Narratology

This essay provides an overview of the different types of study that can be conducted when considering the narrative aspects of video game play. It contextualizes this research among the larger movements of narratology, particularly concerning the structuralist roots of the discipline and the parallels between gameplay and narrative structures. A brief overview of the key points of the ludology/narratology debate is made, followed by an introduction to the three domains of narrative in video game studies: story content, story structures, and narration as the discursive mode that games use to relay the game-state

Action

This essay describes two different phenomena: action games, understood as a genre of games in which the player’s sensori-motor skills prevail over his cognitive activity, and a general theory of action-taking in context of the game-playing practice. Through a short history of the main genres and sub-genres traditionally identified with “Action games”, and the conclusion that such a categorization pertains to a mode of action rather than a given genre, the properties of action games are identified as involving a standardized repertoire of actions, emphasis on sensori-motor skills, and short-term action sequences

Thumb-bangers : exploring the cultural bond between video games and heavy metal

« Heavy Metal Generations » is the fourth volume in the series of papers drawn from the 2012 Music, Metal and Politics international conference (http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/product/heavy-metal-generations/).Heavy metal and video games share an almost simultaneous birth, with Black Sabbath’s debut album in 1970 and Nolan Bushnell’s Computer Space in 1971. From Judas Priest’s ‘Freewheel Burning’ music video in 1984 to Tim Schafer’s Brütal Legend in 2009, the exchanges between these two subcultures have been both reciprocal and exponential. This chapter will present a historical survey of the bond between video games and heavy metal cultures through its highest-profile examples. There are two underlying reasons for this symbiosis: 1) the historical development and popular dissemination of the video game came at an opportune time, first with the video game arcades in the 1970s and early 1980s, and then with the Nintendo Entertainment System, whose technical sound-channel limitations happened to fall in line with the typical structures of heavy metal; 2) heavy metal and video games, along with their creators and consumers, have faced similar sociocultural paths and challenges, notably through the policies set in place by the PMRC and the ESRB, and a flurry of lawsuits and attacks, especially from United States congressmen, that resulted in an overlapping of their respective spaces outside dominant culture. These reasons explain the natural bond between these cultural practices, and the more recent developments like Last Chance to Reason’s Level 2 let us foresee a future where new hybrid creations could emerge

Dark waters : spotlight on immersion

EUROSIS : The European Multidisciplinary Society for Modelling and Simulation Technology.This paper combines several empirical studies and some theoretical research to shed some light on the dark, undefined waters in which we plunge when we are “immersed”. Immersion, across all media, comes in three different types and in three different degrees, and can be hindered by barriers, such as inaccessibility, or favored by fuel, such as using one’s imagination. The resulting model of immersion can be applied to experiences formed by any type of media object, but is particularly relevant to video games

Introduction à la pragmatique des effets génériques: l’horreur dans tous ses états

Cet article pose les jalons d’une nouvelle approche théorique de la question du genre, la pragmatique des effets génériques. Cette approche permet de résoudre les problèmes qui découlent du phénomène de l’hybridité générique, une difficulté qui limite l’analyse formelle d’objets culturels d’un point de vue générique. Ce nouveau paradigme donne la primauté non pas au texte comme objet fini, mais à l’expérience de son parcours par un lecteur/spectateur/joueur. Pour la pragmatique des effets génériques, le genre s’exprime dans des effets génériques qui se manifestent ponctuellement à travers la séquence sémiotique d’un objet culturel, que le lecteur/spectateur/joueur peut reconnaître et qui modulent à la fois son horizon d’attentes et sa compréhension cognitive de l’objet. La pertinence et les ramifications de cette approche sont démontrées à l’aide d’une étude de cas qui porte sur le genre vidéoludique du survival horror. Celui-ci est déconstruit en ses deux composantes, soit le genre thématique de l’horreur et le genre ludique du survival. Chacun est étudié à travers deux jeux, Resident Evil et Diablo, respectivement emblématique et étranger au genre. Néanmoins, l’analyse des éléments formels et de la jouabilité de Diablo du point de vue expérientiel démontre que ses mécaniques de jeu et sa structure donnent lieu à des effets d’horreur et de survival qui, bien que non prioritaires, ne peuvent être écartés d’une analyse sans risquer de dénaturer l’objet. *** This paper lays the foundations of a new theoretical approach to genre, the pragmatics of generic effects. This approach allows us to solve the problems caused by the phenomenon of generic hybridity, a difficulty that limits formal analysis of cultural objects from a generic standpoint. This new paradigm places emphasis not on the text as a finite object, but rather on the experience of its traversal by a reader/spectator/player. In the pragmatics of generic effects, genre expresses itself through generic effects that manifest themselves punctually throughout the semiotic sequence of a cultural object, which the reader/spectator/player can recognize and that modulate both his horizon of expectations and his cognitive understanding of the object. The pertinence and ramifications of this approach are demonstrated by way of a case study of the survival horror video game genre. The genre is broken down into its two components, the thematic genre of horror and the game genre of survival. Each is studied through two games, Resident Evil and Diablo, respectively emblematic of and a stranger to the genre. Nevertheless, the analysis of Diablo’s formal elements and gameplay shows that its game mechanics and structure give way to horror and survival effects that, while ancillary, cannot be ignored by an analyst without denaturing the object. This issue was generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and published in partnership with Ludiciné

