scholarly journals Towards a “Filipino” Video Game: Teaching Filipino Culture and Identity for Video Game Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffer Mitch C. Cerda
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Filipino Culture ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Developers

This paper uses the author’s experiences of teaching the Filipino module of a multidisciplinary video game development class as a case study in teaching Filipino culture and identity as an element of video game development. A preliminary definition of “Filipino video game” as having Filipino narratives and subject matter, made by Filipino video game developers, and catering to a Filipino audience, is proposed. The realities and limitations of video game development and the video game market in the Philippines is also discussed to show how the dominance of Western video game industry, in terms of the dominance of outsource work for Filipino video game developers and the dominance of non-Filipino video games played by Filipino players, has hindered the development of original Filipino video games. Using four Filipino video games as primary texts discussed in class, students were exposed to Filipinomade video games, and shown how these games use Filipino history, culture, and politics as source material for their narrative and design. Issues of how video games can be used to selfexoticization, and the use of propaganda is discussed, and also how video games can be used to confront and reimagine Filipinoness. The paper ends with a discussion of a student-made game titled Alibatas, a game that aims to teach baybayin, a neglected native writing system in the Philippines as a demonstration of how students can make a Filipino video game. The paper then shows the importance of student-made games, and the role that the academe plays in the critical understanding of Filipino video games, and in defining Filipino culture and identity.

EXPLORATION VS. EXPLOITATION AND HOW VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS ARE ABLE TO COMBINE THE TWO

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. 1650045
Author(s):  
BJÖRN REMNELAND WIKHAMN ◽  
ALEXANDER STYHRE ◽  
JAN LJUNGBERG ◽  
ANNA MARIA SZCZEPANSKA
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Suitable Case

This paper reports an in-depth qualitative study about innovation work in the Swedish video game industry. More specifically, it focuses on how video game developers are building ambidextrous capabilities to simultaneously addressing explorative and exploitative activities. The Swedish video game industry is a particularly suitable case to analyze ambidexterity, due to it’s extreme market success and continuous ability to adapt to shifts in technologies and demands. Based on the empirical data, three ambidextrous capabilities are pointed out as particularly valuable for video game developers; (1) the ability to separate between a creative work climate and the effectiveness in project organizing; (2) the balancing of inward and outward ideation influences, and (3) the diversity in operational means and knowledge paired with shared goals and motivations, derived from the love of video games and video game development.

Introduction: Why Game Production Matters?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olli Sotamaa ◽  
Jan Švelch
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Game Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry

In the introduction, the editors of this collection argue for the importance of game production studies at a point when the public awareness about the production context of video games has, arguably, never been higher. With so many accounts of video game development permeating player and developer communities, the task of game production studies is to uncover the economic, cultural, and political structures that influence the final form of games by applying rigorous research methods. While the field of game studies has developed quickly in the past two decades, the study of the video game industry and different modes of video game production have been mostly dismissed by game studies scholars and requires more attention.

The Nintendo Entertainment System and the 10NES Chip: Carving the Video Game Industry in Silicon

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Local Effects ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry

This essay makes the argument that the numerous ‘‘networks’’ or ‘‘inter/intranetworks’’ that structure the video game industry have lived local effects for those involved in the production of video games. In particular, this is most visible in the realm of console video game development but is visible in many other contexts as well. It uses the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as an index into this complex and highly structured world that frequently disappears from developers perception. The essay uses largely historical data drawn from patent filings, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and court cases to analyze these networks. The essay argues that these inter/intranetworks, as constructed, have been instrumental in the way that the game industry now finds itself structured and that as the industry has ‘‘matured,’’ the networks have become less accessible and less interoperable.

White Masculinity, Creative Desires, and Production Ideology in Video Game Development

2020 ◽  
pp. 155541202093987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ergin Bulut
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Game Development ◽  
White Masculinity ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Game Developers

Game workers have a problem. They code values and ideologies into games, but they are either not aware of it or deny it. Through a constructive and critical engagement with Games of Empire, I propose the concept of “ludic religiosity” to reveal how white masculinity informs game workers’ professional discourses, technological practices, ludic desires, and imaginations. Drawing on three-year-long ethnographic research and in conversation with cultural studies, philosophy of technology, and postcolonial game studies, I revisit desiring machine and ideology, two major concepts from Games of Empire. My goal is to demonstrate the racialized and gendered discourses and practices behind game developers’ desire to produce cognitive capitalism’s “escapist” commodities and rethink ideology within white masculine production cultures. Foregrounding how racialized and gendered practices and imaginations inform the desire behind the global game industry is crucial, especially in the aftermath of Gamergate and the rise of authoritarianism.

scholarly journals Video game consumer profiles

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 51-66
Author(s):  
Ivan Tolić ◽  
Vanja Šimunec ◽  
Dijana Vuković
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Normal Activity ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Development Path ◽  
Technology Sector ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Human Need ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Reducing Stress

