported acts of self-reflection and biases, and 3) how can the study inform future designs of media literacy and self-reflection games? Our results suggest that efforts to promote self-reflection in truth biases – a useful media literacy technique – may be facilitated through aggregation of in-game decisions that can serve as en end-of-game self-reflection prompt. Furthermore, self-reflection on potential political truth biases may be supported by specific in-game behaviors and player characteristics such as gender and political orientation. Future work includes a more experimental comparison of specific game mechanics and qualitative data to better understand the self-reflection process and possible subsequent changes in behavior as a result of self-reported acts of self-reflection.
Press Start
2015-12-10 15:16:16
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/39
Press Start; Vol 2 No 2 (2015)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/40
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
A Gendered Identity Debate in Digital Game Culture
Vermeulen, Lotte
iMinds-MICT-Ghent University, Belgium
Vanden Abeele, Mariek
iMinds-MICT, Ghent University, Belgium
Van Bauwel, Sofie
CIMS-Ghent University, Belgium
Although women make up half of the gamer population, only a small portion of them considers themselves as a gamer. This is seen as a logical consequence of a culture and industry that fiercely concentrate on legitimizing a masculine gamer identity. The upcoming presence of women in the digital game landscape, however, is threatening the notion of the masculine gamer. The aim of the current article is to analyze this threat, and how new forms of backlash emerge in response to it. Drawing from social identity and feminist theory, we argue that these new forms of backlash can be understood as ‘identity management strategies’, aimed at protecting masculine gamer identity. We analyze three such strategies: (1) the use of novel gendered binaries to frame the masculine against a feminine gamer identity, (2) the use of hostile sexist assaults to silence feminist gamers and advocates, and (3) the use of dualistic postfeminist discourses to mitigate and undermine criticisms.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/40
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/43
2017-06-12T13:54:01Z
press-start:ART
"161207 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Non-Serious Serious Games
Hudson, Matthew
Toshiba Design Center
Serious games have been shown to promote behavioural change and impart skills to players, and non-serious games have proven to have numerous benefits. This paper argues that non-serious digital games played in a ‘clan’ or online community setting can lead to similar real world benefits to serious games. This paper reports the outcomes from an ethnographic study and the analysis of user generated data from an online gaming clan. The outcomes support previous research which shows that non-serious games can be a setting for improved social well-being, second language learning, and self-esteem/confidence building. In addition this paper presents the novel results that play within online game communities can impart benefits to players, such as treating a fear of public speaking. This paper ultimately argues that communities of Gamers impart ‘serious’ benefits to their members.
Press Start
2016-12-07 13:12:55
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/43
Press Start; Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/44
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Girls, Guys and Games: How News Media Perpetuate Stereotypes of Male and Female Gamers
Maclean, Erin
Griffith University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6468-6174
Despite the sheer popularity of gaming, stereotypes of gamers are persistent and often ill-informed. The average age of an Australian gamer, for example, is 33 and nearly half of gamers are female. Yet, few mainstream and gaming news articles seem to acknowledge this diversity. Because news media and public perception are intertwined, such misrepresentation may affect the way gamers are perceived by the public and, in turn, how gamers negotiate their identities.
This paper, through a primarily qualitative analysis of 75 online news articles, explores many examples of simplistic and distorted portrayals of gamers that characterise news coverage. In particular, it examines three gendered tropes—‘not real’ female gamers, women as the victims and oppressors of gamers, and toxic male gamers—that news media use to frame the narratives that misrepresent gaming in social life.
Ultimately, this article argues that two prevailing themes underlie many news stories about gaming: the perpetuation of male technocratic privilege and moral panic. Both of these phenomena have relevance to the #GamerGate controversy of 2014, which news media portrayed as a ‘culture war’ between these inaccurate notions of male and female gamers. Thus, this indicates that the media blame game and alienation of gaming culture, as a multibillion-dollar international industry of increasing social importance, must be acknowledged and addressed.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/44
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/45
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Discussing Identities through Game-Making: A Case Study
de Paula, Bruno Henrique
University College London
Identities should not be understood as a static, defining trait, but as a temporary articulation performed by diverse people. Based on data generated through the Playing Beowulf project, in which students produced their own games, I present a reflection on the meaning of a gamer identity and how diverse identities can be performed and articulated during game-making process. Understanding how these identities are orchestrated in a non-professional environment might help to clarify the relationship between them and the social and cultural position occupied by games, as well as to reflect on the validity and possible limits of a gamer identity.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/45
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/46
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
"No Girls on the Internet": The Experience of Female Gamers in the Masculine Space of Violent Gaming
Assunção, Carina
Glasgow Caledonian University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5920-4142
The experience of female gamers in the masculine space of violent videogame playing was explored. Hypotheses concerned identity management strategies used online as well as offline. The study adopts a mixed methods approach. 291 women aged 18-48 were recruited via advertisements on social media. An online questionnaire addressed gaming habits, while a focus group with three women explored the pleasures they take from playing violent games. It was found that those who do play violent games, play video games for significantly more hours than those who don't play games which are violent. In turn, the more hours they play, the more likely it is they will discuss their gamer identity socially. Focus group findings however, showed that, by default, women players stay away from the topic of gaming. Regarding their gaming habits, the results support previous research that choice of games depend on the time gamers have available. Investigating female gamers’ reactions to harassment based on their gender identity during online gaming, it was found that those exposed to toxic behaviour probably stopped playing online because of its impact on their psychological well-being. Additionally, the focus group showed participants strategically express their gender identity when they have won. The impact for women to succeed in a male-dominated activity is discussed.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/46
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/47
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Female Fighters: Perceptions of Femininity in the Super Smash Bros. Community
Adams, John L
High Point University
This study takes on a qualitative analysis of the online forum, SmashBoards, to examine the way gender is perceived and acted upon in the community surrounding the Super Smash Bros. series. A total of 284 comments on the forum were analyzed using the concepts of gender performativity and symbolic interactionism to determine the perceptions of femininity, reactions to female players, and the understanding of masculinity within the community. Ultimately, although hypermasculine performances were present, a focus on the technical aspects of the game tended to take priority over any understanding of gender, resulting in a generally ambiguous approach to femininity.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/47
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/48
2017-06-12T13:54:01Z
press-start:INS
"161207 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
"In war, not everyone's a soldier." A Review of This War of Mine
Ecenbarger, Charles
North Carolina State University http://www.cwecenbarger.com
This article works to critically engage This War of Mine as a radically different style of war game that is rarely seen today. War games often glorify what it means to be in battle and have the player, essentially, saving their country or the world. This War of Mine, on the other hand, puts the player in the role of a survivor, someone simply trying to make it through the turmoil. This article examines the ways in which the game creates empathy for the avatar through aesthetic and narrative devices.
Press Start
2016-12-07 13:12:55
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/48
Press Start; Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/50
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Default Characters and the Embodied Nature of Play: Race, Gender, and Gamer Identity
Euteneuer, Jacob Steven
Oklahoma State University https://jacobeut.wordpress.com/
This paper examines several recent controversies in the gaming and popular culture fandoms that revolved around issues of sexuality, race, and gender. It uses these examples as a means for examining which roles and identities are privileged when it comes to talking about gamers and gamer identity. The paper argues that a shift toward play as an embodied process allows for more inclusive games and forms of play which would allow for the expansion of who both sees their self in videogames and is able to play like a character of their own identity. Drawing on videogames such as Mass Effect 3 and Grand Theft Auto V, this paper uses visual rhetorical strategies to analyse and identify how specific cultures and identities have been excluded from the tag of gamer. Additionally, it examines canonical videogames of the past to establish how feminine characters have been treated under the male gaze. Finally, it provides a glimpse of the possibilities for videogames to be aware of their embodied nature and potential for inclusivity.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/50
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/51
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ART
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
A Gatekeeper Final Boss: An Analysis of MOGAI Representation in Video Games
Talbert, Jared
University of North Carolina at Asheville, Undergraduate
There have been MOGAI characters since near the beginning of video games, but their representation has been something of debate and controversy. This paper looks at not only the history of representing MOGAI characters, but the dynamics of how these populations are represented within video games, and analyses how players feel regarding this subject.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/51
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/55
2018-09-27T10:38:50Z
press-start:INS
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Playing Producer: An alternative perspective on video games as film
Huang, Olivia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This paper proposes a perspective on analyzing video games as film by comparing the interactions of the player with those of a producer or other member in the film-making process. This contrasts with existing methodologies which focus on formal characteristics or narratology. This proposal also provides a method for combining the interactivity of games with the storytelling capacity of cinema without encountering the narrative paradox.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/55
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/57
2016-12-07T14:04:24Z
press-start:ED
"160719 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial: Negotiating Gamer Identities
Barr, Matthew
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5147-0673
Berry, Landon Kyle
Butt, Mahli-Ann
Dunne, Daniel Joseph
Ecenbarger, Charlie
Evans, Sarah Beth
Murray, Lorraine
Scott, Michael James
de Wildt, Lars
The term ‘gamer identity’ is hotly contested, and certainly not understood as a broadly accepted term. From the outdated stereotype of white, heterosexual, teenage boys playing Nintendo in their parents’ basement to the equally contested proclamation that “‘gamers’ are over”, the current game culture climate is such that movements as divisive and controversial as #gamergate can flourish.
