2021
Apperley, Thomas H.; Ozimek, Anna (Ed.)
Special Issue on Disco Elysium
Baltic Screen Media Review, vol. 9, 2021.
Special issue Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Absurdity, Affect, Digital distribution, Disco Elysium, Dissonant development, Estonia, Film noir, Game production, Game production studies, Gothic fiction, Hermeneutics of objects, Political economy, Polyphony, Posthumanism, Rhizome, Software commons
@collection{Apperley2021,
title = {Special Issue on Disco Elysium},
editor = {Thomas H. Apperley and Anna Ozimek
},
url = {https://sciendo.com/issue/BSMR/9/1},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-12-14},
booktitle = {Baltic Screen Media Review},
volume = {9},
issue = {1},
abstract = {Disco Elysium is a highly praised game that is widely recognized for its innovation and quality. In December 2019, writing for Time magazine, Matthew Gault named Disco Elysium one of the ten most important games of the decade (2010–2019) along-side the likes of Fortnite (Epic Games 2017–), Minecraft (Mojang 2011), and Pokémon GO (2016). Gault (2019) characterizes the dec-ade as one in which “artists broke free of the business side and produced works of astounding beauty on par with any prestige television show.” Disco Elysium is included on his list as “proof” that “all video games are art” (ibid.). While critical and commer-cial success, as well as the invocation of “art,” are not themselves crucial reasons for scholars to explore a particular digital game, in the case of Disco Elysium there are many other ways that it is significant.},
keywords = {Absurdity, Affect, Digital distribution, Disco Elysium, Dissonant development, Estonia, Film noir, Game production, Game production studies, Gothic fiction, Hermeneutics of objects, Political economy, Polyphony, Posthumanism, Rhizome, Software commons},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {collection}
}
Disco Elysium is a highly praised game that is widely recognized for its innovation and quality. In December 2019, writing for Time magazine, Matthew Gault named Disco Elysium one of the ten most important games of the decade (2010–2019) along-side the likes of Fortnite (Epic Games 2017–), Minecraft (Mojang 2011), and Pokémon GO (2016). Gault (2019) characterizes the dec-ade as one in which “artists broke free of the business side and produced works of astounding beauty on par with any prestige television show.” Disco Elysium is included on his list as “proof” that “all video games are art” (ibid.). While critical and commer-cial success, as well as the invocation of “art,” are not themselves crucial reasons for scholars to explore a particular digital game, in the case of Disco Elysium there are many other ways that it is significant.
Pöllänen, Sonja; Arjoranta, Jonne
"Whose Were Those Feelings?" Affect and Likenessing in Halat hisar Live Action Role-Playing Game
In: International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 24, iss. 6, pp. 899-916, 2021, ISSN: 1367-8779.
Journal article Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Affect, Affective tonality, Affektiivisuus, Larp, Larppaus, Likeness, Likenessing, Liveroolipelit, Role-play, Roolipelit, Samanlaisuus, Sosiaaliset suhteet, Subjektiivisuus, Toimintaan liittyvä rooli, Tunteet, Vaikutukseen liittyvä rooli, Yhteisöllisyys
@article{Pöllänen2021,
title = {"Whose Were Those Feelings?" Affect and Likenessing in Halat hisar Live Action Role-Playing Game},
author = {Sonja Pöllänen and Jonne Arjoranta},
url = {http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202106183861},
doi = {10.1177/13678779211023520},
issn = {1367-8779},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-11-01},
journal = {International Journal of Cultural Studies},
volume = {24},
issue = {6},
pages = {899-916},
abstract = {Halat hisar was a live action role-playing game (larp) organized in Finland in 2016. Halat hisar’s ambition as a larp was to mirror the current situation in Palestine. In larps, participants take on different roles and improvise without the presence of an audience. Larps offer a place where emotions and affectivities are transmitted through the embodiment of characters. Larps offer forms of likenessing, which create new affective states for the players. We conclude that larps can be powerful tools for portraying political alternatives of actual events, and they can serve a role in raising awareness. Larps offer a productive context for studying subjectivities where the focus is on affective relationalities because larps place the participants in social positions where they take up roles that might be inaccessible to them in everyday life. Larps offer a window to visit other ‘world-lines’ – and other ways of living.},
keywords = {Affect, Affective tonality, Affektiivisuus, Larp, Larppaus, Likeness, Likenessing, Liveroolipelit, Role-play, Roolipelit, Samanlaisuus, Sosiaaliset suhteet, Subjektiivisuus, Toimintaan liittyvä rooli, Tunteet, Vaikutukseen liittyvä rooli, Yhteisöllisyys},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Halat hisar was a live action role-playing game (larp) organized in Finland in 2016. Halat hisar’s ambition as a larp was to mirror the current situation in Palestine. In larps, participants take on different roles and improvise without the presence of an audience. Larps offer a place where emotions and affectivities are transmitted through the embodiment of characters. Larps offer forms of likenessing, which create new affective states for the players. We conclude that larps can be powerful tools for portraying political alternatives of actual events, and they can serve a role in raising awareness. Larps offer a productive context for studying subjectivities where the focus is on affective relationalities because larps place the participants in social positions where they take up roles that might be inaccessible to them in everyday life. Larps offer a window to visit other ‘world-lines’ – and other ways of living.
