39,553 research outputs found

    Crafting is So Hardcore: Masculinized Making in Gaming Representations of Labor

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    In this paper we examine the representation of crafts in video games, particularly in “crafting systems” – collections of mechanics that are described as crafting within a game's narrative. Real world crafting practitioners value creativity, expression, and mastery of material, but the act of crafting itself is often viewed by society as reproductive, feminized labor and therefore devalued. Because of this, crafting systems in games have been designed to more closely resemble masculinized, productive labor in the form of repetitive, manufacturing-like mechanics. These representational choices persist even across games lauded for their crafting systems, as our analysis demonstrates. Through an examination of both user-generated tutorials and game mechanics for three games that frequently appear on “best crafting games” lists, we show that games persist in devaluing the reproductive labor of crafting, reducing creative expression and material mastery to marginal and repetitive tasks while catering to the palates of masculine gamers by emphasizing stats-driven progression rather than creative making

    How is the abstract knowledge of craft and material properties shared with the user in simulation role-play video games?

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    This dissertation aims to bring together information and data on how craft and material properties are included in simulation role play games. The topic of research was inspired by the lack of academic research into craft and crafting within digital games. The research is analysed from multiple avenues, including the point of views of the players, the intentions of developers and the social cultural influences. In addition to the research into simulation role-play games the reflection of first hand testing and analysis of the crafting elements and mechanics of some simulation role-play games is also included in this paper. The games included are those which fit into the categories of simulation role-play games and include crafting mechanics in different forms within them. Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, MineCraft and The Sims are just some of the included titles. Collection, material properties, crafting and the use of resources within games are comparatively explored alongside research into culture, economics, ethics and visual design principles

    Using popular culture to enable health service co-design with young people

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    This paper reports on participatory service design with young people with type 1 diabetes – a long-term condition that can impact their emotional wellbeing and where poor self-care often leads to negative health consequences. The paper describes a project working with young people with type 1 diabetes to design innovative health services. The project consisted of eight creative workshops, in which we used popular cultural references as a means to create enjoyable activities and encourage the young people to engage with design. These cultural references can be understood as creating design language games that allowed the young people to understand and participate in the activities required at each stage of the design process. However, not all popular culture references worked equally well and this paper explores the reasons for this

    Weird Science! It’s My Creation . . . Is It Really? Or: Crafting a New Universal Trademark Standard for User-Created Avatars

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    In modern trademark law the process of registering a valid trademark is straightforward. In the United States the Lanham Act is the ruling law of trademark law. The Lanham Act grants protection to the owner of a registered mark which is distinctive and used in commerce. Assuming all the requirements are met, the owner of a mark can use the mark within its discretion and enjoy the protection under the Lanham Act. As trademark law has continued to evolve, the law has expanded to protect previously unforeseen categories. The two most obvious examples which demonstrate the evolution of protection under trademark law are trade dress and antidilution protection. These two areas demonstrate trademark law’s ability to evolve to address areas not recognized through established law. Nowhere is an adaptation of trademark law required more than in user-created avatars. The emergence of user-created content has begun to become a common occurrence within the areas of electronic media. Video games can currently give players a blank slate upon which they can build their own creation. Issues however arise when there are inquiries into who legitimately owns theses creations and what protections they are afforded

    Crafting a Systematic Literature Review on Open-Source Platforms

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    This working paper unveils the crafting of a systematic literature review on open-source platforms. The high-competitive mobile devices market, where several players such as Apple, Google, Nokia and Microsoft run a platforms- war with constant shifts in their technological strategies, is gaining increasing attention from scholars. It matters, then, to review previous literature on past platforms-wars, such as the ones from the PC and game-console industries, and assess its implications to the current mobile devices platforms-war. The paper starts by justifying the purpose and rationale behind this literature review on open-source platforms. The concepts of open-source software and computer-based platforms were then discussed both individually and in unison, in order to clarify the core-concept of 'open-source platform' that guides this literature review. The detailed design of the employed methodological strategy is then presented as the central part of this paper. The paper concludes with preliminary findings organizing previous literature on open-source platforms for the purpose of guiding future research in this area.Comment: As presented in 10th IFIP WG 2.13 International Conference on Open Source Systems, OSS 2014, San Jos\'e, Costa Rica, May 6-9, 201
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