For this latest special issue of Press Start, we invited submissions regarding the recent controversies surrounding the notion of player identities, with the aim of receiving papers from different viewpoints on gamer identity and culture.
Press Start
2016-07-19 15:36:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/57
Press Start; Vol 3 No 1 (2016): Special Issue: 'Negotiating Gamer Identities'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/62
2017-06-12T13:54:01Z
press-start:COM
"161207 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Our Combative Past and Co-operative Future: Review of The Play Versus Story Divide in Game Studies: Critical Essays
Mckeown, Conor Patrick
University of Glasgow
A review of Wilhelm Kapell’s The Play Versus Story Divide tackling the major themes of its contributions, praising its approach and unique papers while addressing a few minor shortcomings.
Press Start
2016-12-07 13:12:55
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/62
Press Start; Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/63
2017-06-12T13:54:01Z
press-start:ART
"161207 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Streaming Video Games: Copyright Infringement or Protected Speech?
Jungar, Eirik Evert Elias
Uppsala University
Streaming video games, that is, live broadcasting playing video games on the internet, is incredibly popular. Millions tune into twitch.tv daily to watch eSport tournaments, their favourite streamer, and chat with other viewers. But all is not rosy in the world of streaming games. Recently, some game developers have aggressively exercised their copyright to, firstly, claim part of the streamers’ revenue, and secondly, control the context in which their game is shown. The article analyzes whether game developers have, and should have, such rights under EU copyright law. Reaching the conclusion that video game streams infringe the game developer’s right to communicate their works to the public, I argue that freedom of expression can and should be used to rein in their rights in certain cases. Subjecting the lawfulness of streams to game developers’ good will risks stifling the expressions of streamers. The streamers, their audience, and even the copyright holders, would be worse off for it.
Press Start
2016-12-07 13:12:55
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/63
Press Start; Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/64
2018-09-27T10:38:49Z
press-start:ART
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Pokémon is Evolving! An investigation into the development of the Pokémon community and expectations for the future of the franchise
Assunção, Carina
University of Edinburgh
Brown, Michelle
De Montfort University
Workman, Ross
University of Central Lancashire
Pokémon is one of Nintendo’s largest, most influential franchises. With a history ranging more than twenty years, its enormous fan-base spans video and trading card games, anime TV shows and films, amongst other media. This paper aims to investigate the Pokémon fan community while exploring how the franchise has grown: from its beginnings as a pop-culture phenomenon, to one of the strongest and friendliest gaming fan communities in existence today. Data gathered from 165 online respondents examines how fans’ past experiences with the franchise inform their expectations towards future products. It also explores how considerable efforts from developers – as well as the gaming community – contribute to the creative growth of a continually-expanding fan-base. Additionally, this study was in a unique position to gather data before two new Pokémon games were released: Pokken Tournament and Pokémon GO. The former did not generate high expectations but still performed well in terms of sales. The latter was thought of as a casual game but, as the world now knows, was a tremendous success. Insights obtained from researching fan attitudes to unreleased games show that expectations do not always become reality.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/64
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/65
2017-06-12T13:54:01Z
press-start:ART
"161207 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Player Perspectives: What It Means to Be a Gamer
Deshbandhu, Aditya
Dept. of Communication,
University of Hyderabad,
India http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4173-5890
The term gamer has been applied in various, often simplistic ways to anyone who plays video games as a preferred leisure activity. Being heavily value-laden both socially and culturally, the term has spawned fiery debates on a variety of issues ranging from perpetuation of stereotypes to gender inequality. This paper seeks to understand the gamer tag by charting and critically analysing the gaming journeys of three video game players in an everyday context.
The paper uses an ethnographic approach, based on in-depth interviews with and observation of the gaming activity of three individuals over a year. Drawing from Nick Couldry’s Media as Practice approach the gaming practices of the players were examined in relation to how they themselves reflect upon their experience and its various components, and the ways in which they construct and express their gamer/gaming identity. The emergent themes from the analysis have been used to build a tentative framework that could enable a more holistic understanding of the gamer within the gaming world and more generally in popular culture.
Press Start
2016-12-07 13:12:55
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/65
Press Start; Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/67
2018-09-27T10:38:49Z
press-start:ART
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
The Design Process of a Board Game for Exploring the Territories of the United States
Kosa, Mehmet
PhD Candidate at Middle East Technical University http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1564-2666
Yilmaz, Murat
Cankaya University
The paper reports the design experience of a board game with an educational aspect, which takes place on the location of states and territories of the United States. Based on a territorial acquisition dynamic, the goal was to articulate the design process of a board game that provides information for individuals who are willing to learn the locations of the U.S. states by playing a game. The game was developed using an iterative design process based on focus groups studies and brainstorming sessions. A mechanic-driven design approach was adopted instead of a theme or setting-driven alternative and a relatively abstract game was developed. The initial design idea was formed and refined according to the player feedback. The paper details play-testing sessions conducted and documents the design experience from a qualitative perspective. Our preliminary results suggest that the initial design is moderately balanced and despite the lack of quantitative evidence, our subjective observations indicate that participants’ knowledge about the location of states was improved in an entertaining and interactive way.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/67
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/68
2017-06-12T13:54:01Z
press-start:ED
"161207 2016 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial: Conflicts
Barr, Matthew
University of Glasgow http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5147-0673
Berry, Landon Kyle
Butt, Mahli-Ann
Dunne, Daniel Joseph
Ecenbarger, Charlie
Evans, Sarah Beth
Murray, Lorraine
Scott, Michael James
de Wildt, Lars
The Editorial Board reflects on the theme of 'conflict', as observed in the work published in this issue, and in the wider world.
Press Start
2016-12-07 13:12:55
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/68
Press Start; Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/70
2018-09-27T10:38:48Z
press-start:INS
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Papers, Please as Critical Making: A Review
Lohmeyer, Eddie
North Carolina State University
This article examines Lucas Pope’s independent game Papers, Please as an instantiation of critical making within the discipline of the digital humanities. By confronting the player with moral decisions in their capacity as an immigration officer allowing or denying entry to immigrants within a totalitarian state, the game introduces an expressive form of game design in which conceptual practices are used to examine political and social realities. This type of critical media practice introduces a political ethic to the digital humanities that is arguably scarce within the discipline.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/70
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/76
2018-09-27T10:38:48Z
press-start:ART
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
"Grant us eyes, grant us eyes! Plant eyes on our brains, to cleanse our beastly idiocy!": FromSoftware's Bloodborne, and the New Frontier of the Gothic
Langmead, Oliver
The University of Glasgow http://oliverlangmead.com/
This article will consider the ways that Bloodborne (FromSoftware, 2015) plays on a broad range of Gothic themes and conventions, utilising unusual narrative techniques and gameplay mechanics which offer the player a means by which they might experience a Gothic narrative in ways that the traditional novel format does not allow for. It will argue that Bloodborne showcases the genre's potential new frontier: converting conventions into interesting new gameplay mechanics, and letting the player experience the genre through player-led narrative and agency.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/76
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/77
2019-03-12T21:52:28Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Ideology in Bioshock
Shaw, Daniel Odin
Central European Univeristy
This paper will analyse the Bioshock series, with a particular focus on the treatment of ideology within these games. This popular and critically acclaimed series contains deeply political themes, including various controversial ideologies such as Objectivism, and Collectivism. The treatment of these ideologies within the games have been widely contested and interpreted. Writers and critics have tended to focus on Bioshock games as a critique of particular political ideologies. By examining the games, with a particular reference the use of procedural rhetoric, this paper will argue that this series instead presents a critique of extreme ideology itself.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/77
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/78
2018-09-27T10:38:48Z
press-start:COM
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Book Review: The Post-9/11 Video Game: A Critical Examination
Van den Heede, Pieter
Erasmus University Rotterdam https://www.eshcc.eur.nl/english/personal/heede/ http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7459-701X
Review of The Post-9/11 Video Game: A Critical Examination by by Jason C. Thompson and Marc A. Ouellette.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/78
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/79
2018-09-27T10:38:50Z
press-start:ED
"170612 2017 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial: Behind the Making
de Wildt, Lars
Assuncao, Carina
Azrioual, Samir
Barr, Matthew
University of Glasgow http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5147-0673
Berry, Landon Kyle
Butt, Mahli-Ann
Dunne, Daniel Joseph
Evans, Sarah Beth
Murnane, Eric
Few theses, proposals and books in game studies start without some statement of the importance of video games as a media format. However, despite this emphasis on the industry’s size and importance, very little academic attention goes toward what is behind the process of designing games.
Game developer Katharine Neil, writing about the state of the game industry and its relation to academia mounts a call to arms: "We can demand research and development into design support technology — not for more tools for prototyping and production or metrics, but for tools that support design thinking".
For Neil, these have led to a palpable stagnation in game design. Judging by the articles selected for this issue of Press Start, young game scholars increasingly seek to ameliorate both the lacking academic reflection on game design; and the lack of communication that Neil diagnoses between academics and game makers.
Press Start
2017-06-12 13:13:51
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/79
Press Start; Vol 4 No 1 (2017)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/80
2019-03-12T21:52:30Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
And How Does That Make You Feel?
