2021
Masek, Leland; Stenros, Jaakko
In: ELUDAMOS, vol. 12, iss. 1, pp. 13-37, 2021, ISSN: 1866-6124.
Journal article Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Engagement, Literature review, Meta-synthesis, Play, Playful, Playfulness
@article{Masek2021,
title = {The Meaning of Playfulness: A Review of the Contemporary Definitions of the Concept across Disciplines.},
author = {Leland Masek and Jaakko Stenros},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202203072382},
doi = {10.7557/23.6361},
issn = {1866-6124},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-09-14},
journal = {ELUDAMOS},
volume = {12},
issue = {1},
pages = {13-37},
abstract = {‘Playfulness’ is a concept used in various disciplines. In this article, we conduct a qualitative, systematic, and interdisciplinary literature review on the term ‘playfulness’ as used in recent scholarship. The article aims to overcome the ambiguity relating to ‘playfulness’ in order to create opportunities for growth in all related fields of study. Based on 429 written works and the 184 extracted definitions of ‘playfulness’ across disciplines, we find six clusters of meaning all of which emphasise engagement. Three themes describe different methods for how engagement is structured to become a higher priority than its context. The other three themes discuss structural characteristics of contexts that are playfully engaged in. A new synthetic conceptualization is offered: Playfulness prioritizes engagement over external consequence, realness, or convention. Furthermore, the study argues that playfulness is not a ‘what’ or a ‘why,’ but a ‘how,’ a priority organizing principle.},
keywords = {Engagement, Literature review, Meta-synthesis, Play, Playful, Playfulness},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
‘Playfulness’ is a concept used in various disciplines. In this article, we conduct a qualitative, systematic, and interdisciplinary literature review on the term ‘playfulness’ as used in recent scholarship. The article aims to overcome the ambiguity relating to ‘playfulness’ in order to create opportunities for growth in all related fields of study. Based on 429 written works and the 184 extracted definitions of ‘playfulness’ across disciplines, we find six clusters of meaning all of which emphasise engagement. Three themes describe different methods for how engagement is structured to become a higher priority than its context. The other three themes discuss structural characteristics of contexts that are playfully engaged in. A new synthetic conceptualization is offered: Playfulness prioritizes engagement over external consequence, realness, or convention. Furthermore, the study argues that playfulness is not a ‘what’ or a ‘why,’ but a ‘how,’ a priority organizing principle.
2020
Leorke, Dale; Owens, Marcus
Games and Play in the Creative, Smart and Ecological City
Routledge, 2020, ISBN: 978-0-367-44123-4.
Book
Abstract | Tags: Creative cities, Game studies, Play, Smart city, Sustainability, Tourism, Urban policy, Urban studies
@book{Leorke2020c,
title = {Games and Play in the Creative, Smart and Ecological City},
author = {Dale Leorke and Marcus Owens},
isbn = {978-0-367-44123-4},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-11-16},
publisher = {Routledge},
abstract = {This book explores what games and play can tell us about contemporary processes of urbanization and examines how the dynamics of gaming can help us understand the interurban competition that underpins the entrepreneurialism of the smart and creative city. Games and Play in the Creative, Smart and Ecological City is a collection of chapters written by an interdisciplinary group of scholars from game studies, media studies, play studies, architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning. It situates the historical evolution of play and games in the urban landscape and outlines the scope of the various ways games and play contribute to the city’s economy, cultural life and environmental concerns. In connecting games and play more concretely to urban discourses and design strategies, this book urges scholars to consider their growing contribution to three overarching sets of discourses that dominate urban planning and policy today: the creative and cultural economies of cities; the smart and playable city; and ecological cities. This interdisciplinary work will be of great interest to students and scholars of game studies, play studies, landscape architecture (and allied design fields), urban geography, and art history.
