scholarly journals A Broken Mirror Held to History’s Face On the Narrative Use of Computer Screens, Multi Screen Experiences, and a Transmedia Theoretical Console in the Popular Assassin’s Creed Series

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Ottens
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Fictional World ◽  
Screen Media ◽  
Actual Reality ◽  
Media Objects ◽  
History Of ◽  
Shared Narrative

This paper presents media theorist Nanna Verhoeff’s concept of the theoretical console, as a popular and overt form of transmedia narrative. The theoretical console is taken to be a transmedia assemblage that draws attention to itself, as comprising diverse and meaningful media objects, that can be connected in a shared narrative. My main examples of this concept here are those popular video games that spatially juxtapose several types of computer screens and computer uses, with a narrative emphasis. With extensive references to theory on screened media and on transmedia narratives, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is my main example case study. Specifically, this game and its series peers encourage historiographic contemplations, by assembling a theoretical console across several media forms. Other popular video games from that series provide variations of this same transmedia constellation, this “theoretical console”. In its transmedia constellation, with a second screen mobile phone app, and other complementary screen media, the fictionalized history of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag implicates elements from its actual reality, across various forms of engagement. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag presents a high fidelity historical fiction, to be comprehensively enacted. It mirrors the player’s use of differing computer screens diegetically within playable frame story sections. In addition, the complementary affordances of the mobile phone app, and integrated social media websites, all encourage its player to stay involved in this fictional world, even outside immediate play. With this, the game draws many activities into a single transmedial fiction constellation. Moreover, the game diegetically references online repositories for both its fictionalized history, and actual history. This use of computer screens, to form a transmedia constellation in the form of an overt theoretical console, is shown to complement this popular game’s hypermediative narrative of a fictional shadow war secretly driving actual human history, which then meaningfully posits how to theorize history in our everyday lives.

Tusslers, Beatdowns, and Brothers: A Sociohistorical Overview of Video Game Arcades and theStreet FighterCommunity

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 742-762
Author(s):  
Michael Ryan Skolnik ◽  
Steven Conway
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Historical Movement

Alongside their material dimensions, video game arcades were simultaneously metaphysical spaces where participants negotiated social and cultural convention, thus contributing to identity formation and performance within game culture. While physical arcade spaces have receded in number, the metaphysical elements of the arcades persist. We examine the historical conditions around the establishment of so-called arcade culture, taking into account the history of public entertainment spaces, such as pool halls, coin-operated entertainment technologies, video games, and the demographic and economic conditions during the arcade’s peak popularity, which are historically connected to the advent of bachelor subculture. Drawing on these complementary histories, we examine the social and historical movement of arcades and arcade culture, focusing upon the Street Fighter series and the fighting game community (FGC). Through this case study, we argue that moral panics concerning arcades, processes of cultural norm selection, technological shifts, and the demographic peculiarities of arcade culture all contributed to its current decline and discuss how they affect the contemporary FGC.

scholarly journals A narrativa compartilhada em jogos de rpg e sua influência na formação do leitor

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-292
Author(s):  
Nelson Lilioso De Freitas Silveira ◽  
Magali Menti
Keyword(s):  
Role Playing ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Other Information ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
History Of ◽  
Epistemological Analysis ◽  
Literary Experiences ◽  
Shared Narrative