Pellegrini, Sean
University College Cork
Many media outlets, researchers and organisations claim that violent video games can cause aggression. The present study had participants play violent and non-violent video games and measured aggression after gameplay to investigate this claim. The susceptibility of a personality type called the Dark Triad (individuals high on psychopathic, narcissistic and machiavellian traits) and camera styles (First or Third-Person) of violent games were also investigated. Two-way ANOVAs were used for statistical analysis to compare participants. Participants who were highly correlated with the Dark Triad of personality had a statistically significant higher mean score of aggression. This increase in aggression remained irrespective of the game (violent or non-violent) played during the experiment. Violent video games and video game camera-style did not have any effect on aggression. The findings suggest that people highly correlated with the Dark Triad of personality are a high-risk group for aggression, but that this aggression is unrelated to video games.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/80
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/82
2018-09-27T10:38:47Z
press-start:ART
"180114 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Desperately Trying to Mediate Immediacy
Schellewald, Andreas Oliver
Zeppelin University
Evermore aspects of contemporary cultures, societies and human life appear to be changed through processes of digitization and mediatization. A great body of work is touching on these processes of change. However, not many discuss aspects of leisure and aesthetics. And if they do so, seldom regarding bodily and worldly aspects. This paper thus seeks to discuss such changes alongside the phenomenon of esports. More precisely, the paper situates the aesthetic dimension and practices of watching and doing esports in contemporary cultures and societies, focusing on lived experiences (ästhetisches Erleben) in digital and mediated contexts. The failing attempt to understand, the attempt to re-present and Gelassenheit (composure or serenity) are introduced as modes of coping with immediate aesthetic experiences. Here, especially the constitutive transition from a physical to a meta-physical dimension of reality will be grasped on. By that, ongoing philosophical debates about the constitution of reality and being can be supported in their progress.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/82
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/85
2018-09-27T10:38:47Z
press-start:ART
"180114 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Shrieking, Biting, and Licking
Stang, Sarah
York University
This article examines examples of the monstrous-feminine in the form of abject female monsters in a selection of critically acclaimed and commercially successful video games. Various female monsters from CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher series (2007-2015), and Santa Monica Studio’s God of War series (2005-2013) are considered as examples of the abject monstrous-feminine which fall into a long tradition in horror media of making the female body and body movements into something horrific and repulsive. These female monsters use shrieking, biting, licking, and spreading disease as weapons against the male protagonist, who must slay them to restore symbolic order and progress in the games.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/85
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/86
2018-09-27T10:38:47Z
press-start:ART
"180114 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Queer Gamer Assemblages and the Affective Elements of Digital Games
Ruelos, Spencer Taylor Berdiago
Department of Informatics, University of California at Irvine
Centering a discussion of gaming as an embodied experience, this essay explores the affective and embodied relationship between LGBT/queer gamers and video games. Drawing on qualitative interviews with seven queer gamers, I argue in that we should understand gamers as socio-technological assemblages, in order to illustrate how gamer identity, subjectivity, and sociality are enacted through the relationship between the body of a gamer and the game technologies. I further expand upon this by tending to how queer gamers talk about their embodied experiences and affective connections to various games through worlding and storytelling elements. These stories illustrate how games create affective possibilities for connection and belonging for queer gamers. I conclude by arguing that an attention to gaming as an embodied experience expands our conceptualizations of play and helps us understand the worldmaking practices that queer gamers often employ.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/86
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/87
2018-09-27T10:38:45Z
press-start:INS
"180116 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Being Anal About the Rules
Marshall, Conor
Abertay University
Developing technologies, digital media and mobile internet access have allowed members of the MSM community the opportunity to integrate their lives more fully into a world once dominated by exclusively straight places and communities - the change fostered by hook-up apps and services has taken the socio-sexual interaction of men who have sex with men (MSM) from the old physical community spaces into digital sexual oases.
This paper will discuss from a theoretical standpoint the changing sexual behaviours and new opportunities to create a sense of space for MSM individuals made possible by geolocation-based apps and the emergent playstyles that are born from the app developers’, and players’, gamification of sexual expression.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/87
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/91
2021-07-05T14:28:08Z
press-start:ART
"180114 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Game Movement as Enactive Focalization
Shibolet, Yotam
Media, Art and Performance research masters at Utrecht University
This paper integrates thought on game narrative and embodied cognition, in order to consider the significance of movement to the embodied narrative experience of games. If games are a mode of ‘environmental storytelling’, determining the player’s mobile situatedness within the gamespace is of crucial importance. The metaphor of game design as narrative architecture should be expanded to include te the design of movement dynamics, alongside geographical gamespace. I suggest a theoretical infrastructure that aims to enable further analysis of movement design’s role in this scope.
The theory of enactive perception asserts that all perception is inherently negotiated through embodied understanding of moving within environment. According to this model, by giving meaning to perception, movement is also directly related to the structure of consciousness and thought. Cognitive definitions of ‘narrative’ that integrate embodiment are applied to argue it can relevantly account for part of thought’s role in enactive perception.
Mieke Bal’s concept of focalization (1997) broaches narrative perspective by underscoring the constant “movement of the look”. For enactive perception, such mobility should be understood as inseparable from the movement of the body even when perspective could appear detached from embodiment. Therefore, I offer the supplementary concept of “enactive focalization” – narrative perception as interpreted through the interconnected dynamics or perspectival and physical movement.
To exemplify my ideas and the potential of future research in this scope, I discuss the uniquely effective and affective movement dynamic design of Journey. This paper concludes by reflecting on enactive focalization in light of the increased utilization of embodiment in the contemporary digital media landscape.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/91
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/94
2018-09-27T10:38:46Z
press-start:INS
"180116 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
frictiOns - the software-surface-rubbing game
Tupja, Endi
University of Applied Sciences Potsdam - MA European Media Studies
Smartphone usage has drastically changed the way images are produced and contemplated, creating thus fertile ground for a virtual environment blurring information exchange with entertainment. In the experimental film frictiOns, virtuality and interaction have been reconsidered under an analogue perspective. Disobeying assumptions on device and virtuality by challenging the concept of surface and interface. An analysis of art games and the binome (i)phone-entertainment, examines the prospective of users as players, highlighting cultural determining factors such as flattening and soft power.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/94
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/95
2018-09-27T10:38:45Z
press-start:ED
"180119 2018 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial: Body Movements
Assuncao, Carina
Azrioual, Samir
Barr, Matthew
Berry, Landon Kyle
Butt, Mahli-Ann
de Wildt, Lars
Dunne, Daniel Joseph
Evans, Sarah Beth
Murnane, Eric
Today, the juxtaposition between physical bodies and the gameworld is ever more fluid. Virtual Reality headsets are available at game stores with more AAA games being created for the format. The release of the Nintendo Switch and its dynamic JoyCon controllers reintroduce haptic movement based controls. Pokémon GO’s augmented reality took gamers outdoors and has encouraged the Harry Potter franchise to follow in its mobile footsteps. Each development encourages a step further into the digital world.
At the same time, the movement of bodies always has political dimensions. We live in a world where walls seem like solutions to the movement of bodies, while the mere meeting of bodies elsewhere – for sex, marriage and other reasons – is still forbidden by many states’ rules. Games and game-like interfaces have shown the ability to bend those rules, and to sometimes project other worlds and rule systems over our world in order to make bodies move and meet.
For this special issue on ‘Body Movements’, Press Start invited authors to focus on embodiment, body movements, political bodies, community bodies, virtual bodies, physical bodies, feminine, masculine, trans- bodies, agency or its lack, and anything else in between. The response to this invitation was variegated, and provocative, as outlined here.
Press Start
2018-01-19 13:00:38
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/95
Press Start; Vol 4 No 2 (2018): Special Issue: 'Body Movements'
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/96
2019-03-12T21:52:30Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
"Hey! Listen!"
McCullough, Hayley
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
As a research variable, integrative complexity has a long, well-documented history as a predictor and correlate for real-world phenomenon (for examples, see Suedfeld et al., 2005 or Conway, Suedfeld, & Clements, 2003). Recently, McCullough & Conway (2017a) and McCullough & Conway (2017b) displayed the variable’s viability in the understanding of pop cultural domains. The present study builds upon this previous research and explores potential complexity differences between winning and losing video games at the Spike Video Game Awards. It compared the integrative complexity of a sample of video game dialogue for three categories (Best Shooter, Best RPG and Best Action/Adventure). Originally, individual ANOVAs revealed significant main effects for only the integrative and dialectical complexity for the Best Shooter category. An ad-hoc ANOVA of all three categories revealed similar results; however, across all analyses a consistent mean pattern emerged: The winning games averaged lower complexity scores than the losing games. These findings suggest a general association between simplistic dialogue and high-quality video games, providing keen insight into the underlining psychology of video games, and establishes a strong foundation for future research.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/96
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/119
2022-10-29T20:35:39Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
The Burden of Queer Love
Dym, Brianna
University of Colorado Boulder
Video games are a unique narrative and interactive experience that allow players to construct their own fantasies through play. The fantastical possibilities a video game could explore are nearly limitless. However, a game’s design often precludes certain imaginative routes, shutting down one fantasy in favour of another. Games close out possibilities through actions as small as character design (gender, race, ability) and restrict imaginative interpretations to serve a narrow audience. Game developers design play that prioritizes hypermasculine narrative experiences, and players that do not align with this identity must condition themselves to play that excludes fantasies or alternate worlds that align with their experiences.
