Social, Casual and Mobile Games

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Social, casual and mobile games, played on devices such as smartphones, tablets, or PCs and accessed through online social networks, have become extremely popular, and are changing the ways in which games are designed, understood, and played. These games have sparked a revolution as more people from a broader demographic than ever play games, shifting the stereotype of gaming away from that of hardcore, dedicated play to that of activities that fit into everyday life. Social, Casual and Mobile Games explores the rapidly changing gaming landscape and discusses the ludic, methodological, theoretical, economic, social and cultural challenges that these changes invoke. With chapters discussing locative games, the new freemium economic model, and gamer demographics, as well as close studies of specific games (including Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds, and Ingress), this collection offers an insight into the changing nature of games and the impact that mobile media is having upon individuals and societies around the world

Wonder women in the virtual world: how female Shepard redefined the female hero archetype in video games

2021 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.AAA video game protagonists typically represent the white, heterosexual male. While standards are changing, there remains a considerable discrepancy between the number of male and female protagonists available. This study intends to examine how video game producers can move forward with creating resonant AAA protagonists by examining one of the first protagonists who presented unforeseen equality. This thesis explores the character of female Shepard from BioWare's video game series Mass Effect (2007-2012) and what elements made her a fan favorite and marketable. Using Jim Bizzochi's video game narrative framework and Shunsuke Nozawa's concept of ensoulment related to voice work, this thesis argues that FemShep redefined the video game landscape. She served to create her own space as a character and not merely a gender-flipped construct of her male counterpart. By examining how she is constructed and handled in-game, the conclusion suggests that when the developmental focus is on creating the character, there is a market for strong heroes who are also female

Video game trailers: how storytelling is used to create identification and appeal with audiences

Video game trailers are an effective promotional form of intermediation that enables audiences to navigate and engage with old and new media. Although video game trailers function as advertisements designed to sell a game, they are also stories that provoke social media commentary and debate. Trailers aim to draw the viewer in, convey sound and imagery, and evoke an involuntary reaction of excitement and awe. In this thesis, I will be using the games Fallout 4, Watch Dogs 2, and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. In the case studies, I investigate how viewers make sense of the promotional and storytelling aspects of video game trailers. I examine how video game trailers have the potential to arouse emotions and interest before viewers even play the game. Trailers provide an insight into the basic gameplay, not only into the gameplay but also into the story and the characters (protagonists and antagonists). They show audiences the video game theme genre and provide the viewer with a visual and auditory tool to entice possession. This project explores these themes, showing how video game trailers have an inherited cinematic quality but also how trailers actually spend little time presenting actual gameplay. There is a clear connection with movie trailers, teasing the events that will take place in the game and asking the player what will happen next. In this study, I used the methods of narrative analysis and textual analysis to analyse comments from YouTube, Facebook, and a survey of video gamers. The textual analysis of the trailers raises questions of representation and authenticity. In this research, I identified an incongruity between the representation of the core features of a game and the promotion of those features in the trailer. The narrative analysis of the trailers focused on storytelling and emplotment in the trailers. A key theme that has emerged from the analysis is that superheroes engage in vigilantism, a justifiable form of self-administered violence. Gamers may feel at ease with the violence used to correct perceived injustices. There is potential for gamers to consider the moral grey area of vigilante violence and romanticised vigilantism. With their enhanced ability to simulate complex interactive narratives for actual and simulated authenticity, video games offer a sophisticated engagement with players that contributes significantly to their widespread and universal support. The role of culturally created characters in the experience of playing a video game helps stimulate philosophical research. I explore whether normative audience expectations can speed up the development of cultural expectations about the relationship between the player and the narrative of the game and its audience. In this context, I examine case study video game trailers and ask what it means to revise our understanding of the relationship between power, law, and morality while playing the game. I examine and critique how the narrative, and thus the mechanics of a specific game, shapes our understanding of connection, power, law, or morality; I contend that prestige reflects normative privilege and law

RPG: Role-playing gender, and how the game industry has sustained and defied sexism

Despite the wider cultural progress of gender equality, game content which perpetuates sexist beliefs about gender is uncomfortably common. Games have historically used narrative and programmed mechanics to advocate that women are valuable only when performing exaggerated femininity – they must look and behave biologically female, even when playing as non-human races. Game content suggests that women desire play such as fighting from a distance, healing, and otherwise supporting the masculine, combative role while being denied equal agency. From this viewpoint, women are at their most feminine – their ‘ideal’ state – when they are objectified, and as cultural artefacts games reveal society’s adherence of the same values: sexist content articulates the dichotomy of man=capable, woman=incapable that structures Western culture. Yet there are signs of change in both games and the industry, and the thesis explores the power of sexist representations and the progress toward inclusive game content. The industry is increasingly representing women and marginalised groups in ways which highlight intellectual solutions over the use of force, explore non-heterosexual sexuality, or feature cooperation that encourages relations of equality beyond gender boundaries, as well as empowered female characters whose stories overcome sexism, racism, and other forms of oppression. ‘RPG: Role-Playing Gender’ looks at games using a mixed-methodological approach which combines ‘close readings’ of games as texts alongside other popular culture and art forms, ethnographic surveys of game communities, and interviews with members of the gaming world. What do sexist representations communicate to players concerning female power and gender roles? What specific gender-based characteristics do players adopt for in-game gender performance? How do game communities facilitate player/player interaction, especially those based on assumptions about gender trends, in ways non-virtual spaces cannot? What stories and mechanics might games adopt to represent women and marginalised groups in ways which normalise and celebrate diversity

Limitation to Innovation in the North American Console Video Game Industry 2001-2013: A Critical Analysis

In today\u27s marketplace the ability to innovate is considered a key driver of success and economic prosperity (Florida, 2002; Howkins, 2001). From an innovation perspective, video game development has often been viewed as an exemplary case of a creative digital industry whose products and services are quickly consumed and hence require a constant flow of new content. This dissertation reviews innovation in the video game industry more critically. After examining the main lines of contemporary innovation theory, it proposes a model of the innovation process in the development cycle of console video games, evaluating the roles of three principle actors: consumers, publishers and developers. It then shows how, while the interaction of these stakeholders sometimes results in original new products and services, it also often fails to do so and indeed can actually impede truly creative innovation. The study aims to dispel popular myths about the embrace of innovation by the video game industry and contribute to the debate on the role of innovation in today\u27s post-industrial economy

Building trust - from television to the internet : crowds, trust and digital engagement

In the late 1960s, American democracy entered a crisis of trust and declining civic engagement. Policy makers interested in rebuilding trust with the people have often resorted to new communication technologies, but the impact of these technologies is sometimes unclear. The research presented here found that the impact of novel communication technologies is sometimes over-rated and that too much significance has been placed on leadership charisma. Sound strategic and tactical plans are critical to a successful outcome of any trust building activity, as trust is not necessarily created and sustained through the same means. Second, such plans must regularly be revised, and require competent expert support to execute strategic goals. This work concludes that – at all levels of public leadership – a change in thinking about digital technology is required, and that such technologies should be approached as opportunities rather than threats. Such an approach helps identify and deploy creative solutions, and speaks to younger generations who are more likely to embrace new technologies.Public Polic