Video Game Genre, Evolution and Innovation

This paper provides a critical overview of the notion of genre in game studies and in the video game industry. Using the concept of genre requires one to acknowledge the recent developments of genre theory in other fields of research; one such development is the contestation of the idea of generic evolution. After a comparative analysis, video game genres are found to differ from literary and film genres precisely on the basis of evolution. The technological imperatives that characterize video game production are also pinpointed as relevant to the establishment and development of video game genres. Evolution is linked to the processes of innovation, and so a model of innovation is laid out from a compare-and-contrast approach to literary and film genre innovation. This model is tested through the history and analysis of the First-Person Shooter genre. This results in new insights for the question of genre in video games, as it is established that genre is rooted not in game mechanics, but in game aesthetics; that is, play-experiences that share a phenomenological and pragmatic quality, regardless of their technical implementation.   

Guitar Hero: "Not Like Playing Guitar At All"?

This paper studies the Guitar Hero video game as a simulation. This is done by examining the game controller and the visual interface, and how they work to accurately simulate the act of playing the guitar

L’empire vidéoludique : comment les jeux vidéo ont conquis l’univers de Star Wars

Il est difficile de discuter des développements intermédiaux de Star Wars sans évoquer la vision de l'instigateur de cet univers de science-fiction en constante expansion, George Lucas, qui a su mesuer l'importance qu'allait prendre le jeu vidéo (et, plus généralement, le phénomène des produits dérivés). Au-delà des considérations purement économiques,c'est d'abord par fascination personnelle que Lucas vient au 10e art. [...

Canada

Résumé du livre « Video games around the world » sur le site de MIT Press : https://mitpress.mit.edu/index.php?q=node/249697

Des typologies mécaniques à l'expérience esthétique : fonctions et mutations du genre dans le jeu vidéo

Cette thèse examine en profondeur la nature et l’application du concept de genre en jeu vidéo. Elle se divise en trois parties. La première fait l’inventaire des théories des genres en littérature et en études cinématographiques. Les propriétés essentielles du genre comme concept sont identifiées : il s’agit d’une catégorisation intuitive et irraisonnée, de nature discursive, qui découle d’un consensus culturel commun plutôt que de systèmes théoriques, et qui repose sur les notions de tradition, d’innovation et d’hybridité. Dans la deuxième partie, ces constats sont appliqués au cas du genre vidéoludique. Quelques typologies sont décortiquées pour montrer l’impossibilité d’une classification autoritaire. Un modèle du développement des genres est avancé, lequel s’appuie sur trois modalités : l’imitation, la réitération et l’innovation. Par l’examen de l’histoire du genre du first-person shooter, la conception traditionnelle du genre vidéoludique basée sur des mécanismes formels est remplacée par une nouvelle définition centrée sur l’expérience du joueur. La troisième partie développe l’expérience comme concept théorique et la place au centre d’une nouvelle conception du genre, la pragmatique des effets génériques. Dans cette optique, tout objet est une suite d’amorces génériques, d’effets en puissance qui peuvent se réaliser pourvu que le joueur dispose des compétences génériques nécessaires pour les reconnaître. Cette nouvelle approche est démontrée à travers une étude approfondie d’un genre vidéoludique : le survival horror. Cette étude de cas témoigne de l’applicabilité plus large de la pragmatique des effets génériques, et de la récursivité des questions de genre entre le jeu vidéo, la littérature et le cinéma.This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the nature and application of the concept of genre for the video game. It is divided in three parts. Part one features an overview of genre theory in literature and film studies. The essential properties of genre as a concept are identified: it is an intuitive and “thumbnail” classification method, discursive rather than systemic in nature, and that owes its existence to a common cultural consensus rather than theoretical divisions. More importantly, the notions of tradition, innovation and hybridity are found to be central to genre. In part two, these findings are applied to the case of video game genre. A few typologies are examined to show that authoritative classifications are impossible. A model of the development of genres is laid out, based on three modalities: imitation, reiteration and innovation. By studying the history of the first-person shooter, the traditional conception of genre being based on formal mechanics is replaced by a new definition centered on player experience. Part three details experience as a theoretical concept and places it at the center of a new conception of genre, the pragmatics of generic effects. In this view, any object is a matrix of generic anchors bound to become generic effects, provided the player possesses the generic competences required to recognize them. This new approach is demonstrated through an examination of the survival-horror videogame genre. This case study showcases the potential of the pragmatics of generic effects for other fields, and provides a testimony for the recursion of the questions of genre between the video game, literature, and film