This essay explores attempts by game development studio Bioware to create video games that are inclusive of gay, lesbian, and bisexual players by writing in queer romantic narrative subplots into their games. While Bioware’s attempts are certainly not malicious, they fail time and time again, game after game, to break free of the hypermasculine and heterocentric culture dominant in the gaming industry. Instead, Bioware appropriates queer experiences and construes them as a burden to the player so as not to displace the fantasies of male, heterosexual gamers.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/119
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/120
2019-03-12T21:52:28Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Aya of the Beholder
Alton, Chris
York University
The ways in which virtual environments are constructed and perceived is rarely a direct one-to-one experience. Using the foundational example of Squaresoft’s Parasite Eve (1997), I examine the ways in which real-world locations and approximations of such are represented within videogame worlds. I examine the methods through which videogames can create spaces which evoke the conceptual idea of a given place, both through audio/visual and interactive means, without constructing a one-to-one simulacrum of the location. Thus, the player actively contributes in the transformation of an actionable virtual space into an actualized lived place.
Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, my discussion draws on cinematic semiotic theory, by way of Christian Metz, in association with Wittgenstein’s examination of language as a foundation from which to proceed. These concepts are then incorporated into a broader discussion of theories more focused on videogame studies, such as Laurie Taylor’s Lacanian approach to the videogame avatar and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of flow, to illustrate how video game locations may leave out large portions of their real-world referents and yet still be identified as said referents by the player. The choices for what to include/exclude are also examined from a socio-political perspective, allowing reflection on what is considered necessary for a representation of a real-world place.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/120
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/121
2019-03-12T21:52:28Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Silent Halls
Kalinowski, Anna Maria
York University
“What is a ghost?”
“An emotion, a terrible moment condemned to repeat itself over and over…”
-The Devil’s Backbone (Del Toro, 2001)
This paper analyses P.T.(Kojima Productions, 2014), a playable teaser made to demo a planned instalment within the Silent Hill franchise. While the game is now indefinitely cancelled, P.T. has cemented itself not only as a full gaming experience, but also as a juggernaut in genre of psychological horror. Drawing from Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny, the aim of the paper is to address how these psychological concepts surface within the now infamous never-ending hallway of P.T. and create a deeply psychologically horrifying experience.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/121
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/124
2020-06-09T19:54:41Z
press-start:ART
"200608 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Stasis and Stillness
Scully-Blaker, Rainforest
UC Irvine
This paper represents an initiatory investigation into moments of inaction in games. Two types of inaction are defined and discussed: stasis, which is inaction brought on by or through a game’s mechanics, and stillness, which is brought on by or through a game’s aesthetics. This paper uses gameplay examples from Until Dawn, Mario Party 2, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and World of Warcraft to demonstrate that moments of stasis and stillness can either be designed features of a game that produce a variety of affective experiences, or playful subversions that are injected into a game by the player. Identifying whether moments of stasis and stillness are designed or injected enables these two modes of inaction to be compared and positioned as part of a broader project that interrogates whether play can be a form of critique.
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/124
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/125
2019-03-12T21:52:29Z
press-start:ART
"190311 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
The Environment at Play
Jansen, Dennis
Utrecht University
In this paper, I argue that the natural environment in the base game of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is devoid of agency and power in the face of the player’s colonialist endeavours to explore, conquer and master that environment. Weaving together insights about spatiality in digital games from (ecocritical and postcolonial) game studies, as well as performance studies, the paper problematizes some of the most basic elements of digital games in general: navigation and movement. It then moves to a discussion of the “Frostfall” mod as one possible option to counteract the destructive and oppositional relationship between the player and nature in Skyrim. “Frostfall” is a mod that adds weather survival elements to the game, by which the player can freeze and die from hypothermia if they do not take the appropriate measures to cope with Skyrim’s harsh climate. In this way, the ‘power fantasy’ set up in the base game becomes somewhat limited, as the player’s agency encounters nature’s newfound agency and must find ways to negotiate the gameworld while taking seriously the environment as an agent in/of that gameworld.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/125
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/126
2019-08-27T07:24:09Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
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From Walking Simulator to Ambience Action Game
Zimmermann, Felix
a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne / University of Cologne, Germany
Huberts, Christian
Freelancer / waza! Games / University of Applied Sciences Europe, Berlin, Germany
When Dear Esther (The Chinese Room, 2012) was released in 2012 as a standalone game, the new “walking simulator” genre name came into popular use. The term implies a banalization of game design while also missing the core characteristics of the games subsumed under it and, therefore, lacks epistemological value. Following this notion, we offer “ambience action game” as an alternative to provide an epistemological tool which enables researchers to appreciate the genre’s cultural significance as a continuation of practices of atmospheric experience.
The proposed term offers myriad starting points for analysis and future research by unifying well-received game studies theories with the barely recognized—at least in game studies discourse—philosophical theory of atmospheres. Consequently, this article is a contribution to an affective turn in game studies, which takes player experience beyond the act of play seriously
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/126
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/127
2019-08-27T07:24:08Z
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"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
From Zelda to Stanley
McCullough, Hayley
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Proponents of the walking simulator genre laud it for itscomplex storytelling. As Gohardani (2017) explains, walking simulators are “about dropping the player into an experience packed with ... a compelling narrative” (para. 5). In order to more fully understand why this genre is so closely associated with storytelling and to provide insight into the underlying psychology of genre in video games, this article linguistically evaluates the narratives of walking simulators. It uses integrative complexity, a linguistic variable with an established research history, to compare the complexity of the writing in walking simulators to the writing in five mainstream video game genres (RPGs, shooters, action/adventure games, fighting games, and strategy games). Randomly sampling dialogue from 30 video games, a one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) revealed no statistically significant linguistic differences between the genres. These results indicate that compelling and complex writing can be found in any genre and is likely not a function of any individual genre, contrary to popular opinion. This study provides a foundation for future researchers to build upon and continue the linguistic evaluation of walking simulators.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/127
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/129
2019-08-27T07:24:08Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Guiding with a Soft Touch
Tempini, Mark
Research has demonstrated the difficulty in achieving a balance with User Interfaces(UI) in games. Almost all large, nonlinear levels rely on UI practices outside level design in order to guide players. The use of nondiegetic UI can lower player immersion and the use of diegetic navigational UI is extremely difficult to design well. Few attempts have been made todesign a large open world level that can be easily navigated without the use of some form of navigational UI, since research shows that the absence of UI can create a much better play experience. Many developers of linear single player games have begun to use embedded techniques, ranging from lighting and colour to motion and audio, to guide players through levels. However, these attempts have not been made in large nonlinear games.
This article explores the reliance of navigational UIin large nonlinear 3D levels by creating a 3D level using techniques such as light, colour, and architecture to guide players along an ideal path. By using an iterative development cycle with high amounts of internal testing throughout development, multiple navigational techniques were implemented. The level was tested for its effectiveness in guiding players at separate stages in development and updated based on the results before a final evaluation.
Results evidenced that players can be guided through large nonlinear levels as the designer intended without any UI and indicated that play style influenced how users move through spaces.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/129
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/130
2020-06-09T19:54:41Z
press-start:ART
"200608 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Tekken’s Mokujin and the Disjunctive Synthesis of Gender Performativity
Galanos, Vasileios
Mr
Given the ever-growing array of available choices of genders in games, this paper investigates how novel gender types emerge and how the performative transition from one gender to another occurs. A fighting video game character, Tekken’s Mokujin, is employed as a metaphor to explain such processes because of the character’s ability to imitate every other character’s fighting style according to an algorithm which randomly switches Mokujin’s fighting performance in the beginning of every game round. The Mokujin-gender metaphor is then strengthened by philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s notion of disjunctive synthesis, as an attempt to provide a more robust theoretical explanatory framework for the processes of novel gender generation and selection of gender performativity. Therefore, the contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, the specific area of gender performativity is enriched through the study of a video game character acting as a metaphor. On the other, while traditional game studies often intersects with gender studies, mostly in negative cases of the perpetuation of gender stereotypes, this paper shows that the opposite is also possible: Gender studies can benefit from the study of fictitious video game characters that enact, embody, and enable different possibilities.
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/130
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/132
2019-08-27T14:52:25Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Domesticating the First-Person Shooter
Bowman, Dean
University of East Anglia
This article argues that—due to their lack of conformity to key characteristics of dominant videogame paradigms, particularly the violent competitiveness of “agonistic” play—the walking simulator is at the heart of a struggle over changing definitions and material realities of videogame consumption and production, linked to the emergence of disruptive female and queer player and creator identities (Anthropy, 2012; Chess, 2017; Juul, 2012; Shaw, 2015). The genre thus provides a valuable alternative space within what has been referred to as the “hegemonic” limits of the game industry, which privileges—through various historically embedded mechanisms—a white, male, cis-gendered, and heteronormative audience (Fron,Fullerton, Morie, & Pearce, 2007). Such progressive gains have been hotly contested by so-called hardcore gamers (Dymek, 2012; Gursoy, 2013; Kagen, 2017), who view them as a threat to the prevailing orthodoxy of game production that has historically served their interests.
