2024
Mähkä, Rami; Walliander, Haron
“Realistic but Humorous" : Finnish Army Simulator as a First-Person Video Game on Finnish National Service Book Chapter
In: Mochocki, Michał; Schreiber, Paweł; Majewski, Jakub; Kot, Yaraslau I. (Ed.): Central and Eastern European Histories and Heritages in Video Games , Routledge, 2024, ISBN: 9781003461326.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Humour, National Service, Simulation games
@inbook{nokey,
title = {“Realistic but Humorous" : Finnish Army Simulator as a First-Person Video Game on Finnish National Service},
author = {Rami Mähkä and Haron Walliander},
editor = {Michał Mochocki and Paweł Schreiber and Jakub Majewski and Yaraslau I. Kot},
url = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003461326},
doi = {10.4324/9781003461326},
isbn = {9781003461326},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-10-17},
booktitle = {Central and Eastern European Histories and Heritages in Video Games },
publisher = {Routledge},
abstract = {This chapter will explore the Finnish-origin digital game Finnish Army Simulator (2023) and how it represents the compulsory Finnish armed service. Although the game aims to model service and realism accurately, it has a humorous undertone. The game's humor situates it in the Finnish military farce tradition. Finnish Army Simulator can be considered a new form of military farce in game media, combining the hallmarks of military farce movies with the unique features of digital games. The analysis of the paratexts shows that military service, which over 65% of men in Finland undergo, is a collective experience, and the humorous treatment of this shared experience is a meaningful topic for games. Interestingly, realism and authenticity can be a backdrop for humorous gameplay and narrative.},
keywords = {Humour, National Service, Simulation games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
This chapter will explore the Finnish-origin digital game Finnish Army Simulator (2023) and how it represents the compulsory Finnish armed service. Although the game aims to model service and realism accurately, it has a humorous undertone. The game's humor situates it in the Finnish military farce tradition. Finnish Army Simulator can be considered a new form of military farce in game media, combining the hallmarks of military farce movies with the unique features of digital games. The analysis of the paratexts shows that military service, which over 65% of men in Finland undergo, is a collective experience, and the humorous treatment of this shared experience is a meaningful topic for games. Interestingly, realism and authenticity can be a backdrop for humorous gameplay and narrative.
2023
Siitonen, Marko
Playing Critically: Using Digital Intercultural Simulation Games in Higher Education Book Section
In: Sommier, Melodine; Roiha, Anssi; Lahti, Malgorzata (Ed.): Interculturality in Higher Education: Putting Critical Approaches into Practice, pp. 131-146, Routledge, 2023, ISBN: 978-1-003-32270-2.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Critical pedagogy, Cultural competence, Digital games, Educational games, Higher education, Intercultural interaction, Interculturalism, Simulation games
@incollection{Siitonen2023,
title = {Playing Critically: Using Digital Intercultural Simulation Games in Higher Education},
author = {Marko Siitonen},
editor = {Melodine Sommier and Anssi Roiha and Malgorzata Lahti},
url = {https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003322702-9/playing-critically-marko-siitonen
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/164645380?auxfun=&lang=en_GB
},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003322702-9},
isbn = {978-1-003-32270-2},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-31},
urldate = {2023-01-31},
booktitle = {Interculturality in Higher Education: Putting Critical Approaches into Practice},
pages = {131-146},
publisher = {Routledge},
abstract = {Intercultural educators have long used simulation games as pedagogical tools. Research has indicated their great potential for purposes such as teaching ethics and civics which align with the aims of critical pedagogy. These include facilitating dialogue, illustrating the dynamics of systemic structures, the centrality of language and communication, and understanding the fluidity and complexity of systemic power and privilege in general. Still, there are also certain difficulties or weaknesses, the most notable of which is the juxtaposition of simulations’ tendency to simplify reality and critical pedagogy’s aim to uncover the complex ways in which structures and power are intertwined. This chapter considers possible starting points for designing and utilising simulation games in critical intercultural education. Looking at game design, the concepts of games of emergence and procedural rhetoric are considered. Regarding gameplay and the following debriefing, the concept of a ‘third space’ is explored as a possible way into imagining differently.},
keywords = {Critical pedagogy, Cultural competence, Digital games, Educational games, Higher education, Intercultural interaction, Interculturalism, Simulation games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Intercultural educators have long used simulation games as pedagogical tools. Research has indicated their great potential for purposes such as teaching ethics and civics which align with the aims of critical pedagogy. These include facilitating dialogue, illustrating the dynamics of systemic structures, the centrality of language and communication, and understanding the fluidity and complexity of systemic power and privilege in general. Still, there are also certain difficulties or weaknesses, the most notable of which is the juxtaposition of simulations’ tendency to simplify reality and critical pedagogy’s aim to uncover the complex ways in which structures and power are intertwined. This chapter considers possible starting points for designing and utilising simulation games in critical intercultural education. Looking at game design, the concepts of games of emergence and procedural rhetoric are considered. Regarding gameplay and the following debriefing, the concept of a ‘third space’ is explored as a possible way into imagining differently.