},
keywords = {Creative cities, Game studies, Play, Smart city, Sustainability, Tourism, Urban policy, Urban studies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
This book explores what games and play can tell us about contemporary processes of urbanization and examines how the dynamics of gaming can help us understand the interurban competition that underpins the entrepreneurialism of the smart and creative city. Games and Play in the Creative, Smart and Ecological City is a collection of chapters written by an interdisciplinary group of scholars from game studies, media studies, play studies, architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning. It situates the historical evolution of play and games in the urban landscape and outlines the scope of the various ways games and play contribute to the city’s economy, cultural life and environmental concerns. In connecting games and play more concretely to urban discourses and design strategies, this book urges scholars to consider their growing contribution to three overarching sets of discourses that dominate urban planning and policy today: the creative and cultural economies of cities; the smart and playable city; and ecological cities. This interdisciplinary work will be of great interest to students and scholars of game studies, play studies, landscape architecture (and allied design fields), urban geography, and art history.
Nylund, Niklas
Game Heritage: Digital Games in Museum Collections and Exhibitions
2020, ISBN: 978-952-03-1696-9.
Doctoral thesis Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Cultural heritage, Game heritage, Game preservation, Games, Heritagization, Museum, Play, Playing, Preservation, Reflexiveness
@phdthesis{Nylund2020,
title = {Game Heritage: Digital Games in Museum Collections and Exhibitions},
author = {Niklas Nylund},
url = {http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-1697-6},
isbn = {978-952-03-1696-9},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-10-09},
urldate = {2020-10-09},
publisher = {Tampere University Press},
abstract = {Digital games are undergoing a process of heritagization, as demonstrated by how they are increasingly displayed in exhibitions and preserved in heritage institution collections, not to mention engaged with by numerous heritage communities both online and offline. What is lacking, however, is a critical understanding of what constitutes game heritage and how it is produced by the stakeholders involved. In order to provide a critical framework for thinking and working with games as heritage, this dissertation engages in theory building and conceptualizations around key heritagization issues.
The study utilizes a versatile methodology consisting of interpretive analysis and extensive use of insider knowledge and participant observation, as well as theoretical triangulation between heritage studies, games studies, and game preservation research. With the help of these approaches, the dissertation conducts pragmatic theory building around issues related to the heritagization of games, as well as provides critical frameworks for engaging with it.
In the results, the study shows how social actors beyond retrogamers and hobbyists act as stakeholders in the heritagization of games. Further, the dissertation provides a high-level theoretical ontology for dealing with the complex assemblage of games and play, which looks beyond playable games. After that, the research shows how games are changed and modified when becoming heritagized. Finally, the study sheds light on tensions that exist between various stakeholders and their heritagization strategies.
As such, the dissertation demonstrates how the complex issues and processes that arise when games become heritage are in need of more reflexive practices. In the discussion, the study points towards possible strategies that can be used in order to mitigate stakeholder tensions around the ownership of game heritage. However, further empirical research is needed in order to validate the theoretical constructs and guidelines provided in this study.
},
keywords = {Cultural heritage, Game heritage, Game preservation, Games, Heritagization, Museum, Play, Playing, Preservation, Reflexiveness},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
Digital games are undergoing a process of heritagization, as demonstrated by how they are increasingly displayed in exhibitions and preserved in heritage institution collections, not to mention engaged with by numerous heritage communities both online and offline. What is lacking, however, is a critical understanding of what constitutes game heritage and how it is produced by the stakeholders involved. In order to provide a critical framework for thinking and working with games as heritage, this dissertation engages in theory building and conceptualizations around key heritagization issues.
The study utilizes a versatile methodology consisting of interpretive analysis and extensive use of insider knowledge and participant observation, as well as theoretical triangulation between heritage studies, games studies, and game preservation research. With the help of these approaches, the dissertation conducts pragmatic theory building around issues related to the heritagization of games, as well as provides critical frameworks for engaging with it.
In the results, the study shows how social actors beyond retrogamers and hobbyists act as stakeholders in the heritagization of games. Further, the dissertation provides a high-level theoretical ontology for dealing with the complex assemblage of games and play, which looks beyond playable games. After that, the research shows how games are changed and modified when becoming heritagized. Finally, the study sheds light on tensions that exist between various stakeholders and their heritagization strategies.