Furthermore, by uncritically adopting the dominant and normative industry-oriented paradigm, game studies has served to further reify this hegemonic player through the replication of its values in rigidly formalist definitions of play constructed around agonistic values (Aarseth, 1997; Juul, 2003). I call this tendency “orthodox game studies,” a position that has bled into wider discourses wherein walking simulators are constructed as “not real games.” I argue that Gone Home (Fullbright, 2013), a prominent example of the genre, challenges industry hegemony and orthodox game studies by enacting a subversive appropriation of first-person shooter (FPS) mechanicsand a radical decentring of the hegemonic gamer—constructing a domestic space as the ground for the development of new subjectivities of play (Fullerton, Morie, & Pearce, 2007). To articulate this, I draw on Bakhtin’s (1981b) notion of the chronotope, demonstrating the critical relevance of this theoretical tool to game studies.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/132
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/133
2021-07-02T13:28:11Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
From Walking Simulator to Reflective Simulator
Hawey, Dave
Ferland-Beauchemin, Alexandra
Benoit, Jocelyn
The aim of this paper is to contribute both theoretically and methodologically to discussions on walking simulator video games. We base our reflection on results grounded in a video game design project conducted as part of our master's thesis. Our research perspective is rooted in pragmatist and constructivist theories of design, such as the epistemology of practice (Schön, 1983; 1992) and project-grounded research (Findeli, 2005). To define the player's experience, we relied on John Dewey's (1934) concept of aesthetic experience. In this context, an individual's experience is characterised as reflective, i.e., meaningful, introspective, creative, and situated. Our project consisted in designing a tailored reflective experience for a unique player—the designer's younger sister. This involved creating a playable prototype featuring gameplay characteristics that game theorists and critics might consider elements of a walking simulator. We describe how the player had a reflective experience both during her interaction with the game and thereafter. Adopting a reflective approach allowed us to better describe and appreciate the life-changing potential of simulators and to ultimately shed light on their capabilities, rather than concentrate on their limitations (Clarke, 2017). We therefore propose a new label, namely, “reflective simulator,” as a way to contribute to theoretical discussions about walking simulators. This case study provides a methodological contribution to thefield of game studies by describing and reflecting upon the theoretical anchors underpinning game design
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/133
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
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##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/134
2022-09-24T22:01:51Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
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The Walking Simulator’s Generic Experiences
Montembeault, Hugo
Université de Montréal
Deslongchamps-Gagnon, Maxime
Université de Montréal
This article examines walking simulators through the lens of video game genre study. Following Arsenault’s (2011) thesis which theorized genre as the “temporary crystallization of a common cultural consensus” (pp. 333–334), it maps the shared horizon of expectations of the walking simulator. The first section presents an overview of genre theory in the field of game studies. The second part assembles a corpus of five iconic walking simulators based on a discourse analysis conducted in four gaming communities: scholars, journalists, designers, and Steam users. The third portion builds on this discourse analysis to conceptualize five clusters of “generic resources” (Gregersen, 2014) that synthesize the collective understanding of the walking simulator’s generic experiences, which are then analyzed in the final segment with reference to one exemplar game of the corpus. Each analysis introduces a specific “generic effect” (Arsenault, 2011)—peacefulness, secretiveness, fatalism, everydayness, and self-reflexive distanciation—that contributes to ongoing efforts to outline the experiences of this genre. The conclusion ends witha brief discussion about the importance of transgeneric studies.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/134
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
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##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/135
2019-08-27T07:24:07Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Shifting Borders
Bailey, Andrew Remington
York University
This paper looks at how the walking simulatorand artgame categories intersect, before comparatively analyzing two game designers whose work functions to disrupt the notions of genre these terms exemplify. The first work is Bill Viola’s The Night Journey (Game Innovation Lab & Viola, 2007), a gallery installation that many early game studies scholars used to help them first define how videogames could function as art. Following this, the paper compares Viola’s work to Connor Sherlock’s (2015) cheekily titled “Walking Simulator A Month Club.” With this project, Sherlock uses the itch.io and Patreon platforms to release a new experimental walking simulator game every month. Like The Night Journey, each of Sherlock’s games are ambiguously rendered and non-goal oriented. To conclude, this paper uses these two examples to investigate the potentially useful relations that can be uncovered between the experiences of traversing gallery and game space.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/135
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/136
2019-08-27T07:24:06Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Reading, Writing, Lexigraphing
Milligan, Chloe Anna
Bohunicky, Kira
In this article, we address the histories and influences of reading and writing within the genre of digital games called “walking simulators.” Reading is framed as an activity separate from (and, sometimes, incompatible with) the set of actions afforded to players in most game genres. Walking simulators, on the other hand, converge the act of reading and walking in complex ways that expose the playful but putatively inactive action of reading as a disruptive queering. This queering subverts the standard expectation that to count as “player” (and for walking simulatorsto count as games) one must act and produce. We call this subversion “lexigraphing,”our repurposed verb form of Garrett Stewart’s (2006) neologism “lexigraph,” which refers to paintings of written text. Lexigraphing, applied to digital games, describes the seemingly passive action of walking in a gamespace, and reading its texts, as a recursive act of writing reading. We argue that the disruptive “passivity” of lexigraphing operates as a form of queering gamespace, citing J. Jack Halberstam’s (2011) rejection of a world that is constantly doing, acting, and producing. We apply lexigraphing to walking simulators through the lens of queer game studiesas articulated by Bonnie Ruberg and Adrienne Shaw (2017), which invites us to reject limited conceptions of gamic action and participate in a more playful queering. Reading “queer”as a verb is crucial to understanding the feminist and queer actions that walking simulators welcome. With our own verb, lexigraphing, we re-articulate the active passivity of reading-as-writing in walking simulators.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/136
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/137
2019-03-13T07:04:37Z
press-start:ED
"190312 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial
Butt, Mahli-Ann
University of Sydney
Berry, Landon Kyle
Stang, Sarah
Copeland, Alicia
Lima, Leandro Augusto Borges
MacLean, Erin
Thomson, Reece
Wilson, Dennis
Over the past year, we’ve had a change of hands from our founder, Matt Barr, to our new editor-in-chief, Mahli-Ann Butt. We’ve taken some extra time to put together this issue with great pride and care.
Through a friendly double-open peer-reviewing process, for this open-call issue we’ve published 7 excellent game studies student articles:
Dennis Jansen’s ‘The Environment at Play: Confronting Nature in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the “Frostfall” Mod,’ argues that the natural environment in the base game of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) is devoid of agency and power in the face of the player’s colonialist endeavours to explore, conquer and master that environment. Jansen thus discusses how the “Frostfall” counteracts the destructive and oppositional relationship between the player and nature in Skyrim.
Brianna Dym’s ‘The Burden of Queer Love,’ explores attempts by game development studio Bioware to create video games that are inclusive of gay, lesbian, and bisexual players by writing in queer romantic narrative subplots into their games. While Bioware’s attempts are certainly not malicious, they fail time and time again, game after game, to break free of the hypermasculine and heterocentric culture dominant in the gaming industry. Instead, Bioware appropriates queer experiences and construes them as a burden to the player so as not to displace the fantasies of male, heterosexual gamers.
Chris Alton’s ‘Aya of the Beholder: An Examination of the Construction of Real-World Locations in Parasite Eve,’ uses the foundational example of Square’s Parasite Eve (1997) to examine the ways in which real-world locations and approximations of such are represented within video game worlds. Alton examines the methods through which videogames can create spaces which evoke the conceptual idea of a given place, both through audio/visual and interactive means, without constructing a one-to-one simulacrum of the location. Thus, the player actively contributes in the transformation of an actionable virtual space into an actualized lived place.
Anna Maria Kalinowski’s ‘Silent Halls: P.T., Freud, and Psychological Horror,’ draws from Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny to address how the psychological concepts surface within the never-ending hallway of P.T. (2014) and create a deeply psychologically horrifying experience.
Sean Pellegrini’s ‘And How Does That Make You Feel?: A Psychological Approach to a Classic Game Studies Debate – Violent Video Games and Aggression,’ investigates the claim that violent video games can cause aggression. The findings of this study suggest that people highly correlated with the Dark Triad of personality are a high-risk group for aggression, but that this aggression is unrelated to video games.
Daniel Odin Shaw’s ‘Ideology in BioShock: A Critical Analysis,’ analyses the Bioshock series, with a particular focus on the treatment of ideology. By examining the games, with a particular reference the use of procedural rhetoric, this paper argues that this series presents a critique of extreme ideology itself.
Hayley McCullough’s ‘“Hey! Listen!”: Video Game Dialogue, Integrative Complexity and the Perception of Quality,’ explores potential complexity differences between winning and losing video games at the Spike Video Game Awards. It compared the integrative complexity of a sample of video game dialogue for three categories (Best Shooter, Best RPG and Best Action/Adventure). Across all analyses a consistent mean pattern emerged: The winning games averaged lower complexity scores than the losing games. These findings suggest a general association between simplistic dialogue and high-quality video games, providing keen insight into the underlying psychology of video games, and establishes a strong foundation for future research.
As this issue demonstrates, Press Start is always delighted to be publishing the best new work by early career researchers from a wide variety of disciplinary fields.
The Press Start Journal team also welcomed many new members to our editorial board. During this transition period, we’ve begun a mentoring program for our senior members to share their knowledge of the editorial process. This spirit of mentorship, guidance, and support is something we hope to continue into our journal’s future as it reflects our larger goal of encouraging game studies students to share their work and take part in a lively, academic community.
Once again, we’re seeking new members to replace our outgoing board, who are graduating and moving on to other things. Board members of Press Start serve as key stakeholders and decision-makers for developing the journal and actively work to support student scholarship in game studies. Current students and graduates within one year of their graduation date are eligible to apply. Our deadline to apply to be on the editorial board this year has just past, but if you are interested in working with Press Start in the future, you can find more information on the responsibilities of an editor here.