2022
Nygren, Nina V.; Kankainen, Ville; Brunet, Lucas
Offsetting Game—Framing Environmental Issues in the Design of a Serious Game Journal Article
In: Simulation & Gaming, vol. 53, iss. 6, pp. 579-675, 2022, ISSN: 1046-8781.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Biodiversity offsetting, Conservation conflicts, Frame analysis, Game design, Nature conservation, Serious games, Simulation games, Stakeholders
@article{Nygren2022,
title = {Offsetting Game—Framing Environmental Issues in the Design of a Serious Game},
author = {Nina V. Nygren and Ville Kankainen and Lucas Brunet},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202210047407},
doi = {10.1177/10468781221126786},
issn = {1046-8781},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-09-28},
urldate = {2022-09-28},
journal = {Simulation & Gaming},
volume = {53},
issue = {6},
pages = {579-675},
abstract = {Background
Biodiversity crisis requires researchers to reflect on tools and strategies to engage with different stakeholders. We propose that serious games can be designed to introduce stakeholders to a novel environmental policy tool and to communicate research on environmental issues. Our case is biodiversity offsetting (BDO), a novel policy tool aiming to reconcile nature conservation with other land uses. As any media, games offer certain framings of the issues they communicate about—some aspects are made more salient than others. However, frame analysis has not been widely used to analyze the design choices or the messages communicated by games. We analyze how these framings are designed into a game communicating about environmental issues.
Aim
To intervene in the emerging public discussion on BDO in Finland, we designed a land use board game and during the design process, played it with public and private stakeholders who would soon encounter and implement biodiversity offsetting policies in Finland. The aim of this article is to describe how our framings of BDO affected the design process and how those framings interacted with the design decisions we made. With our analysis, we want to contribute to the understanding of how framings and design choices interact in game design and how paying attention to framings is especially important for the design of SGs.
Method
We analyze how our framings of biodiversity offsetting and our design choices interact in game design. Our understanding of biodiversity offsetting guided our game design, but the design choices also contribute to the framing of the issue itself.
Results
Game design choices strongly frame the topic of the game and thus influence the function of a serious game. Thus, the framings of the topic should be considered carefully during the game design process, especially in the context of serious games.},
keywords = {Biodiversity offsetting, Conservation conflicts, Frame analysis, Game design, Nature conservation, Serious games, Simulation games, Stakeholders},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Background
Biodiversity crisis requires researchers to reflect on tools and strategies to engage with different stakeholders. We propose that serious games can be designed to introduce stakeholders to a novel environmental policy tool and to communicate research on environmental issues. Our case is biodiversity offsetting (BDO), a novel policy tool aiming to reconcile nature conservation with other land uses. As any media, games offer certain framings of the issues they communicate about—some aspects are made more salient than others. However, frame analysis has not been widely used to analyze the design choices or the messages communicated by games. We analyze how these framings are designed into a game communicating about environmental issues.
Aim
To intervene in the emerging public discussion on BDO in Finland, we designed a land use board game and during the design process, played it with public and private stakeholders who would soon encounter and implement biodiversity offsetting policies in Finland. The aim of this article is to describe how our framings of BDO affected the design process and how those framings interacted with the design decisions we made. With our analysis, we want to contribute to the understanding of how framings and design choices interact in game design and how paying attention to framings is especially important for the design of SGs.
Method
We analyze how our framings of biodiversity offsetting and our design choices interact in game design. Our understanding of biodiversity offsetting guided our game design, but the design choices also contribute to the framing of the issue itself.
