Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture
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Repelling the Invasion of the “Other”: Post-Apocalyptic Alien Shooter Videogames Addressing Contemporary Cultural Attitudes
No full textIn the current videogame landscape, a great deal of first-person shooters are being made that depict a post-apocalyptic invasion by an “alien” force that must be repelled. Culture in a given context can become preoccupied with certain issues and themes because of the societal situation it is born from. This allegorical function serves to speak to historically grounded contemporary concerns. Many of today’s contemporary concerns are related in some ways to 9/11, and the scholarly works that address the influence this event has had on videogames seem to pay closer attention to games that deal with these issues on an explicit level. This analysis moves past the singular historical event of 9/11 to show how latent long term attitudes and beliefs can be addressed by cultural texts on a more allegorical level. Through looking at the FPS invasion videogame texts themselves, such as the Resistance and Killzone series, it becomes clear that what these games are speaking to is a latent fear and mistrust of those culturally different. Through a fair amount of “Othering,” a steadfast ethnocentric viewpoint, and a reliance on the theme of the justified war, these games speak to contemporary cultural attitudes that are intertwined with the reputation of the US overseas. Instead of addressing these concerns head on, these videogame cultural texts place them within thinly veiled allegories that make explicit the desire to repel the invasion of forces that threaten the Western world
Generations of Game Analytics, Achievements and High Scores
No full textThis paper poses the question, how has game recording evolved over the generations and how will it affect future generations of players and game developers who have access to the digital past? High scores have a history behind them and as generations of games have moved forward they begin to record much more than just scores. The present player generation can record complete replays of their entire gameplay performances and even play against other recorded player ghosts. As the future generations of gamers and developers take over they will have unprecedented access to the digital history archive as it becomes easier and easier to record and store the past. Deciding what to do with that past will be the next generation’s task as games move into the future
Notes on the Biographical Meaning of Games and Online-Games
No full textThe usual stereotype of the player of video games is that as young and male. That players become older and video games abide in peoples´ lives is still a new perspective on video games. This is the starting point of our research project “Cultures of gaming. Towards the biographical meaning of games and online-games” which focuses the meaning of games and video games in a biographical viewpoint. We are comparing the experiences and reflections in different age groups with a main focus on players that are approximately 60 years or older. By using the method of biographical interviews we are centring the context between play, video games, the use of technology and the life story. In our lecture we discuss some results of the analysis of the biographical interviews. First we point out the role of the different modes of speaking about games by showing some typical patterns that were frequently used by the interviewed persons by talking about games. The second top is about the relation between games and biography showing some examples how games become important for life history. The third point deals with the different evaluations of games and the preferences that were expressed by the interviewed persons. In a final step we ask in how far the adoption of technology plays an important role - especially for older people - for their open-mindedness towards video games
Chopin\u27s Dream as Reality: A Critical Reading of Eternal Sonata
No full textThis article opens with a short statement on how video games should be considered as a viable means of making cultural and social statements and compares the evolution of literature to the evolution of video game narratives. After making an argument for Eternal Sonata as meaningful art worthy of critical attention it proceeds to give a critical reading of the game which presents Eternal Sonata as an instrument critical of specific aspects of society, including war, human greed, and the interests of large companies. The article integrates video game and critical theory, professional commentary, excerpts from the game, and examples of poetry, music, and painting to support the arguments presented
Just Gaming: On Being Differently Literate
No full textHow do videogame players who are ‘by day’ engaged in formal media and literacy education understand the boundaries between playing, reading and writing in the sphere of ‘Media 2.0’ in relation to the kinds of reading practices they are obliged to be immersed in during formal learning? How might empirical witness to such cultural practices usefully inform current educational policy debates in the United Kingdom in relation to the current ‘Literacy’ and ‘Media Literacy’ agendas and their attendant discourses? This paper presents emergent findings from a qualitative research study undertaken with a small group of 16-17 college students who are regular players of Grand Theft Auto IV. It attempts to explore the multiplicity of their ways of telling (about being, in the game) in relation to poststructuralist theories of difference and in particular Lyotard’s (1985) notion of ‘gaming’ – whereby the rules of literacy are always-already local, fluid, changing and contested. Drawing on approaches from critical discourse analysis the thoughts and reflections of the students in relation to what they think it means to read, and be a reader and to play and be a player are explored. By giving voice to game players who are often spoken for, this paper offers findings that will be informative for colleagues with an interest in Media Literacy as social practice, as opposed to a set of competences. Thus we suggest that the use of poststructuralist critical theory (informed by Lyotard’s ‘Just Gaming’ intervention) for such discussion is neither abstract nor ‘only’ theoretical but, because the videogame as a media form resists ‘orthodox’ representational concepts, that such a theoretical context is an obligation, and of direct ‘practical’ value in the development of policy and practice around Media Literacy.  