In 2018, we saw some of our editors present on a panel at DiGRA in Turin, Italy. This was an exciting opportunity for our new members to sit down with established members and discuss our hopes, expectations, and advice regarding the publishing process in general, and with Press Start in particular. While everyone has a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, some commonalities emerged. Fostering an open, supportive, caring – in other words, overtly feminist – atmosphere for editors, reviewers, and contributors has been our most important goal. Reaching out to, and encouraging, junior scholars, new graduate students, upper year undergraduate students, and scholars whose first language is not English are also central goals for Press Start. Given the often intimidating, daunting, and confusing process of academic publishing, we hope to make Press Start an appealing home for exciting, innovative, unusual, and social justice-oriented games research.
As students and emerging academics, we believe Press Start should embody the kinds of practices that we want to see become standards for academia. Thus, in order to see a greater diversity in game studies scholarship, we have introduced an initiative to translate our calls for papers into as many languages as we can find volunteers: http://tinyurl.com/yblfxkk4. Press Startencourages submissions from ESL writers, especially if they are not yet fully confident of their ability to write academically in English but want to learn and improve.
Press Start Journal is a labour of love and we thank you for your continued support of our journal.
Best wishes from the Press Start editorial board,
Mahli-Ann Butt, Landon Kyle Berry, Sarah Stang, Alicia Copeland, Leandro Augusto Borges Lima, Erin MacLean, Reece Thomson, and Dennis Wilson.
Press Start
2019-03-12 03:46:45
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/137
Press Start; Vol 5 No 1 (2019)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/145
2020-06-09T19:54:40Z
press-start:ART
"200609 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Illuminating the Spectre
Tang, Jessica Yuening
Massachusetts Institute of Technology http://jynnie.me
As video game streaming increases in popularity, the number of viewers spectating these streams has also increased. However, even while streaming seeks to develop more methods to include viewer participation, spectators are often viewed as passive or in the “backseat.” In this paper I focus on findings from the development and play of a software overlay that allows spectators to control what parts of the screen are visible to them. I argue that the labor of spectating not only generates valuable knowledge, but can be encouraged and highlighted without turning spectators into players.
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/145
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/151
2021-06-16T14:25:42Z
press-start:ART
"210609 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Humans as Data
Kehrer, Kai
University of Freiburg
The fear of humans abusing technology to control others and the sociopolitical order has been at the heart of many dystopian stories. This fear is also at the heart of Watch_Dogs 2, where the centralized city-wide management system made by the Blume Corporation, called ctOS, has become the basis for all things online. Over the course of the story, the player becomes part of the hacktivist group DedSec, who uncover and disclose the manipulative usage of the internet by Blume and other tech corporations.
The oppressive system of surveillance, automated data collection, and (social) media manipulation is presented in detail during the main and side missions of the game. These missions criticize current topics of interest regarding internet and data security by referencing specific events and addressing important, underlying issues. The game also includes gameplay aspects where players are able to experience and perform the power of the system first-hand.
However, textual analyses of the narrative and the ludic elements reveal contradictions and incoherencies between gameplay design and the narrative’s intended criticism caused by the interplay of narrative storytelling and gameplay elements. The result is a split of atmosphere between story and gameplay, creating the impression that Watch_Dogs 2 has two contradicting personalities, which ultimately subvert its own dystopian criticism.
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/151
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/154
2019-08-27T07:24:05Z
press-start:ART
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Walking Simulators and Interactive Fiction in the Composition Classroom
Frank, Daniel
Writing Program, University of California, Santa Barbara
In answer to calls for a 21st century reconsideration of traditional procedures of classroom writing, I offer student-created interactive fiction (IF) as a classroom exercise that blends digital literacy, games-based pedagogy, and writing practice. I find walking simulators like Firewatchand The Stanley Parable serveas effective models of IF games. The walking simulator genre shows that by promoting a sense of immersion, exploration, and letting players take their time, a game can reveal advanced narrativity and literariness, as well as a range of rhetorical possibilities. By workshopping IF platforms such as Twine or InkScript, students can learn to create their own textual walking simulators. In this way,they can engage in an accessible, text-based form of worldbuilding and learn to craft explorable, unfolding narratives that represent their research, point of view, or argument. This article explores the pedagogical potential of interactive fiction, discusses some of the literary possibilities found within walking simulators, offers some ideas about leading a composition classroom in reading and analyzing these games, and provides a brief overview of getting started with worldbuilding in Twine or Ink.
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/154
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/169
2020-06-09T19:54:39Z
press-start:ART
"200609 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
The Relationship Between Power Distance, Trust, and Performance in Video Game Development Teams
Cook, Hershall
SMU Guildhall
Stringer, Elizabeth
SMU Guildhall
Slocum, John
SMU: Cox School of Business
This study investigated the effect of power distance and intra-team trust on performance in video game development teams. Drawing on a data set of 11 student teams developing mobile video games, we found a significant positive relationship between intra-team trust and team performance over time. The growth in the significance of this relationship over time paralleled Tuckman and Jensen’s (2010) four stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, and performing). No relationship was identified between team power distance and team performance. These findings contribute to forming a general understanding of how power distance and team trust affect the performance of video game development teams.
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/169
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/172
2019-08-27T07:24:05Z
press-start:ED
"190826 2019 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Walking Simulators Special Issue Editorial
Stang, Sarah
York University
Walking Simulators Special Issue Editorial
Press Start
2019-08-26 15:41:56
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/172
Press Start; Vol 5 No 2 (2019): Special Issue: Walking Simulators
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/180
2020-06-09T19:54:41Z
press-start:ART
"200609 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Ludic Cyborgism
Jansen, Dennis
Utrecht University
This article develops and critiques the concept of ludic cyborgism: the notion that playing videogames allows players a free, non-committal, yet strongly embodied pedagogical engagement with cyborg-being. The article argues that videogame play is a form of cyborgization—the act of becoming a metaphorical cyborg through participation in cybernetic feedback loops. Game Studies has so far neglected to deal with the historical and political implications of this cybernetic engagement, having chosen instead to focus on the supposedly educational and emancipatory aspects of the phenomenon. The history of videogames as simulations is intimately entangled with the development of training simulations in the military-entertainment complex of the late twentieth century United States (Crogan, 2011; Lenoir, 2000), and so what players are principally being taught through videogame play is how to operate military technologies like weapons targeting systems without critiquing the violent nature of those technologies. Moreover, the “cyborg-utopian” reading by game scholars of Donna Haraway’s (1985/1991) “Cyborg Manifesto,” which underlies most of the theoretical framework of ludic cyborgism, facilitates an uncritical understanding of cybernetic videogame play as an ideologically neutral phenomenon. If we wish to bring emancipatory movements into videogames, we should see the simulatory nature of videogames as an inherently conservative force with strong ties to military violence, imperialism, and economic injustice, meaning that these frameworks would require significant transformation in order to become neutral or progressive in any sense.
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/180
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/185
2020-06-11T08:29:08Z
press-start:ART
"200609 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Friendly Fire Off
Verheij, Tamara
Communication Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Radboud University
Bleize, Daniëlle N. M.
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Cook, Christine L.
Department of Informatics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, USA
The increasing popularity of online videogames has raised questions concerning their potential to influence online and offline social behaviour. Previous research on social behaviour in relation to playing videogames has often focused on either cooperation (playing in pairs against the game) or competition (playing alone against other players); however, videogames, particularly multiplayer online games, often include both. This study investigates prosocial behaviour in videogames with both cooperative and competitive elements—team-based player versus player (PvP) games—and aims to examine whether the amount of time spent playing these games is related to in-game prosocial behaviour. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 727 respondents and results were analysed using conditional process modelling. No significant direct or indirect relationship between the amount of time spent playing team-based PvP games and in-game prosocial behaviour was found. However, an exploratory linear regression analysis revealed a significant, positive relationship between in-game and offline prosocial behaviour. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/185
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/187
2021-06-16T14:25:44Z
press-start:ART
"210602 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
A Cross-Game Look at Transgender Representation in Video Games
Thach, Hibby
Temple University
Despite a history of tracking, analyzing, and discussing transgender representation in media, research on video games is often left out. In this project, I analyzed 63 games released from 1988–2019, and documented on the LGBTQ Game Archive as having transgender characters. A content survey revealed four overarching trends in how video games represent transgender characters (i.e., dysphoria/physical transition, mentally ill killers, trans shock/reveal, and ambiguity). I also demonstrated how transgender representation in video games manifests in similar ways to film and television. Three out of four trends in transgender representation have been repeatedly studied in media studies, but the fourth and largest trend, gender ambiguity, remains understudied. Research on transgender representation in video games mostly focuses on explicit representation. However, the findings show that despite the lack of explicit representations, transness is largely included in media in the form of gender ambiguity without explicitly being there.
