scholarly journals Multimodality and dubbing in video games: A research approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Mejías-Climent
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
Basic Unit ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Unique Type ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Do So

This article discusses a new taxonomy of dubbing synchronies in the Spanish localized version of the video game Batman: Arkham Knight. To do so, the concept of the video game is first reviewed as the most sophisticated example of audiovisual text in terms of its multimodal nature. The article also describes how the message is conveyed through the different communication channels that form a part of its semiotic structure. Next, the research approach proposal is presented, based on the multimodal configuration of video games: game situations will be the unit of analysis used in this approach, since they are a basic unit with which to organize the content of a game and they distinguish video games as a unique type of audiovisual text. These game situations are used to analyse the specific features of dubbing and types of synchrony. Finally, some results are offered to confirm that the taxonomy of dubbing in video games discussed here applies to this particular case.

scholarly journals Beyond Rules and Mechanics: A Different Approach for Ludology

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 587-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. Vargas-Iglesias ◽  
Luis Navarrete-Cardero
Keyword(s):  
Signal Processing ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Empirical Validity ◽  
Fundamental Part ◽  
System Order ◽  
Do So

Due to its affiliation with formalism, ludology, the scientific perspective prioritized in game studies, considers the rule–mechanic binomial to be an essential principle of any scholarly approach to video games. Nevertheless, the limitation of the game system order implies that, as a fundamental part of this epistemological approach, the empirical validity of its methodology is already being rejected. As such, this article attempts to shift the focus away from the rule–mechanic relation, and from a cybersemiotic perspective, to refocus it on a conceptualization of the human–machine relationship. In order to do so, the concept of convolution regarding said relation is defined, including both parts of the video game system in terms of signal processing. Likewise, this model is contrasted with a randomized total sample of 1,200 games ( N = 1,200, n = 300) in order to arrive at a set of conclusions about the behavior of the distinct video game genres in the indicated terms.

Feeling for an Audience

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-102
Author(s):  
Bonnie Ruberg ◽  
Amanda L. L. Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Streaming Video ◽  
Live Streaming ◽  
Instructional Videos ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Do So

Abstract The practice of live streaming video games is becoming increasingly popular worldwide (Taylor 2018). Live streaming represents more than entertainment; it is expanding the practice of turning play into work. Though it is commonly misconstrued as “just playing video games,” live streaming requires a great deal of behind-the-scenes labor, especially for women, who often face additional challenges as professionals within video game culture (AnyKey 2015). In this article, we shed light on one important aspect of the gendered work of video game live streaming: emotional labor. To do so, we present observations and insights drawn from our analysis of instructional videos created by women live streamers and posted to YouTube. These videos focus on “tips and tricks” for how aspiring streamers can become successful on Twitch. Building from these videos, we articulate the various forms that emotional labor takes for video game live streamers and the gendered implications of this labor. Within these videos, we identify key recurring topics, such as how streamers work to cultivate feelings in viewers, perform feelings, manage their own feelings, and use feelings to build personal brands and communities for their streams. Drawing from existing work on video games and labor, we move this scholarly conversation in important new directions by highlighting the role of emotional labor as a key facet of video game live streaming and insisting on the importance of attending to how the intersection of play and work is tied to identity.

scholarly journals Video Game Preservation in the UK: A Survey of Records Management Practices

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alasdair Bachell ◽  
Matthew Barr
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Records Management ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Games Development ◽  
Current Record ◽  
Do So

Video games are a cultural phenomenon; a medium like no other that has become one of the largest entertainment sectors in the world. While the UK boasts an enviable games development heritage, it risks losing a major part of its cultural output through an inability to preserve the games that are created by the country’s independent games developers. The issues go deeper than bit rot and other problems that affect all digital media; loss of context, copyright and legal issues, and the throwaway culture of the ‘next’ game all hinder the ability of fans and academics to preserve video games and make them accessible in the future. This study looked at the current attitudes towards preservation in the UK’s independent (‘indie’) video games industry by examining current record-keeping practices and analysing the views of games developers. The results show that there is an interest in preserving games, and possibly a desire to do so, but issues of piracy and cost prevent the industry from undertaking preservation work internally, and from allowing others to assume such responsibility. The recommendation made by this paper is not simply for preservation professionals and enthusiasts to collaborate with the industry, but to do so by advocating the commercial benefits that preservation may offer to the industry.