As such, the dissertation demonstrates how the complex issues and processes that arise when games become heritage are in need of more reflexive practices. In the discussion, the study points towards possible strategies that can be used in order to mitigate stakeholder tensions around the ownership of game heritage. However, further empirical research is needed in order to validate the theoretical constructs and guidelines provided in this study.
The study utilizes a versatile methodology consisting of interpretive analysis and extensive use of insider knowledge and participant observation, as well as theoretical triangulation between heritage studies, games studies, and game preservation research. With the help of these approaches, the dissertation conducts pragmatic theory building around issues related to the heritagization of games, as well as provides critical frameworks for engaging with it.
In the results, the study shows how social actors beyond retrogamers and hobbyists act as stakeholders in the heritagization of games. Further, the dissertation provides a high-level theoretical ontology for dealing with the complex assemblage of games and play, which looks beyond playable games. After that, the research shows how games are changed and modified when becoming heritagized. Finally, the study sheds light on tensions that exist between various stakeholders and their heritagization strategies.
As such, the dissertation demonstrates how the complex issues and processes that arise when games become heritage are in need of more reflexive practices. In the discussion, the study points towards possible strategies that can be used in order to mitigate stakeholder tensions around the ownership of game heritage. However, further empirical research is needed in order to validate the theoretical constructs and guidelines provided in this study.
Passmore, Cale; Harrer, Sabine; Spiel, Katta
Between Pleasure and Power: Game Design Patterns in Clickbait Ludoporn
In: DiGRA ’20: Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference: Play Everywhere, DiGRA, 2020, ISSN: 2342-9666.
In proceedings Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Clickbait, Game design, Games, Ludoporn, Play, Porn
@inproceedings{Passmore2020,
title = {Between Pleasure and Power: Game Design Patterns in Clickbait Ludoporn},
author = {Cale Passmore and Sabine Harrer and Katta Spiel},
url = {http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/between-pleasure-and-power-game-design-patterns-in-clickbait-ludoporn/},
issn = {2342-9666},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-06-02},
booktitle = {DiGRA ’20: Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference: Play Everywhere},
publisher = {DiGRA},
abstract = {Despite its pervasiveness and prosperity in online spaces, the genre of playable online pornog- raphy, or ludoporn, has received little scholarly attention both in Human-Computer Interac- tion (HCI), Games Studies, and Porn Studies. In this paper, we discuss clickbait ludoporn as a hybrid design genre bridging games and pornography as they are offered for free on online platforms. We develop a tentative taxonomy of common design features, analysing game mechanics in terms of the libidinal investments and sexual pleasures promoted to players. Our analysis is based on a sample of 18 games retrieved from three different platforms. We suggest that the design of clickbait ludoporn mechanics incorporate mainstream approaches to sexuality, intimacy, and corporeality with fundamental consequences on how pleasure is culturally produced, articulated and normalised. We close on a call for game researchers and designers to claim the space of clickbait ludoporn with transformative intent.},
keywords = {Clickbait, Game design, Games, Ludoporn, Play, Porn},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Despite its pervasiveness and prosperity in online spaces, the genre of playable online pornog- raphy, or ludoporn, has received little scholarly attention both in Human-Computer Interac- tion (HCI), Games Studies, and Porn Studies. In this paper, we discuss clickbait ludoporn as a hybrid design genre bridging games and pornography as they are offered for free on online platforms. We develop a tentative taxonomy of common design features, analysing game mechanics in terms of the libidinal investments and sexual pleasures promoted to players. Our analysis is based on a sample of 18 games retrieved from three different platforms. We suggest that the design of clickbait ludoporn mechanics incorporate mainstream approaches to sexuality, intimacy, and corporeality with fundamental consequences on how pleasure is culturally produced, articulated and normalised. We close on a call for game researchers and designers to claim the space of clickbait ludoporn with transformative intent.
2019
Leorke, Dale
Reappropriating, Reconfiguring and Augmenting the Smart City Through Play
In: Nijholt, Anton (Ed.): Making Smart Cities More Playable: Exploring Playable Cities, pp. 51-70, Springer Singapore, 2019, ISBN: 9789811397646.