The video game development path is full of drastic changes. The growth and strengthening of technology and the growth of innovation in the technology sector have inevitably led to the growth of this industry, which is nowadays achieving unexpected, enviable results. The basic human need for entertainment and socializing contributes to the popularity of video games. Today, video games are played by people of all ages and genders, and the most common reasons for playing video games are fun, socializing, learning, and reducing stress, but video games also provide interactive entertainment, unlike books, movies or theatre performances. The popularity of video games is witnessed by numerous communities on social networks through which professional gamers share their experiences, tips and video game reviews, and there are statistics that support this popularity and growth. The features offered by the video game industry do not need to be particularly emphasized because the results, statistics and enthusiastic players speak for themselves. This paper deals with the demographics and behaviour of consumers playing video games. The aim is to identify the main features of the user, video game players, and to identify and determine user habits and trends affecting the users. The consumer is a social and cultural being. At the same time, he is an individual for himself, a member of a family, a member of a group or a certain class or class in society, a representative of a particular nation, race, religion, nationality of a particular country, etc. The consumer is a person who has the money (assets) and a will to buy the goods or a service. In this paper, the above consumer definitions will be brought in correlation with the video game market, with an industry that encompasses various forms of modern entertainment. It is shown that technology and new modes of entertainment are present among all, and that we need to adjust the time we live in. Playing some kind of video games has become a normal activity of any normal, modern individual.

scholarly journals The perils of project-based work: Attempting resistance to extreme work practices in video game development

Organization ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Peticca-Harris ◽  
Johanna Weststar ◽  
Steve McKenna
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Dominant Ideologies ◽  
Reader Comments ◽  
Game Developers

This article examines two blogs written by the spouses of game developers about extreme and exploitative working conditions in the video game industry and the associated reader comments. The wives of these video game developers and members of the game community decry these working conditions and challenge dominant ideologies about making games. This article contributes to the work intensification literature by challenging the belief that long hours are necessary and inevitable to make successful games, discussing the negative toll of extreme work on workers and their families, and by highlighting that the project-based structure of game development both creates extreme work conditions and inhibits resistance. It considers how extreme work practices are legitimized through neo-normative control mechanisms made possible through project-based work structures and the perceived imperative of a race or ‘crunch’ to meet project deadlines. The findings show that neo-normative control mechanisms create an insularity within project teams and can make it difficult for workers to resist their own extreme working conditions, and at times to even understand them as extreme.

scholarly journals Semi-automatic construction of video game design prototypes with MaruGen

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Italo Felipe Capasso-Ballesteros ◽  
Fernando De la Rosa-Rosero
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
L Systems ◽  
Role Based ◽  
Game Designer ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Expression Mechanism

Machinations Ruleset Generator (MaruGen) is a semi-automatic system for the generation of mechanics, rules, spaces (environments), and missions for video games. The objective of this system is to offer an expression mechanism for the video game designer role based on the definition of rules, and the ability to explore the concepts of progression and emergence in video games by using a formal, usable, and defined tool to design games with innovative and complex elements, and behaviors defined from combinations of basic elements. Based on the expressed designs and with the participation of programmers and video game artists, MaruGen allows the generation of agile video game prototypes in the Unity game engine. These prototypes can be analyzed by the entire workgroup to look for games with diverse complexities that make them attractive to their users. MaruGen is based on the expression of rules on elements of interest in video games and the rewriting mechanism using L-Systems for the generation of procedural content. MaruGen was evaluated in the construction of the Cubic Explorer video game and tested by gamers and video game developers during the Game Jam Ludum Dare 38.

scholarly journals By two: A two-dimensional mobile game model for novice developers

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1336
Author(s):  
Abdallah Qusef ◽  
Abdallah Ayasreh ◽  
Adnan Shaout ◽  
Muhanna Muhanna
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Mobile Game ◽  
Game Features ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Beta Testing ◽  
Selection Of

The objective of this research was to discuss the processes and challenges encountered in the creation of mobile games for both Android and iOS platforms, which would help the novice game developers to enter the big world of mobile game industry. We highlighted each phase of the mobile game development. These involved suggestions on efficient brainstorming of ideas, proper selection of game engine, game design, number and type of pages, creation of levels, and distribution of complexity across the game level. In addition, other factors were considered such as the creation of User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) as well as definition of the screen object’s sizes and positions that would be suitable in all mobile devices. The importance of agile cycles of alpha and beta testing was also discussed, particularly its influence on the enhancement of game features. However, a successful game is recognized based on its earnings. Hence, a guide on how to properly market the game was also included. A model game called “By Two” was used in this study to illustrate and explain the steps in detail.

scholarly journals The everyday lives of video game developers: Experimentally understanding underlying systems/structures

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Daily Activity ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Collaborative Practice ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Developers

This essay examines how tensions between work and play for video game developers shape the worlds they create. The worlds of game developers, whose daily activity is linked to larger systems of experimentation and technoscientific practice, provide insights that transcend video game development work. The essay draws on ethnographic material from over 3 years of fieldwork with video game developers in the United States and India. It develops the notion of creative collaborative practice based on work in the fields of science and technology studies, game studies, and media studies. The importance of, the desire for, or the drive to understand underlying systems and structures has become fundamental to creative collaborative practice. I argue that the daily activity of game development embodies skills fundamental to creative collaborative practice and that these capabilities represent fundamental aspects of critical thought. Simultaneously, numerous interests have begun to intervene in ways that endanger these foundations of creative collaborative practice.

How Does Games Critique Impact Game Design Decisions? A Case Study of Monetization and Loot Boxes

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1004-1025
Author(s):  
Matthew E. Perks
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Pragmatic Sociology ◽  
Game Developers

Games critics arguably influence the form games take, identities of players, and identities of game developers. However, very little work in Game Studies examines how critical games journalism, games, developers, and independent actors intersect. This article argues that pragmatic sociology of critique, developed by Luc Boltanski, can act as a theoretical framework to aid in understanding these processes of critique. Utilizing a theoretical lens such as this helps us better understand the function of games critique within the video game industry. Applying this framework to a case study of monetization and “loot boxes,” this article emphasizes the role and power of journalistic critique in shaping gaming cultures, and the consumption and production of media more generally.

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