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/187
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/189
2021-06-16T14:25:43Z
press-start:ART
"210602 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
The Reliquaries of Hyrule
Hansen, Jared
University of Oregon
This study is a semiotic and iconographic analysis of the sacred architecture in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998). Through an analysis of the visual elements of the game, the researcher found evidence of visual metaphors that coded three temples as sacred spaces. This coding of the temples is accomplished through the symbolism of progression that matches the design of shrines and cathedrals, drawing on iconography and other symbolism associated with Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian sacred architecture. Such indications of sacred spaces highlight the ways in which these virtual environments are designed to symbolize the progression of the player from secular to sacred, much like the player’s progression from zero to hero. By using the architecture and symbolism of the three aforementioned belief systems, Ocarina of Time signifies these temples as reliquaries—that is, sacred places that house reverential items as part of the apotheosis of the player.
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/189
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/196
2020-06-09T19:54:42Z
press-start:ED
"200608 2020 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial
Stang, Sarah
York University
Editorial for June 2020 Issue
Press Start
2020-06-09 12:47:11
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/196
Press Start; Vol 6 No 1 (2020)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/197
2022-06-14T04:41:03Z
press-start:ART
"220515 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Understanding Extended Testing Feedback
Tong, Xinge
King's College London
The independent (“indie”) game is a common category of video games, referring generally to those that are developed by individuals or small teams. When creating new games, most developers recruit a testing team made up of users/gamers who are not in the immediate design team and generate feedback about the game. The main objective of this study is to explore a qualitative way for categorising and filtering online reviews through social media platforms to help indie developers process user feedback efficiently during the extended game testing phase. This research adopts a qualitative methodology to develop in-depth and high-quality results based on case studies of Manifold Garden (William Chyr Studio, 2019) and No Man’s Sky (Hello Games, 2016). It includes qualitative content analysis based on Grabarczyk and Aarseth’s (2018) ontological meta-model (2018). A comparative investigation is also used to evaluate two key media platforms: YouTube and Steam. The results indicate that Steam users’ reviews focused on fundamental aspects of the game operation and game mechanics. In contrast, reviews on YouTube were related to the visual performance of games. The researcher observed an understanding gap between reviewers and developers, which means not all reviewers’ advice had been accepted. In conclusion, indie developers could consider platform types when categorising and targeting user feedback.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/197
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/199
2022-08-11T19:20:25Z
press-start:ART
"220518 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Valorant and the Platformization of Free-To-Play Games
van der Molen, Kas
Utrecht University
By studying the early development stages of the free-to-play game Valorant (Riot Games, 2020), this research draws connections between game studies and recent platformization research. Traditionally, game scholars have treated the game industry as focused on selling premium-priced games. An alternative approach presents games as services that attempt to foster a long-term relationship with the player base. This paper zooms in on the latter, by studying the role of livestreaming in the service model of digital games. This sheds light on how service games can become intertwined with participatory modes of production, which benefits the longevity of service games. It points to a situation in which games, users, and platforms together make up one coherent system. The deployment of sociotechnical system scholarship identifies mechanisms that have been put in place to facilitate the interaction between users and platforms. With that in mind, this paper presents a qualitative content analysis of Twitch streams using a transcription method in which content creation is considered vital to the proliferation of the platform ecosystem. This work contributes to a growing body of literature bridging the fields of platform studies and game studies by taking into account the extended cultural practices and paratexts of both livestreaming and videogames.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/199
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/203
2021-06-16T14:25:43Z
press-start:ART
"210602 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Posthumanism in Outer Wilds
Bowie, Simon
Birkbeck, University of London
This article performs a posthumanist reading of Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital, 2019) focusing on how the game represents posthuman subjectivity. Outer Wilds uses two alien species to represent two conceptions of subjectivity: a transhumanism focused on technological augmentation of the human, and a posthumanism focused on decentring the human subject from philosophy and culture. This article argues that Outer Wilds leads the player through several Braidottian processes of posthuman “becoming.” Outer Wilds represents becoming-machine in the two species’ different approaches to technology, becoming-earth in embracing a geo-centred perspective on ecosystems beyond the subject, and becoming-imperceptible in the two species’ different approaches to death and the idea of the self. Through these becomings, Outer Wilds represents what it means to be a posthuman ethical subject in a world on the verge of collapse and emphasises the importance of acting in the face of an ongoing environmental disaster.
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/203
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/205
2021-06-16T14:25:44Z
press-start:ART
"210602 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Integrative Complexity, Horror, and Gender
McCullough, Hayley
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The present study examines the relationship between integrative complexity and gender in the horror video game Until Dawn (Supermassive Games, 2015). By comparing a random sample of dialogue from the playable female and male characters, this study explores structural nuances and linguistic differences in how the characters are written, valued, and emphasized in the game’s narrative. The results show that the female characters consistently scored significantly lower than the male characters in terms of integrative complexity. These findings may be explained by the male characters being main sources of conflict within the game and having greater degrees of agency. They also provide further support to the idea that female characters are often devalued and deemphasized—made secondary to their male counterparts—in horror narratives.
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/205
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/206
2022-06-14T04:41:03Z
press-start:ART
"220512 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Visual Novel Based Education in English Literature
Himes, Morgan
University of Florida
The present study aims to determine the relationship between visual novels and student engagement in English literature. The visual novel development program Ren’Py was used to create a visual novel based on S. E. Hinton’s classic novel The Outsiders (1967). The game was distributed to high school students, and data was collected using a pretest-post-test quasi-experimental design. A descriptive positive relationship was tentatively found; students who indicated having read the book as well as having played the visual novel reported having a refreshed or otherwise positive experience with the visual novel. Factors such as learning enjoyment; behaviour, effort, and persistence; and cognitive learning were identified as having been enhanced through interaction with the visual novel, which suggests an overall improvement in student engagement. The most valuable implication of devoting research to this topic is the advancement of teaching methods that can impact the way students read and think critically about texts. With greater evidence and a wider breadth of subject material covered in the future, it could be possible to transform how high school students interact with literature.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/206
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/208
2023-02-14T01:39:19Z
press-start:BR
"210602 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: A Play of Bodies: How We Perceive Videogames
Timss, Braden
Western Washington University
Review: A Play of Bodies: How We Perceive Videogames, by Brendan Keogh. MIT Press. 2018. ISBN: 9780262037631
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/208
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/209
2022-02-01T00:01:17Z
press-start:ART
"220112 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
“The New Heroism” in Jennifer Egan’s “Black Box”
Power, Mairi
University of Glasgow
This article analyses the concept of “the new heroism” in Jennifer Egan’s 2012 Twitter fiction “Black Box.” The article compares the Twitter fiction reader to the video game player and applies some notions from video games in navigating the digital environment of Twitter. Moving on to the fictional description of heroism within the text, the article considers the process of digitisation described as it affects the human body and individual identity, creating “digital heroes.” Ideas of gender and sexual trauma transform the female body into a political weapon through digitisation. Final comments connect the text’s depiction of death and the afterlife to the preliminary discussion of video games, enabling the protagonist to exist forever as a digital file—or “saved game.” Conclusions draw out connections between the digital collective of the heroism in Egan’s text and the collaborative nature of electronic literature.
Press Start
2022-01-31 14:33:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/209
Press Start; Vol 8 No 1 (2022): Special Issue: Digital Heroisms
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/210
2022-02-01T00:01:17Z
press-start:ART
"220112 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Playing for the Legend in the Age of Empires II Online Community
Horrigan, Matthew
Simon Fraser University
Players in competitive games do not always pursue efficient victory. This essay is concerned with alternative goals in competitive videogaming. Here I examine practices of play, spectation, and casting in the Age of Empires II (Ensemble Studios, 1999) community, where playing “for the legend” is a form of heroic play that differs from playing for the win. Building on Celia Pearce’s (2009) ethnographic study of play communities, Will Wright’s (2004) notion of “possibility space,” Roger Caillois’s (1958/2001) theory of forms of play, and Roland Barthes's (1957/1972) semiology of myth, I argue in favour of a design philosophy supporting play for the legend as distinct—if potentially complementary—to both (1) the meritocratic agonism of esports and (2) attempts at capturing social life within game mechanics. Age of Empires II derives value from its function as a technology supporting a friendly community beyond what is encoded in software. The game’s success is not determined only by developer design but rather depends upon the work of a community defining its own ideals about what makes a good game and a heroic player.
Press Start
2022-01-31 14:33:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/210
Press Start; Vol 8 No 1 (2022): Special Issue: Digital Heroisms
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/212
2022-06-14T04:41:01Z
press-start:ART
"220610 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
What Factors Do Players Perceive as Methods of Retention in Battle Royale Games?
Saiger, Michael John
University of York http://www.mjsaiger.weebly.com
Khaleque, Bobby Dewan Akram
Queen Mary University of London
Battle Royale (BR) games are well known for their ability to not only attract but also retain a large number of players. In this paper, we attempt to identify the common themes which BR players identify as methods of retention through a qualitative thematic analysis with 11 participants. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and analysed through thematic analysis. Seven common themes were identified, where (1) draw of new content, (2) mechanics and action of BR games, and (3) reward systems were suggested to impact retention. Additionally, (4) social dynamics and (5) mastery were external factors outside the game that may impact retention in BR games. However, the other themes of (6) aesthetic preference and (7) unique selling points were not contributing factors in our sample. Further work is needed to understand the impact of these retention factors and how to design for these factors in game development.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/212
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/214
2022-02-01T00:01:16Z
press-start:ART
"220118 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Composing the Hero
Owens, Katherine
Baylor University
In recent years, the academic study of video game music has increased as players express greater interest in listening to scores outside of play. While much study is dedicated to how music communicates gendered narrative within cinema, these same semiotics are little explored in the musical scores of games. This article examines music’s role in characterizing gendered narrative tropes of heroism and action within fantasy RPGs. Drawing on ludomusicalogical theories of game music function, gender film music theory, and narratological structuring of heroes and heroines, this article examines how music informs players of gender identity in video game character construction and play. The musical content for the themes of the hero Kratos from God of War (Santa Monica Studio, 2018) and the heroine Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games, 2017) are analyzed to determine how game creators and composers communicate, intentionally or otherwise, gendered ideals of heroic narrative through instrumentation, tonality, and rhythm. By comparing these musical themes and their gender connotations to the plot, character construction, and player interaction of both Kratos and Aloy reveals how music adheres or subverts traditional narrative tropes of heroes and heroines.
