"The paper also opens itself to critique by not considering arguments that games are safe for good reason. For example, how will the paper stand up to criticisms citing severe injury and death following the Jackass television franchise (e.g. 2011 case of Matt-Dillon Shannon’s defense he got the idea to ...
Review excerpts for Illusion Master: Extending Self-Presence and Challenging Immersion in and through Digital Games
"game aesthetics and mechanics should be framed through further designers’ lenses in order to motivate choices and outline future challenges. In addition, the concept of “flow” should be connected to immersion and presence in a more effective way. [Indeed] the concept of “flow” [should be tied] to your argument (e.g., ...
Review excerpts for NorthPoint Courtesy Services Development and Design Summary
"The concept of agency is also discussed extensively in game studies, and it would really help if the final submission could provide a contribution to the area of research. What is at stake in playing-as-a-non-playing character? Can this process be represented without introducing a different form of action, as in ...
Review excerpts for Critical Jostling
"[referring to Dunne & Raby] A key part of D&R’s perspective is the critique of “affirmative design” (e.g. the keeping of the status quo, affirming consumeristic neoliberal attitudes). Another key component, better articulated years later in Speculative Everything, is the idea of producing artifacts that are sitting in our world, ...
Review excerpts for Self-reflexive Videogames: Observations and Corollaries on Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Artifacts
"The videogame that is part of the article sucks. It is not fun to play, it is not exciting to explore, and its aesthetics are off-putting. In other words, it succeeds in its job perfectly. It provides a functioning role model for academic software: a quickly testable appendix that the ...
Illusion Master: Extending Self-Presence and Challenging Immersion in and through Digital Games
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The videogame discussed in this essay is freely available here.
Abstract
This paper provides an extension of the definition of the concept of self-presence (named Objective self-presence) in digital games, and in doing so, challenges the traditional concepts of immersion and presence / self-presence in games. The design process of ...
Games on Games. Game Design as Critical Reflexive Practice.
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[caption id="attachment_3021" align="aligncenter" width="610"] "The Metagame" ©2016 Local No. 12, LLC. Thanks to Eric Zimmerman and John Sharp[/caption]
In September 2013, the editors of this issue of “GAME The Italian Journal of Game Studies” hosted a panel at the DiGRA conference in Atlanta, to explore video game design as ...
Bust A Cup: Reclaiming Risk in Play
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Abstract
Our overly fearful risk society has eliminated much of the beneficial risk that should exist in contemporary games. Games that incorporate actual risk by design can help us overcome delimiting and harmful fears, habits, and laws. Riskier games expose our self-imposed limitations, creating opportunities for us to grow ...
Critical Jostling
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Abstract
Games can serve a critical function in many different ways, from serious games about real world subjects to self-reflexive commentaries on the nature of games themselves. In this essay we discuss critical possibilities stemming from the area of critical design, and more specifically Carl DiSalvo’s adversarial design and ...
NorthPoint Courtesy Services Development and Design Summary
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The videogame discussed in this essay is freely available at http://northpointcourtesyservices.com/downloads/
Introduction
As we address the topic of games on games, we turned our focus towards first-person shooters (FPS), one of the most popular genres of computer game at the moment. Contemporary FPS games populate the genre continuum from “realistic” ...
Nostalgia Videogames as Playable Game Criticism
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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to consider the emergence of nostalgia videogames in the context of playable game criticism. Mirroring the development of the nostalgia film in cinema, an increasing number of developers are creating videogames that are evocative of past gaming forms, designs, and styles. The ...
Self-reflexive videogames: observations and corollaries on virtual worlds as philosophical artifacts
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Abstract
Self-reflexive videogames are videogames designed to materialize critical and/or satirical perspectives on the ways in which videogames themselves are designed, played, sold, manipulated, experienced, and understood as social objects. This essay focuses on the use of virtual worlds as mediators, and in particular on the use of videogames ...
The Self-Reflexive Tabletop Role-Playing Game
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Abstract
Tabletop role-playing games combine performance, procedures, and improvisation to both tell stories and reflect on the nature of storytelling. This article discusses the three games 1,001 Nights by Meguey Baker, What Is a Role-Playing Game? by Epidiah Ravachol, and World Wide Wrestling by Nathan D. Paoletta in terms ...