Games without Frontiers: A Framework for Analyzing Digital Game Cultures Comparatively

Currently in game studies there is a gap in frameworks for comparatively researching game cultures. This is a serious shortcoming as it ignores the transcultural and transnational aspects of games, play and their cultures. Based on Hepp’s (2009) transcultural framework, and Du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay and Negus’s (1997) circuit of culture, this article proposes a structure to comparatively analyze game cultures. This procedural method comprises several steps determining specific contexts of game culture and their categories for comparison. Each step is illustrated with a case example. Finally, we recommend placing game cultures on a transnational spectrum, which helps in suggesting that many digital games express both local and international characteristics

Mediating media usage in times of migration

The use and regulation of mobile media devices of children and adolescents in refugee families is largely unexplored. Our qualitative approach utilizes in-depth guided interviews with parents and children in Arabic speaking refugee families in Germany. All interviewed families have resided in Germany from one to four years. The sample consists of both couples and single parents, while most children are in their final year of kindergarten, in primary school, or secondary school. The study explores the selection and usage of mobile media devices and content in their social context, such as the use of social media platforms and apps at home and for school. Our research highlights changes in mobile media usage after the interviewees’ arrival in Germany due to the different socio-cultural environment and a changed media agency. The amount of change greatly depends on the age of the children, for example, the younger they were when arriving in Germany, the less likely they are to use mobile media to stay in touch with their former friends. Additionally, most children and adolescents tend to consume German media content more often than Arabic content. In the rare cases they do consume Arabic media content, it is in the presence of their parents, who state that they do so to bring their children closer to their roots.Die Nutzung und Regulierung mobiler Medien von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Flüchtlingsfamilien ist weitgehend unerforscht. Einem qualitativen Ansatz folgend führten wir Leitfadeninterviews mit Eltern und Kindern in Arabisch bzw. Deutsch. Alle befragten Familien leben seit ein bis vier Jahren in Deutschland. Die Stichprobe besteht aus Paaren und Alleinerziehenden, wobei sich die meisten Kinder im letzten Jahr des Kindergartens, in der Grundschule oder der Sekundarschule befinden. Die Studie untersucht die Auswahl und Verwendung mobiler Mediengeräte, insbesondere Smartphones und Tablets, und deren Inhalte im sozialen Kontext, beispielsweise die Verwendung von Social-Media-Plattformen und Apps zu Hause und für die Schule. Unsere Studie verdeutlicht Veränderungen in der Nutzung mobiler Medien nach der Ankunft der Befragten in Deutschland, was auf das veränderte sozio-kulturelle Umfeld und mediale Handlungsfähigkeiten zurückzuführen ist. Das Ausmass des Wandels hängt stark vom Alter der Kinder ab. Ein Beispiel: Je jünger die Kinder waren, als sie nach Deutschland kamen, desto weniger wahrscheinlich nutzen sie mobile Medien, um mit ihren ehemaligen Freund*innen in Kontakt zu bleiben. Ausserdem konsumieren die meisten Kinder und Jugendlichen häufiger deutschsprachige Medieninhalte als arabische. In den seltenen Fällen der Rezeption arabischer Medieninhalte geschieht dies in Anwesenheit der Eltern, die wiederum angeben, dies zu tun, um den Kindern ihre Wurzeln näher zu bringen

For the girls, gays, and theys: LGBTQ+ stakeholder communication and alignment of video game brands

Queer identities have predominantly existed at the peripheries of media representation as well as communication research. Linking this research gap with the field of video games as a medium, this study examines video game companies and their strategic communication efforts toward LGBTQ+ stakeholders through critical discourse analysis with influences of queer theory. With this focus, we aim to identify how video game companies discursively construct queer identities and utilize them for strategic communication. Through the analysis of the social media and online discourses surrounding two games with queer inclusion, we show that queer branding has an influence on the way strategic communication efforts are employed throughout the year, as well as the type of content. Furthermore, we show that in our selected cases, organizations can successfully align themselves with their LGBTQ+ stakeholders by having queer inclusion at the core of their strategic communication efforts and authentic organizational practices

Immersive Storytelling in 360-Degree Videos: An Analysis of Interplay Between Narrative and Technical Immersion

Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree videos are an innovative video format, and due to various narrative and technical aspects, they allow audiences to be deeply immersed in their content. Through an explorative, qualitative content analysis (and parts of narrative analysis) aspects of immersion were explored in various 360-degree videos. Our results give an overview of multiple immersive factors in 360-degree storytelling and the interplay of narrative and technical aspects of immersion. Technical immersion manifests through cues to direct the viewer’s attention and cues to acknowledge the viewer as a part of the virtual environment. Narrative immersion, on the other hand, is influenced by the setting, as well as by the interplay of story, characters, and viewer integration. Our findings also indicate that narrative and technical aspects support each other to strengthen immersion

Authentic portrayals of game culture?: a content analysis of the crowd-funded YouTube documentary The Smash Brothers

Using the case example of the crowd-funded YouTube documentary The Smash Brothers, this study explores how digital game culture is currently represented in social media. The units for a qualitative content analysis, as described by Krippendorf (2004), are defined through thematic distinction. The results refer to four major categories that represent digital game culture as a whole: game, gamer, gameplay and game community. The interaction between gamer and game (gameplay) is the most stressed element of game culture. Gameplay was depicted to be of varying nature and in opposition, considered both a sport and an art. The portrayal of the culture in our sample stresses both negative and positive aspects, remarking on features that increase the popularity of the game

Geflüchtete Familien nach Medienrepertoires und Medienregeln befragen : Reflexion von Forschungsdesign und Umsetzung

Dieser Forumsbeitrag reflektiert Forschungsdesign und -umsetzung einer Studie zu Medienrepertoires und -regeln in irakischen und syrischen Flüchtlingsfamilien (Rothenberger et al. 2019a; 2019b). Im Fokus des Beitrags stehen dabei Überlegungen zur Anlage der Studie, zu Feldzugang und Rekrutierung der InterviewteilnehmerInnen, sprachlichen und kulturellen Barrieren, einem möglichen Gender-Bias und Schwierigkeiten in der konkreten Interviewsituation. Weiterhin diskutieren wir ethische Abwägungen und den Einsatz von Incentives. Die Aufbereitung des gewonnenen Interviewmaterials, also Transkription, Übersetzung und Auswertung, wird ebenfalls kritisch hinterfragt. Ziel des Beitrags ist es, den Forschungsprozess kritisch zu reflektieren, um Hinweise für eine angemessenere Forschung geben zu können

The Discursive Construction of Terrorist Group Identity

The media coverage of terrorist acts has been the subject of numer-ous scientific studies. However, the terrorist groups’own communi-cation perspectives have not been thoroughly researched. Thefollowing article deals with terrorist groups and their use of websitesfor identity building. We examine the discursive construction ofterrorist group identity through critical discourse analysis (CDA).The CDA of online texts from websites of terrorist groups is basedon a five macro-strategy scheme. Our sample consists of six terroristgroups, with each group of two sharing different motivations: social-revolutionary, ethno-nationalist, or religious. All the groups analyzedare listed as terrorist organizations by the European Union. The CDAof 27 terrorist websites, purposively sampled, was conducted usingtwo coders per site. Through this analysis, the researchers drawconclusions on strategies employed by terrorist organizations inbuilding identity and how to counter their unregulated propagand