2020
Innocent, Troy; Leorke, Dale
(De)coding the City: Analyzing Urban Play through Wayfinder Live
In: American Journal of Play, vol. 12, iss. 3, pp. 270-304, 2020, ISSN: 1938-0399.
Journal article Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Affect, Assemblage, Coding, Decoding, Encoding, Interface, Location-based game, Urban play, Wayfinder Live
@article{Innocent2020,
title = {(De)coding the City: Analyzing Urban Play through Wayfinder Live},
author = {Troy Innocent and Dale Leorke},
url = {https://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/12-3-Article-2-Decoding-the-city.pdf},
issn = {1938-0399},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-03-22},
journal = {American Journal of Play},
volume = {12},
issue = {3},
pages = {270-304},
abstract = {The authors use the location-based, augmented-reality game Way finder Live, which one of them designed, as a case study to analyze urban play. Acknowledging the difficulty of defining urban play, they expand existing approaches to the topic by drawing on current theories about interfaces, assemblages, and coding in such fields as media and cultural studies, game and play studies, and urban studies. They consider Way finder Live as an interface--a site of both connection and translation--for urban play, one that encourages its players to test a given city's physical and social boundaries. They argue that the game offers a fruitful, if always contingent and contextual, framework for analyzing digitally mediated urban play. Key words: affect; assemblage; coding; decoding; encoding; interface; location-based gaming; urban play; Way finder Live.},
keywords = {Affect, Assemblage, Coding, Decoding, Encoding, Interface, Location-based game, Urban play, Wayfinder Live},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The authors use the location-based, augmented-reality game Way finder Live, which one of them designed, as a case study to analyze urban play. Acknowledging the difficulty of defining urban play, they expand existing approaches to the topic by drawing on current theories about interfaces, assemblages, and coding in such fields as media and cultural studies, game and play studies, and urban studies. They consider Way finder Live as an interface--a site of both connection and translation--for urban play, one that encourages its players to test a given city's physical and social boundaries. They argue that the game offers a fruitful, if always contingent and contextual, framework for analyzing digitally mediated urban play. Key words: affect; assemblage; coding; decoding; encoding; interface; location-based gaming; urban play; Way finder Live.
2019
Torner, Evan
Planescape: Torment: Immersion
In: Payne, Matthew Thomas; Huntemann, Nina B. (Ed.): How to Play Video Games, pp. 52-58, New York University Press, 2019, ISBN: 9781479830404.
Book chapter
Abstract | Links | Tags: Affect, Immersion, Literary studies, Planescape: Torment, Role-playing games
@incollection{nokey,
title = {Planescape: Torment: Immersion},
author = {Evan Torner},
editor = {Matthew Thomas Payne and Nina B. Huntemann},
doi = {10.18574/9781479830404},
isbn = {9781479830404},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-03-26},
booktitle = {How to Play Video Games},
pages = {52-58},
publisher = {New York University Press},
abstract = {Although scholars and critics often cite aspects of audiovisual design and quick-twitch gameplay as the primary means by which players immerse themselves in a game’s fiction, Planescape: Torment—a highly rated computer role-playing game with dated graphics and sound—proves a counterexample to this discourse. In this chapter, Evan Torner discusses the importance of literary framing, affect, and narrative reincorporation—elements derived largely from novels and tabletop role-playing games—for the game’s achievement of that oft-heralded but ever-elusive aesthetic ideal of immersion.},
keywords = {Affect, Immersion, Literary studies, Planescape: Torment, Role-playing games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Although scholars and critics often cite aspects of audiovisual design and quick-twitch gameplay as the primary means by which players immerse themselves in a game’s fiction, Planescape: Torment—a highly rated computer role-playing game with dated graphics and sound—proves a counterexample to this discourse. In this chapter, Evan Torner discusses the importance of literary framing, affect, and narrative reincorporation—elements derived largely from novels and tabletop role-playing games—for the game’s achievement of that oft-heralded but ever-elusive aesthetic ideal of immersion.