Ten years later
No full textHow does the participation in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) affect the individual gamer’s self- development and social integration? The results of 1998/99’s empirical study dealing with the topic of “Integrative Potentials of New Technologies” (see Götzenbrucker 2001) already highlighted the fact that differing gaming environments attracted specific types of gamers. These various types of gamers were characterized by different kinds of lifestyles and divergent social positions. The aim of the actual study was to yield new insights into the long-term effects of playing MMORPGs. This was accomplished through interviews with 15 of the online gamers interviewed for 1999’s research project. In the course of the “gamer’s career” the game is gradually inscribed into everyday life through processes of “habitualization” and “ritualization” becoming a part of the gamer’s individual “media menus”. According to the long-term gamers’ diverging motivational sets 4 different types of gamers could be identified varying regarding their focus of playing and strategies of integrating the game into everyday life. Altogether, the findings provide an account of the mutual interference of playing habits and life situation. As activities related to media simultaneously involve time (see Neverla 2007) “time” is playing an important role in the process of incorporating social practices of gaming into every day life. When life situations change due to the transition from a period of education to a period of life determined by work time capacities diminish drastically. This is why the gamers develop specific strategies of adaptation. Another important parameter are “turning points” (for example birth of a child) in the gamers’ lives. Comparison highlighted the fact that the size of the gamers’ formerly large social networks has decreased and their configuration has changed: Although online gamer friends are still forming a big part of the gamers’ social networks (in sum 22% of all existing network-contacts) ex gamers (people who quitted gaming) by trend have less online gamer friends belonging to their social networks then before. Conversely in the still gamers’ networks the number of online gamer friends has increased. In conclusion the interviewees can be characterized as “innovaters” or “early adopters” as well as “pioneers of the digital generation” who form a part of a “technological avant-garde”. They represent a new “media lifestyle” which similarly incorporates the virtual and the real world
Tanks, Chauffeurs and Backseat Drivers: Competence in MMORPGs
No full textIn this paper learning and competence in the MMORPG World of Warcraft are explored. In order to facilitate movement between in-game and the real-world contexts of play, data was collected from couples who play the game together while sharing real space. Through the collection and analysis of interview data the authors develop a framework for the examination of learning practices. The ways in which players acquire and assess skills, balance different skill levels, and accommodate different play preferences, are discussed. It is argued that competence in MMORPGs is complex, variously constituted and assessed by players in diverse ways.  
\u27I am Trying to Believe\u27: Dystopia as Utopia in the Year Zero Alternate Reality Game
No full textA major symptom of postmodernity is the loss of utopian energy, of which the popularity of dystopian cultural production is evident. The dystopian genre, however, is cautionary, and thus utopian. Associated is the influence of technology on post-utopian culture—although it has been viewed pessimistically, technology allows for new ways of telling dystopian stories. One such mode of telling dystopian stories is the Alternate Reality Game (ARG), a narrative, multi-media game, using several different technologies that puts the player in a fictional reality. One ARG that exemplifies the idea of dystopia as having utopian energy is Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero, which shows that technology can have utopian energy, offering new ways of telling dystopian stories such as via the ARG, thus locating some utopian energy in postmodern culture through the form’s culturally critical structure and interactive nature, which equals a call to action against the dystopian nature of contemporary society