Book chapter Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Civic engagement, Counterplay, Gamification, Play, Playable cities, Psychogeography, Smart city
@incollection{Leorke2019,
title = {Reappropriating, Reconfiguring and Augmenting the Smart City Through Play},
author = {Dale Leorke},
editor = {Anton Nijholt},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202101131251},
doi = {10.1007/978-981-13-9765-3_3},
isbn = {9789811397646},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-06-23},
booktitle = {Making Smart Cities More Playable: Exploring Playable Cities},
pages = {51-70},
publisher = {Springer Singapore},
abstract = {This chapter examines the growing intersection of digital games and the ‘smart city’ model. It explores the various ways that games and playful practices can alternately support, challenge, or counter the push to instrumentalise, optimise, and ‘program’ the city through ubiquitous smart technologies and ‘sentient’ infrastructure. I begin with a brief overview of the smart city model and how digital games figure into its economic and cultural policies. I then examine current debates around how games and play might more broadly contribute to and counteract the smart city approach, through an analysis of different groups and movements that propose themselves as playful ‘alternatives’ to the smart city. I outline three broad conceptual categories into which these alternatives fit, which alternately propose to reappropriate, reconfigure, and augment the smart city. In doing so, I connecting each of these approaches not only to contemporary discourses around urban policy, but also historical and present visions of play in urban space.},
keywords = {Civic engagement, Counterplay, Gamification, Play, Playable cities, Psychogeography, Smart city},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
This chapter examines the growing intersection of digital games and the ‘smart city’ model. It explores the various ways that games and playful practices can alternately support, challenge, or counter the push to instrumentalise, optimise, and ‘program’ the city through ubiquitous smart technologies and ‘sentient’ infrastructure. I begin with a brief overview of the smart city model and how digital games figure into its economic and cultural policies. I then examine current debates around how games and play might more broadly contribute to and counteract the smart city approach, through an analysis of different groups and movements that propose themselves as playful ‘alternatives’ to the smart city. I outline three broad conceptual categories into which these alternatives fit, which alternately propose to reappropriate, reconfigure, and augment the smart city. In doing so, I connecting each of these approaches not only to contemporary discourses around urban policy, but also historical and present visions of play in urban space.
Nansen, Bjørn; Nicoll, Benjamin; Apperley, Thomas H.
Postdigitality in Children’s Crossmedia Play: A Case Study of Nintendo’s Amiibo Figurines
In: Mascheroni, Giovanna; Holloway, Donell (Ed.): The Internet of Toys: Practices, Affordances and the Political Economy of Children’s Smart Play, pp. 89-108, Springer Nature, 2019, ISBN: 978-3030108977.
Book chapter
Abstract | Links | Tags: Amiibo, Data, Nintendo, Play, Postdigital
@incollection{Nansen2019,
title = {Postdigitality in Children’s Crossmedia Play: A Case Study of Nintendo’s Amiibo Figurines},
author = {Bjørn Nansen and Benjamin Nicoll and Thomas H. Apperley},
editor = {Giovanna Mascheroni and Donell Holloway},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-10898-4_5},
isbn = {978-3030108977},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-02-21},
urldate = {2019-02-21},
booktitle = {The Internet of Toys: Practices, Affordances and the Political Economy of Children’s Smart Play},
pages = {89-108},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
abstract = {In this chapter, we use Nintendo Amiibo to interrogate the evolving intersection of crossmedia products and children’s cultures of play. Amiibo figurines are based on characters from various Nintendo franchises, such as Super Mario Bros., and use NFC tags to connect wirelessly to Nintendo’s Switch, 3DS and Wii U platforms. In their production, promotion and everyday use, the figurines solicit playful practices that cut across physical objects and digital spaces. Drawing on interface analysis, promotional discourses and videos of play on YouTube, this analysis highlights how Amiibos are framed as a means to envelop children in Nintendo’s crossmedia ecosystem by reinforcing a physical connection between child, toy, software, platform and intellectual property. Informed by the concept of postdigital play, we account for this reciprocal dynamic between children’s everyday play and the branded world of IoT products, and we point to emerging questions around children’s data literacies.},
keywords = {Amiibo, Data, Nintendo, Play, Postdigital},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
In this chapter, we use Nintendo Amiibo to interrogate the evolving intersection of crossmedia products and children’s cultures of play. Amiibo figurines are based on characters from various Nintendo franchises, such as Super Mario Bros., and use NFC tags to connect wirelessly to Nintendo’s Switch, 3DS and Wii U platforms. In their production, promotion and everyday use, the figurines solicit playful practices that cut across physical objects and digital spaces. Drawing on interface analysis, promotional discourses and videos of play on YouTube, this analysis highlights how Amiibos are framed as a means to envelop children in Nintendo’s crossmedia ecosystem by reinforcing a physical connection between child, toy, software, platform and intellectual property. Informed by the concept of postdigital play, we account for this reciprocal dynamic between children’s everyday play and the branded world of IoT products, and we point to emerging questions around children’s data literacies.
