Just war? War games, war crimes, and game design

Military shooters have explored both historical and modern settings and remain one of the most popular game genres. While the violence of these games has been explored in multiple studies, the study of how war and the rules of war are represented is underexplored. The Red Cross has argued that as virtual war games are becoming closer to reality, the rules of war should be included. This article explores the argument put forward by the Red Cross and its reception by games media organizations, in order to consider how the concept of “just war” is represented within games. This article will focus on concerns over games adherence to the criteria of jus in bello (the right conduct in war) and will also consider the challenges that developers face in the creation of entertainment products in the face of publisher and press concerns

‘Translating Narrative into Code’ – Thoughts on a Technology-Centric Model of Digital Games as Programmable Media

The current surge of game studies literature demands a scrutinizing look at the solidifying positions within the German and international discourse and the opportunities of finding a common vocabulary and adequate set of analytical tools. In order to arrive at an integrative model of analysis, the intricate interplay of narrative and game mechanics (narratology vs. ludology) is considered from a comparative perspective and thus demystified. Consequently, a new model based on programming theory (object-oriented narrative) is proposed which takes into account elements of psychology, narratological concepts derived from film- and literature studies and cultural studies approaches leading to a ‘close reading’ of games. The article is based on the assumption that computer- and videogames recode the act of ‘reading’ games as texts into a mode of ‘text-processing’ and thereby fundamentally modify the parameters of our cultural appropriation and media literacy. The model proposed herein shall then be tentatively applied to the complex re-staging and re-examination of ‘the real’ in a wide range games from Wonderland to Enter the Matrix

Translation and/as Interface

This paper argues that game translation should be understood and treated as a type of interface. In contrast to the dominant industry view of translation as simply a means of spreading a game from one country to another, or the academic discourse that ignores different linguistic versions, this paper contends that translation is an interface between the world, players and games that can be transparent, reflective, or both, and that translation spans multiple layers of the game from the code to the experience. This argument will connect J. David Bolter and Diane Gromala's discussion of interface as a design principle with Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost's five-layer platform studies model for understanding games. By repositioning translation as an expansive and necessarily complex interface we can move toward better understanding the space of translation in games and the broader importance of translation to gaming

Making the water move: techno-historic limits in the game aesthetics of Myst and Doom.

This paper proposes that the technical limitations at the time of a game?s creation have an enormous impact on the overall aesthetic of any specific game, and also the traditions of the whole craft. Thus, an awareness of this aspect is critical to the useful analysis of games. However, this is often missing from current analyses of games. To illustrate both the significance of techno-historic limits, and several fundamental principals of digital technology, the landmark games Myst (Cyan, 1993) and Doom (id Software, 1993) are explored as examples of the evolution of game aesthetics over time. This leads to an examination of the future limits of the rendering of images and sounds, and how this may have an impact on future game aesthetics and genres

Abandonware, Commercial Expatriation and Post-Commodity Fan Practice: A Study of the Sega Dreamcraft

This thesis explores the nature of digital gaming platforms once they have been expatriated from the consumer marketplace and have been relegated to obsolescence. In this state, abandonware becomes a site for creative interventions by active audiences, who exploit, hack and modify these consoles in order to accommodate a range of creative practices. As part of the digital toolkit for fan production, the Sega Dreamcast has become a focal point for fan based video game remix practices, whereby fan creators appropriate imagery and iconography from popular media to create new works derivative of these franchises. These fan practices subvert the proprietary protocols of digital platforms, re-contextualizing them as devices for creative intervention by practitioners, who distribute their works and the knowledge necessary to produce them, through online communities

Abandonware, Commercial Expatriation and Post-Commodity Fan Practice: A Study of the Sega Dreamcraft

This thesis explores the nature of digital gaming platforms once they have been expatriated from the consumer marketplace and have been relegated to obsolescence. In this state, abandonware becomes a site for creative interventions by active audiences, who exploit, hack and modify these consoles in order to accommodate a range of creative practices. As part of the digital toolkit for fan production, the Sega Dreamcast has become a focal point for fan based video game remix practices, whereby fan creators appropriate imagery and iconography from popular media to create new works derivative of these franchises. These fan practices subvert the proprietary protocols of digital platforms, re-contextualizing them as devices for creative intervention by practitioners, who distribute their works and the knowledge necessary to produce them, through online communities