Results
Game design choices strongly frame the topic of the game and thus influence the function of a serious game. Thus, the framings of the topic should be considered carefully during the game design process, especially in the context of serious games.
Biodiversity crisis requires researchers to reflect on tools and strategies to engage with different stakeholders. We propose that serious games can be designed to introduce stakeholders to a novel environmental policy tool and to communicate research on environmental issues. Our case is biodiversity offsetting (BDO), a novel policy tool aiming to reconcile nature conservation with other land uses. As any media, games offer certain framings of the issues they communicate about—some aspects are made more salient than others. However, frame analysis has not been widely used to analyze the design choices or the messages communicated by games. We analyze how these framings are designed into a game communicating about environmental issues.
Aim
To intervene in the emerging public discussion on BDO in Finland, we designed a land use board game and during the design process, played it with public and private stakeholders who would soon encounter and implement biodiversity offsetting policies in Finland. The aim of this article is to describe how our framings of BDO affected the design process and how those framings interacted with the design decisions we made. With our analysis, we want to contribute to the understanding of how framings and design choices interact in game design and how paying attention to framings is especially important for the design of SGs.
Method
We analyze how our framings of biodiversity offsetting and our design choices interact in game design. Our understanding of biodiversity offsetting guided our game design, but the design choices also contribute to the framing of the issue itself.
Results
Game design choices strongly frame the topic of the game and thus influence the function of a serious game. Thus, the framings of the topic should be considered carefully during the game design process, especially in the context of serious games.
Saarikoski, Petri; Lindfors, Antti; Suominen, Jaakko; Reunanen, Markku
The Illuminatus Space Game: From an April Fools’ Joke to Digital Cultural Heritage Book Section
In: Giappone, Krista Bonello Rutter; Majkowski, Tomasz Z.; Švelch, Jaroslav (Ed.): Video Games and Comedy, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 2022, ISBN: 978-3-030-88338-6.
Abstract | Links | Tags: 1980s, April Fools' joke, Cultural memory, Digital culture, Game journalism, Home computers, Humour, Simulation games
@incollection{Saarikoski2022,
title = {The Illuminatus Space Game: From an April Fools’ Joke to Digital Cultural Heritage},
author = {Petri Saarikoski and Antti Lindfors and Jaakko Suominen and Markku Reunanen},
editor = {Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone and Tomasz Z. Majkowski and Jaroslav Švelch},
url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-88338-6_7},
doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88338-6_7},
isbn = {978-3-030-88338-6},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-26},
urldate = {2022-03-26},
booktitle = {Video Games and Comedy},
publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan Cham},
series = {Palgrave Studies in Comedy},
abstract = {In April 1989, the leading Finnish computer hobbyist magazine MikroBitti published a glowing preview of a 3D space-faring game called Illuminatus. It was described as an epic space flight, trading, combat and empire building title that was more than a game, rather a way of life. In reality, the game did not exist at all, but the April Fools’ joke was taken seriously by many readers. In this chapter we analyse the cultural and historical context of the prank, its plausibility, and repercussions. The technological optimism of the decade is an important backdrop for the joke, and the journalist behind it cleverly evoked the hopes and expectations of the audience. Even after more than three decades, Illuminatus is still referenced and remembered within Finnish enthusiast circles. Interestingly, it appears that the (non-) existence of the game hardly matters at all in the long run, as it has become part of the shared cultural memory of a hobbyist generation, just as if it had been any popular game of the time. },
keywords = {1980s, April Fools' joke, Cultural memory, Digital culture, Game journalism, Home computers, Humour, Simulation games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
In April 1989, the leading Finnish computer hobbyist magazine MikroBitti published a glowing preview of a 3D space-faring game called Illuminatus. It was described as an epic space flight, trading, combat and empire building title that was more than a game, rather a way of life. In reality, the game did not exist at all, but the April Fools’ joke was taken seriously by many readers. In this chapter we analyse the cultural and historical context of the prank, its plausibility, and repercussions. The technological optimism of the decade is an important backdrop for the joke, and the journalist behind it cleverly evoked the hopes and expectations of the audience. Even after more than three decades, Illuminatus is still referenced and remembered within Finnish enthusiast circles. Interestingly, it appears that the (non-) existence of the game hardly matters at all in the long run, as it has become part of the shared cultural memory of a hobbyist generation, just as if it had been any popular game of the time.