The Place of Culture, Society, and Politics in Video Game World-Building

2020 ◽  
pp. 110-131
Author(s):  
Mark R. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Game World

Coelacanth History: Uncle Buddy’s Phantom Funhouse and the Cybertext of Things

Traversals ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Moulthrop
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Time Machine ◽  
Authoring System ◽  
Game World

This chapter reflects on John McDaid’s author traversal of his 1993 hypermedia novel, Uncle Buddy’s Phantom Funhouse, a groundbreaking work not just for its comprehensive exploration of Apple’s HyperCard authoring system, but also because of its principle of “modally appropriate” presentation, involving non-digital artifacts as well. Built around the science-fictional notion of time travel and multiverses, the Funhouse thus invites consideration of his own curious history, in which it figures as a kind of broken time machine. Comparing McDaid’s work with later, similar projects from the video game world, the chapter argues for an understanding of digital culture that moves beyond the harsh binaries of obsolescence. As McDaid says: “We win by losing.”

Interacting with Information in a Digital Place: Information Practices in World of Warcraft

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Whippey
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Game World ◽  
Information Practices

This study examines the ways in which users interact with information in the video game World of Warcraft. Utilizing data gathered through participant observation and the recording of public chat, this presentation explores how information is presented as well as how players seek, share, and utilize the information they encounter.Cette étude examine l’interaction des usagers avec l’information dans le jeu vidéo World of Warcraft. L’analyse de données recueillies par l’observation des participants et l’enregistrement de séances de clavardage publiques permet d’explorer comment l’information est présentée et comment les joueurs recherchent, partagent et utilisent l’information qui leur est présentée. 

scholarly journals Ghosts of the Present Past: Spectrality in the Video Game Object

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Janik
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Fictional World ◽  
The Past ◽  
Game World ◽  
Digital Materiality ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Dual Status ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
Game Environments

The aim of the article is to analyse the phenomenon of ghost characters in video games from the perspective of Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology, and to use this as the starting point for a hauntological engagement with the video game object’srelationship with its own past. The paper will investigateghostly figuresand their spectral status inside the video game environment, as well as their uncertain hauntological status as both fictional bygone souls and digital in-game objects.On the basis of this analysis of ghostly figures in video game environments, I draw a line between the past of the fictional world and the past of the game world, and examine what happens when they overlap.The dual status of the in-game ghost will thereby serve to metonymically anchor an investi-gation into the duality of the game as a whole, as both fiction and digital materiality, and of the dif-ferent dimensions of the past that exist in between these two levels of the game object.

That world becomes you: Transportation into a video game world

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stermer ◽  
Melissa Burkley ◽  
Chad Cotner
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Game World

Gaming and Information Behavior

2015 ◽  
pp. 193-215
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Information Behavior ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Information Behaviors ◽  
Game World ◽  
Information Professionals

Library and Information Science (LIS) can sometimes be solely focused on libraries, but information science is also important for providing information for video games. Information science helps to provide the understanding of the different information behaviors that exists within video games, by individuals, by groups, and also how information outside of video games can contribute to video game culture and community. Much of the research that already exists within information science can already help with video games; it is just a matter of understanding what applies and where. Video games are made up of information; making sure that the information is being portrayed in the best way possible for the players is a way that information professionals can help the video game world. This chapter explores gaming and information behavior.

“Is It Too Much to Ask That We’re Allowed to Win the Game?”: Character Attachment and Agency in the Mass Effect 3 Ending Controversy

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Burgess ◽  
Christian M. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Mass Effect ◽  
Emotional Attachment ◽  
Acting Out ◽  
Game World ◽  
High Degree

The interaction between the concepts of character attachment, agency, and choice in a video game narrative was investigated using BioWare’s Mass Effect trilogy. Posts on a BioWare forum discussing the depiction of their player characters in the ending sequences of Mass Effect 3, the final game in the trilogy, were downloaded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Players demonstrated emotional attachment for the characters and narrative and expected to see the consequences of their choices play out, as in the previous games. Furthermore, players conflated winning the game with achieving a narratively satisfactory ending for the game world and its characters indicating emotional consequences for players that developers should consider when designing games with a high degree of player choice and agency. However, for some players character attachment is incongruous as they described Shepard as “acting out of character,” which needs further research.

Music for a Boss Fight: Creating for the Context of Video Game Worlds

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Emily Hatch
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Background Knowledge ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Video Game Music ◽  
Game World ◽  
Challenging Students

Creating music increases student engagement, and drawing on students’ background knowledge is a respectful way to value students’ lived experiences. By challenging students to create music for the context of a video game world, teachers can build on students’ previous knowledge and bridge that knowledge to the elements of music and creating music for specific contexts and purposes. This column outlines a project for fourth graders to create video game music for specific contexts within the game.

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