Resumo O presente artigo é resultante de uma pesquisa documental que apresenta o RPG como ferramenta que desperta o interesse em literatura, especificamente a literatura dos cenários onde o jogo se passa, e cujo objetivo foi investigar a influência desse tipo de narrativa na formação do leitor. Discorre sobre o histórico do RPG e sua ascendência na construção literária de um gênero RPGístico, através de uma análise sobre o jogo de interpretação em sua conceituação, elementos e substratos mecânicos, de forma a compreender a importância do lore dentro dos cenários onde ocorre a narrativa. Verifica as dinâmicas entre os jogadores, narrador e autor através do jogo, considerando o compartilhamento da narrativa. Estabelece diferenciação entre a narrativa compartilhada e a coautoria da narrativa. Investiga o metagame e suas influências dentro da narrativa. Realiza levantamento de informações sobre as Night Witches. Desenvolve estudo de caso para verificar a influência da narrativa compartilhada na formação leitora bem como a capacidade do RPG em colaborar com a formação leitora através desse compartilhamento. Utilizamos a metodologia de pesquisa bibliográfica e estudo de caso para desenvolver uma análise epistemológica sobre o tema, investigando conceitos em sua aplicação prática. Constatamos o incentivo à formação leitora ao estimular o jogador a ler mais, sobre o jogo, o sistema, o cenário e outras informações. Destarte, ao inserir o leitor como protagonista, viabiliza aplicar o obtido na experimentação performática e lúdica das experiências literárias, o tornar contador da história e personagem daquilo que ele leu e pode estar lendo. Palavras-chave: Ludicidade; metagame; lore; night witches. Abstract This article is the result of a documental research which presents RPG as a tool to create interest in literature, specifically about the setting of the game and addresses the history of RPG and its influence on creating a literary genre, its objective is to seek the influence of these narratives in reader’s development. This research analyses the role-playing game's concepts, and mechanics to understand the importance of the lore for the game. It verifies the dynamics between players, game master, and author, considering the shared narrative and establishing differences between shared narrative and co-authorship. It also investigates the concept of metagame and its influence within the narrative by collecting information about the Night Witches and developing a case study to verify the influence of the shared narrative in the reader’s formation as well as how RPG assists the reader’s formation by sharing narratives. The results of this study show that RPG encourages the reader’s formation and qualifies the reading process while stimulating players to read more about the game, the system, the setting and other information. The study uses a case study and bibliographical research to develop an epistemological analysis, investigating concepts in their practical application. By inserting the reader as the protagonist, it possible to apply what has been obtained in the performative and playful experimentation of literary experiences, making the reader the story teller and character of what they have read and may be reading. Keywords: Playfullness; metagame; lore; night witches. Resumen Este artículo es el resultado de una investigación documental que presenta al RPG como una herramienta que despierta el interés por la literatura, específicamente la literatura sobre los escenarios donde se desarrolla el juego, y cuyo objetivo fue investigar la influencia de este tipo de narrativas en la formación del lector. Se discute la historia del RPG y su ascendencia en la construcción literaria de un género RPG, a través de un análisis del juego de rol en su conceptualización, elementos y sustratos mecánicos, con el fin de comprender la importancia del lore dentro de los escenarios donde se desarrolla la narrativa. . Comprueba la dinámica entre jugadores, narrador y autor a lo largo del juego, considerando el intercambio de la narrativa. Distingue entre narrativa compartida y coautoría narrativa. Investiga el metajuego y sus influencias dentro de la narrativa. Realiza una encuesta de información sobre las Brujas Nocturnas. Desarrolla un estudio de caso para verificar la influencia de la narrativa compartida en la formación del lector, así como la capacidad de los juegos de rol para colaborar con la formación del lector a través de este intercambio. Utilizamos la metodología de la investigación bibliográfica y el estudio de casos para desarrollar un análisis epistemológico sobre el tema, investigando conceptos en su aplicación práctica. Vemos el estímulo de la formación del lector al animar al jugador a leer más sobre el juego, el sistema, el escenario y otra información. Así, al insertar al lector como protagonista, permite aplicar lo obtenido en la experimentación performativa y lúdica de experiencias literarias, convirtiéndose en narrador y personaje de lo que ha leído y puede estar leyendo. Palabras clave: Alegría; metagame; ciencia; brujas de la noche.