Stenros, Jaakko
Guided by Transgression: Defying Norms as an Integral Part of Play
In: Jørgensen, Kristine; Karlsen, Faltin (Ed.): Transgression in Games and Play, pp. 13-25, The MIT Press, 2019, ISBN: 9780262038652.
Book chapter
Tags: Play, Playfulness, Transgressive play
@incollection{Stenros2019,
title = {Guided by Transgression: Defying Norms as an Integral Part of Play},
author = {Jaakko Stenros},
editor = {Kristine Jørgensen and Faltin Karlsen},
isbn = {9780262038652},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-02-05},
booktitle = {Transgression in Games and Play},
pages = {13-25},
publisher = {The MIT Press},
keywords = {Play, Playfulness, Transgressive play},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Mäyrä, Frans
The Player as a Hybrid: Agency in Digital Game Cultures
In: GAME: The Italian Journal of Game Studies, vol. 8, iss. 1, pp. 30-47, 2019, ISSN: 2280-7705.
Journal article Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Agency, Game controllers, Game culture, Phenomenology, Play, Power, Technology
@article{Mäyrä2019,
title = {The Player as a Hybrid: Agency in Digital Game Cultures},
author = {Frans Mäyrä},
url = {https://www.gamejournal.it/the-player-as-a-hybrid-agency-in-digital-game-cultures/},
issn = {2280-7705},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {GAME: The Italian Journal of Game Studies},
volume = {8},
issue = {1},
pages = {30-47},
abstract = {This article studies the player as a hybrid: a particular compound version of subjectivity that emerges from involvement with the contents, cultures and technologies of games. Drawing from both cultural studies of technology and phenomenology of game play, the article aims to connect key historical works in cultural technology studies with game and play studies to open perspectives into the tensions and potential conflicts that underlie the empowerment and expansion of gaming self. While engaging in game play provides us with novel opportunities for experiencing alternate realities and developing our abilities, our connections with games are also power relations that shape our hybrid, cultural agency in ways that we are not necessarily always aware of. The increasing intermingling of technology and play has consequences for players’ agency that are revealed to be simultaneously empowering and limiting. The multiple identified areas of tension in the constitution of hybrid player agency also suggest a non-essentialist approach to understanding games, players and playing.},
keywords = {Agency, Game controllers, Game culture, Phenomenology, Play, Power, Technology},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article studies the player as a hybrid: a particular compound version of subjectivity that emerges from involvement with the contents, cultures and technologies of games. Drawing from both cultural studies of technology and phenomenology of game play, the article aims to connect key historical works in cultural technology studies with game and play studies to open perspectives into the tensions and potential conflicts that underlie the empowerment and expansion of gaming self. While engaging in game play provides us with novel opportunities for experiencing alternate realities and developing our abilities, our connections with games are also power relations that shape our hybrid, cultural agency in ways that we are not necessarily always aware of. The increasing intermingling of technology and play has consequences for players’ agency that are revealed to be simultaneously empowering and limiting. The multiple identified areas of tension in the constitution of hybrid player agency also suggest a non-essentialist approach to understanding games, players and playing.