Game Transfer Phenomena: Origin, Development, and Contributions to the Video Game Research Field

2019 ◽  
pp. 531-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelica B. Ortiz de Gortari
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Holistic Research ◽  
Tactile Sensations

Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP) is a multimodal and holistic research approach for understanding the effects of playing video games on cognition, sensory perceptions, and behaviors, considering the interplay of video game contents, in-game phenomena (e.g., immersion, trance state, embodiment), in-game activities, and the manipulation of hardware and peripherals. Research with over 6,000 gamers from different samples has demonstrated that playing video games can lead to at least temporarily seeing images, hearing music, sounds, voices, tactile sensations, involuntary movements of limbs, sensations of unreality, illogical thoughts, verbal outbursts, etc., with video game contents. This chapter encompasses an overview of the research on GTP conducted to date, including contributions to the video game research field and future research directions. The chapter is divided into three main sections: i) the phenomena comprises characteristics and the prevalence of GTP; ii) the gamer covers the underlying factors associated with GTP, appraisal and consequences of GTP, and iii) the game includes structural characteristics associated with GTP.

Apocalypse and Video Games

2020 ◽  
pp. 432-449
Author(s):  
Rachel Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
The Real ◽  
The World ◽  
Do So

Though it might seem surprising at first, video games can work a lot like apocalypses. Both offer imaginary visits to otherworldly spaces that were designed to offer metaphysical comfort. Both, through theology or programming, allow us to temporarily enter into structured spaces that are more predictable than our own world. However, instead of depicting God as the means of control over the world, as apocalypses do, some video games place the player in the position of realizing renewed order through the performance of virtual violence. This chapter considers how the video game Darksiders draws on biblical apocalyptic imagery and also utilizes traditional apocalyptic elements like an us-versus-them structure, the glorification of violence, and a desire for renewed order in the world. Darksiders also reorients the agency of order-making, placing the player at the center of the action and depicting God as largely absent from human struggle. Games like Darksiders may comfort uneasy players, just as apocalypses do, by depicting a world that can be controlled. But they typically do so in a way that demands virtual violence of the player, calling us to question what role such games may play in shaping how we see ourselves in the real world.

scholarly journals On the use of participatory methodologies for video game research: Exploring disaster risk reduction in video games

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 205979911988427
Author(s):  
Anthony Viennaminovich Gampell ◽  
JC Gaillard ◽  
Meg Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Constructivist Learning Theory ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Potential Use

Video game scholars examining the shortcomings of previous video game research reference the need for new and innovative methodologies. Existing video game research seemingly inhibits organic learning experiences by setting specific research targets or providing players with gameplay instructions, hence utilising methodological approaches that study the learning process from the outside. With the increasing popularity of both serious and mainstream disaster video games, a necessity exists for innovative research to explore how video games can be used as learning tools. Based upon the researchers’ own enquiry, this article demonstrates the potential use, benefits and challenges of participatory methodologies for the conduct of video game research. This article pushes back upon traditional video game research methods, reviewing the methodological approaches of existing video game literature and demonstrates how participatory methodologies are currently being used for disaster video game research. An examination of participatory methodologies, being used in disaster video game research, reviews the strengths and challenges of each research approach. Rationalising the potential of participatory methodologies, in the context of constructivist learning theory and active participation, to foster the learning process and explore learning from the inside. As such this article provides an innovative methodological framework, which can be used as a template when considering future video game research.

scholarly journals Improving Youngsters’ Resilience Through Video Game-Based Interventions

2020 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. 263-279
Author(s):  
R. Menendez-Ferreira ◽  
J. Torregrosa ◽  
A. Panizo-Lledot ◽  
A. Gonzalez-Pardo ◽  
David Camacho
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Software Architecture ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Video Game ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Societal Issues ◽  
Do So

Radicalization, as a violent form of extremism, is a growing problem for Europe. Currently, it is possible to find extreme ideologies regarding almost every topic such as religion, politics or sports. This problem, which ranges from personal identity conflicts to complex societal issues, has an impact on several people everyday, especially on youngsters. To confront this situation, the European Union found several initiatives, as a way to face this problem from a scientific perspective. Some of these initiatives face the problem trying to reduce radicalization by working on personal and social skills through education, in such a way the youngster’s resilience is improved. This paper aims to present YoungRes, a European project whose goal is to improve the resilience of youngsters. To do so, it unifies an already created intervention — named Fortius — through the inclusion of video games in the learning process. This paper describes both: (1) how the Fortius program is modified to allow video games sessions and (2) the software architecture designed to allow students and educators to participate in YoungRes project. Finally, different suggestions to include in future versions of the game are discussed.

Frustration and Violence in Mobile Video Games

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Mobile Video ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Before And After

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.

Only problem gamblers spend less money when loot boxes are removed from a game: A before and after study of Heroes of the Storm

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Complex Pattern ◽  
Problem Gamblers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Gambling Severity ◽  
Reliable Correlation ◽  
Before And After Study

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.

Gambling-like video game practices: A cross-sectional study of links with problem gambling and disordered gaming

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Clinically Significant

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.

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