Press Propaganda and Subaltern Agents of Pan-Islamic Networks in the Muslim Mediterranean World prior to World War I

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odile Moreau
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
World War I ◽  
North Africa ◽  
World War ◽  
Subaltern Studies ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
The Press ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
History Of

This chapter explores movement and circulation across the Mediterranean and seeks to contribute to a history of proto-nationalism in the Maghrib and the Middle East at a particular moment prior to World War I. The discussion is particularly concerned with the interface of two Mediterranean spaces: the Middle East (Egypt, Ottoman Empire) and North Africa (Morocco), where the latter is viewed as a case study where resistance movements sought external allies as a way of compensating for their internal weakness. Applying methods developed by Subaltern Studies, and linking macro-historical approaches, namely of a translocal movement in the Muslim Mediterranean, it explores how the Egypt-based society, al-Ittihad al-Maghribi, through its agent, Aref Taher, used the press as an instrument for political propaganda, promoting its Pan-Islamic programme and its goal of uniting North Africa.

Turning Aliens into Socialists

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Jessica Moberg
Keyword(s):  
Outer Space ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Swedish History ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Highly Evolved

Immediately after the Second World War Sweden was struck by a wave of sightings of strange flying objects. In some cases these mass sightings resulted in panic, particularly after authorities failed to identify them. Decades later, these phenomena were interpreted by two members of the Swedish UFO movement, Erland Sandqvist and Gösta Rehn, as alien spaceships, or UFOs. Rehn argued that ‘[t]here is nothing so dramatic in the Swedish history of UFOs as this invasion of alien fly-things’ (Rehn 1969: 50). In this article the interpretation of such sightings proposed by these authors, namely that we are visited by extraterrestrials from outer space, is approached from the perspective of myth theory. According to this mythical theme, not only are we are not alone in the universe, but also the history of humankind has been shaped by encounters with more highly-evolved alien beings. In their modern day form, these kinds of ideas about aliens and UFOs originated in the United States. The reasoning of Sandqvist and Rehn exemplifies the localization process that took place as members of the Swedish UFO movement began to produce their own narratives about aliens and UFOs. The question I will address is: in what ways do these stories change in new contexts? Texts produced by the Swedish UFO movement are analyzed as a case study of this process.

Vom Gegenstand zur Gegenständlichkeit des Sozialen Georg Simmels »Soziologie der Sinne« und das Hören im Zeitalter der technischen Reproduzierbarkeit von Musik

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Uwe C. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
High Fidelity ◽  
Elementary Processes ◽  
The Senses

Simmel’s Sociology explores elementary processes of socialization or collectivization. Thus, the sociology of the senses examines how sight, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting contributes to constituting societies. Though Simmel observes that modern refined civilization diminishes the depths of the senses but increases its emphasis or enhancement with lust or aversion, the conclusion cannot be avoided that the artifacts and technologies of hearing have to be examined. Accordingly, this article can be regarded as a case study in the wake of Simmel: How do modern aural technologies at the threshold between high fidelity and postfidelity inform contemporary hearing?

A Case Study on the Process of Creating Interests in History of History-Deokhu

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-159
Author(s):  
Young-Seok Seo ◽  
Bong-Seok Kim
Keyword(s):  
History Of

Scales and Units

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. de Luna
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
The North ◽  
First Case ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
River Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter uses two case studies to explore how historians study language movement and change through comparative historical linguistics. The first case study stands as a short chapter in the larger history of the expansion of Bantu languages across eastern, central, and southern Africa. It focuses on the expansion of proto-Kafue, ca. 950–1250, from a linguistic homeland in the middle Kafue River region to lands beyond the Lukanga swamps to the north and the Zambezi River to the south. This expansion was made possible by a dramatic reconfiguration of ties of kinship. The second case study explores linguistic evidence for ridicule along the Lozi-Botatwe frontier in the mid- to late 19th century. Significantly, the units and scales of language movement and change in precolonial periods rendered visible through comparative historical linguistics bring to our attention alternative approaches to language change and movement in contemporary Africa.

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