Dark Play in Dishonored

acceptedVersio

Lyd som grensesnitt: Når dataspillets lyd bliver funksjonell

Lyd i dataspill har en større rolle enn å være en atmosfæreskaper. Den har også en viktig funksjonell rolle ved å gi informasjon som er relevant for såvel proaktive som reaktive spillerhandlinger. Denne artikkelen har til hensikt å diskutere lydens funksjonelle rolle i spill. Som analyseeksempler blir stealthspillet Hitman Contracts og real-time strategispillet Warcraft III brukt, og disse vil bli belyst av begreper fra to teoretiske retninger. Filmteoretiske ideer som forholdet mellom diegetisk og ekstradiegetisk lyd, samt Chions forståelse av forskjellige lyttemåter er sentrale for en videre forståelse av lydens rolle, mens HCI-studier kan si noe om lydens rolle i datamaskinbaserte miljøer og hvilke teknikker som benyttes når lyd brukes til informative formål

Dead Rising and the Gameworld Zombie

This chapter investigates how the open-world game Dead Rising (Capcom 2006) uses zombies in its construction of the gameworld interface. Drawing on Weise’s (2009) research on ludic adaptations of the zombie and in particular his analysis of Dead Rising; as well as Jørgensen’s theory of gameworld interfaces (Jørgensen 2013a; 2013b; 2016), which highlights the gameworld as an activity space that designed for a particular kind of gameplay, the chapter argues that the zombie is a defining feature of the gameworld in Dead Rising. The chapter focuses on how the zombie trope works in relation to gameworld interfaces, and argues that zombies are detrimental to understanding the game environment both as a fictive universe and a gameworld meant for play in Dead Rising.acceptedVersio

Game Characters as Narrative Devices. A Comparative Analysis of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2

This article presents a comparative analysis of how characters are used as narrative tools in Bioware’s computer role-playing games Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and Mass Effect 2 (2010). The analysis aims to demonstrate how sophisticated narrative features can be integrated in gameplay through the development of interesting characters. Using a comparative analysis, the author shows that the two games’ have different approaches to using characters as narrative tools within the same genre, while also incorporating these narrative features tightly into gameplay. Central to the argument is the idea that presenting the player as protagonist is not necessarily the most fruitful approach to narrative experiences in games, and that narrative coherence may be better established and maintained through letting non-player characters carry the weight of narrative progression

Introduction: Playful Transgressions

Research Council of NorwaypublishedVersio

Whose Expression Is It Anyway? Videogames and the Freedom of Expression

In debates concerning videogames and the freedom of expression, two lines of argumentation have traditionally been put forward: That games express ideas and for this reason are entitled to the same protection as other expressive media or that their interactive nature makes them different in how they reflect the world compared to other media. This paper adds nuance to this discussion through two arguments. First, we argue that videogames cannot be understood as mainly expressive or interactive, but that these characteristics must be understood in tandem if we are to understand the role of videogames in culture and society, connected by the player. Second, we argue that play and playfulness are ignored in debates about videogames and the freedom of expression, and that attention towards the playful aspects offers a better view of how videogames differ from other media and what this means for the status of expressions in videogames.acceptedVersio

Linking behaviour to dynamics of populations and communities : Application of novel approaches in behavioural ecology to conservation

The impact of environmental change on the reproduction and survival of wildlife is often behaviourally mediated, placing behavioural ecology in a central position to quantify population- and community-level consequences of anthropogenic threats to biodiversity. This theme issue demonstrates how recent conceptual and methodological advances in the discipline are applied to inform conservation. The issue highlights how the focus in behavioural ecology on understanding variation in behaviour between individuals, rather than just measuring the population mean, is critical to explaining demographic stochasticity and thereby reducing fuzziness of population models. The contributions also show the importance of knowing the mechanisms by which behaviour is achieved, i.e. the role of learning, reasoning and instincts, in order to understand how behaviours change in human-modified environments, where their function is less likely to be adaptive. More recent work has thus abandoned the 'adaptationist' paradigm of early behavioural ecology and increasingly measures evolutionary processes directly by quantifying selection gradients and phenotypic plasticity. To support quantitative predictions at the population and community levels, a rich arsenal of modelling techniques has developed, and interdisciplinary approaches show promising prospects for predicting the effectiveness of alternative management options, with the social sciences, movement ecology and epidemiology particularly pertinent. The theme issue furthermore explores the relevance of behaviour for global threat assessment, and practical advice is given as to how behavioural ecologists can augment their conservation impact by carefully selecting and promoting their study systems, and increasing their engagement with local communities, natural resource managers and policy-makers. Its aim to uncover the nuts and bolts of how natural systems work positions behavioural ecology squarely in the heart of conservation biology, where its perspective offers an all-important complement to more descriptive 'big-picture' approaches to priority setting. This article is part of the theme issue 'Linking behaviour to dynamics of populations and communities: application of novel approaches in behavioural ecology to conservation'

A retrospective study of forensic cases of skin ulcerations in Danish pigs from 2000 to 2014

BACKGROUND: Ulcerations in pigs, as in other farm animals, are considered to be painful and therefore hampering the welfare. Farmers are obliged to provide an intervention to protect animals against unnecessary suffering and failure to do so is considered negligence. Moreover, animals with severe open wounds are considered unfit for transportation and so are pigs with ulcerations located on hernias. This paper presents a retrospective study of forensic case files concerning ulcerations in Danish pigs from 2000 to 2014. The aim of the study was to clarify the number of cases, the number of pigs, the anatomical localization and size of ulcerations, evaluate changes during years and the age of the lesions. RESULTS: A total of 209 case files concerning 283 pigs with 459 ulcerations were included. In 2004, 2005, 2007–2009 and 2011, sows with shoulder ulcerations were the most frequently submitted, while in 2014 pigs with ulcerations on umbilical outpouchings dominated. The change in pattern on body location most likely reflects specific national regulations enforced from 2003 to 2009. The ulcerations were estimated to be from 4 h to several months old and the median diameter of ulcerations was 4 cm. CONCLUSIONS: Since 2004, the number of cases per year has declined. However, the number of affected pigs has remained almost constant from 2004 to 2014 (23.8 ± 8.5 pigs per year). The change in pattern on body parts with ulcerations likely reflected specific national regulations