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"In war, not everyone\u27s a soldier." A Review of This War of Mine
No full textThis 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.
Default Characters and the Embodied Nature of Play: Race, Gender, and Gamer Identity
Get PDFThis 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
Girls, Guys and Games: How News Media Perpetuate Stereotypes of Male and Female Gamers
Get PDFDespite 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
A Gendered Identity Debate in Digital Game Culture
Get PDFAlthough 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.
Our Combative Past and Co-operative Future: Review of The Play Versus Story Divide in Game Studies: Critical Essays
Get PDFA 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
Playful Politics: Developing a Framework for Designing Video Games for Political Participation in the United Kingdom
Get PDFPolitical 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
The Legal Nature of Video Games – Adapting Copyright Law to Multimedia
Get PDFIn 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 \u27multimedia work\u27 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
One Simulated Hand, Two Real Hands: Antisimulation and Phenomenological Correspondence in Videogame Control Schemes
Get PDFThis 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
Authorship and Moral Rights in Video Games
Get PDFThe 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\u27 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\u27 contributors
Games-Based Learning as an Interdisciplinary Approach to Literacy across Curriculum for Excellence
Get PDFLiteracy 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