Press Start
2022-01-31 14:33:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/214
Press Start; Vol 8 No 1 (2022): Special Issue: Digital Heroisms
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/216
2022-06-14T04:41:03Z
press-start:ART
"220529 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Cinesthetic Play, or Gaming in the Flesh
Steur, Danny
Utrecht University
This paper adapts Vivian Sobchack’s (2004) concept of the cinesthetic subject, which addresses the corporeality of the cinematic experience, to the medium of videogaming. I thus develop the concept of cinesthetic play by translating the three components constitutive of Sobchack’s cinesthetic subject: cinema, kinesthesia, and synesthesia. The mediality of cinema is translated with recourse to another of Sobchack’s concepts, the film body, which has previously been translated into the game body (Crick, 2011). I then illustrate synesthetic sense-making of game-worlds and discuss how the notion of kinesthetic empathy figures in videogaming. These three components together mitigate some limitations of previous phenomenological models of gaming, which do not similarly integrate the human sensorium’s different modalities. I conceive of cinesthetic play as hybrid real-and-virtual embodiment, in which players corporeally understand a game through a perception that is informed by commutating senses and their tacit understanding of the movements of and within the game-world. Additionally, throughout the paper I contend that, although scholarship on videogame phenomenology generally focuses on three-dimensionally navigable games, this embodied experience holds for two-dimensional games as well. I illustrate this point with the game Celeste (Matt Makes Games, 2018), which I use to demonstrate the value of the notion of cinesthetic play for an analysis of the embodied playing and sense-making of videogames.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/216
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/221
2023-04-04T15:25:49Z
press-start:ART
"230324 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Doki Doki Subversion Club!
Allan, Matthew Scott
University of Auckland
This article investigates the visual novel and dating simulator Doki Doki Literature Club! (Team Salvato, 2017) and examines the unique potential of video games as a media form to produce uncanny, gothic, and abject horror texts. In DDLC!, these modes of horror are manifested through “game breaking” mechanics, such as purposeful glitches and moments where the boundaries of the operating system are transgressed. Through this transgression, the game haunts the player’s computer, and by extension, their home. This haunting is achieved through unique aspects of the video game medium as well as the ubiquitous nature of digital technology present in our daily lives and domestic spaces.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/221
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/222
2021-06-16T14:25:43Z
press-start:ED
"210609 2021 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial
Stang, Sarah
York University
Editorial for the June 2021 issue.
Press Start
2021-06-15 14:42:29
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/222
Press Start; Vol 7 No 1 (2021)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/226
2023-04-04T15:25:49Z
press-start:ART
"230226 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Lost in a Dream
Yu, Elliot Bear
University of California, Los Angeles
This article investigates the opportunities for queer play in Yume Nikki (KIKIYAMA, 2004) by examining the spatial and temporal dimensions of the game’s “Dream World” alongside its narrative. Using surreal visuals and counterintuitive layouts, Yume Nikki’s game maps evoke queer experiences of space, movement, and wandering. In addition, the game encourages wandering through the absence of temporally ordered events and the game’s general lack of interest in timekeeping. The game’s construction promotes a play style that highlights aspects of queer experiences including disorientation and failure. The player’s aimless roaming through time and space are not a failure to master the game, but another way Yume Nikki celebrates queerness and rejects the values of mainstream success, fun, and play.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/226
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/233
2022-02-01T00:01:16Z
press-start:ED
"220127 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Digital Heroisms Special Issue Editorial
Elvery, Gabriel
University of Glasgow
Butterworth-Parr, Francis
University of Glasgow
Digital Heroisms Special Issue Editorial
Press Start
2022-01-31 14:33:01
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/233
Press Start; Vol 8 No 1 (2022): Special Issue: Digital Heroisms
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/234
2023-02-14T01:41:12Z
press-start:BR
"220529 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Cooperative Gaming: Diversity in the Games Industry and How to Cultivate Inclusion
Hanussek, Benjamin
University of Klagenfurt
Review: Cooperative Gaming: Diversity in the Games Industry and How to Cultivate Inclusion, by Alayna Cole and Jessica Zammit. 2020. CRC Press. xv + 95 pp.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/234
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/236
2023-04-04T15:25:49Z
press-start:ART
"230320 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Becoming Halfling
Hines, Mark
University of Kentucky
Livestreamed play of tabletop games affords a new medium for analysis of racialization for game studies. For Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (Multiple authors, 2014) actual plays, audiences can engage with racialized narratives in underappreciated ways. The actual play Critical Role (Critical Role, 2012-present) employs players’ knowledge of the genre of high fantasy to create collaborative, improvisational narratives which delve into themes of racism and bigotry. This dynamic often leads players to draw on real world political narratives and discourses in order to engage audiences’ prior knowledge and examine pertinent themes. This paper analyses one such example in the case of Nott the Brave, a character in Critical Role’s popular second campaign. Nott’s narrative arc, taking place over several hundred hours of gameplay, is a site of racialized play, problematizing simple narratives of representation and identity. This article employs textual analysis and semiotics in examining Nott’s racialization as a Goblin character. I draw heavily on Jenkins’s (2004) notion of gameplay as narrative architecture in considering the limits that racialized play allows the cast of Critical Role. In doing so, I offer insights into how tabletop roleplaying games actual plays might add nuance to debates surrounding narrative and gameplay in roleplaying games, especially as it relates to narratives of White supremacy and domination.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/236
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/237
2023-02-14T01:40:34Z
press-start:BR
"220530 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming
Thach, Hibby
University of Illinois at Chicago
Review: Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming, by Kishonna L. Gray. 2020. Louisiana State University Press. xiii + 195 pp.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/237
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/238
2023-02-14T00:37:00Z
press-start:BR
"220530 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: How to Be a Games User Researcher
Todd, Joe
University of Waterloo
Review: How to Be a Games User Researcher, by Steve Bromley. 2021. Self-Published. 173 pp.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/238
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/247
2023-02-14T01:39:58Z
press-start:BR
"220515 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers Are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games
Kocik, David Peter
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Review: The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers Are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games, by Bonnie Ruberg. 2020. Duke University Press. xii + 276 pp.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/247
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/249
2023-04-04T15:25:50Z
press-start:BR
"230214 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Perspectives on the European Videogame
Cowen, Andre
De Montfort University
Review: Perspectives on the European Videogame, edited by Victor Navarro-Remesal and Óliver Pérez-Latorre. 2021. Amsterdam University Press. 236 pp.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/249
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/251
2022-06-14T04:41:02Z
press-start:ED
"220609 2022 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Editorial
Poirier-Poulin, Samuel
Université de Montréal
Stang, Sarah
Maclean, Erin
Watson, Lauren
Bailey, Andrew
Fleshman, Andrew
Catá-Ross, Alexandra
Jones, Ashley P.
Delany, Avery
Timss, Braden
Courtois, Charlotte
Barkman, Cassandra
Butterworth-Parr, Francis
McCullough, Hayley
Thach, Hibby
Editorial for the June 2022 issue.
Press Start
2022-06-13 11:59:41
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/251
Press Start; Vol 8 No 2 (2022)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/252
2023-04-04T15:25:49Z
press-start:BR
"230214 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons
Iantorno, Michael
Concordia University
Review: Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, by Jon Peterson. 2021. The MIT Press. xii + 386 pp.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/252
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/255
2023-04-04T15:25:47Z
press-start:BR
"230401 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Experimental Games: Critique, Play, and Design in the Age of Gamification
Blamey, Courtney
Concordia University
Review: Experimental Games: Critique, Play, and Design in the Age of Gamification, by Patrick Jagoda. 2020. The University of Chicago Press. xi + 386 pp.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/255
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/258
2023-04-04T15:25:48Z
press-start:BR
"230401 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics
Smith Nicholls, Florence
Queen Mary University of London
Review: Image Objects: An Archaeology of Computer Graphics, by Jacob Gaboury. 2021. The MIT Press. 295 pp.
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/258
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
oai:ojs.press-start.gla.ac.uk:article/259
2023-04-04T15:25:47Z
press-start:BR
"230401 2023 eng "
2055-8198
dc
Review: Digital Playground: The Hidden Politics of Children’s Online Play Spaces, Virtual Worlds and Connected Games
Balcı, Doruk
Tampere University
Review: Digital Playgrounds: The Hidden Politics of Children’s Online Play Spaces, Virtual Worlds and Connected Games, by Sara Grimes. 2021. University of Toronto Press. vii + 358 pp
Press Start
2023-04-04 13:10:25
application/pdf
http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/259
Press Start; Vol 9 No 1 (2023)
eng
##submission.copyrightStatement##
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