Ile emersji w grach? Recenzja książki: Piotr Kubiński, Gry wideo. Zarys poetyki, Universitas, Kraków 2016

Piotr Kubiński’s monograph is an outline of certain specific aspects of video games, examined from the perspective of poetics. Apart from a semiotic analysis of the user interface and a look at how games influence various texts and practices, what the readers will find here is an investigation into the strained relationship between immersion and emersion in video games. Contrary to the popular belief that immersion is unquestionably desirable, Kubiński shows that emersion – a group of phenomena that disrupt the players’ impression of unmediated presence in the game world – can also be a source of ludic and artistic effects that merit a scholarly study. The book offers a well-organized and carefully documented analysis of an understudied dimension of digital games; the tensions between immersion and emersion are present in many, if not all, video games; and the author’s efforts in other publications are making the term “emersion” more visible. For these three reasons, the monograph has the potential to become a significant work in Polish game studies, encouraging other scholars to apply Kubiński’s term in their own research. This would be instrumental in the development of an academic field that has suffered from insufficient accumulation of knowledge

A study of molecular interactions in light-harvesting complexes LHCIIb, CP29, CP26 and CP24 by Stark effect spectroscopy

AbstractElectric field-induced absorption changes (electrochromism or Stark effect) of the light-harvesting PSII pigment–protein complexes LHCIIb, CP29, CP26 and CP24 were investigated. The results indicate the lack of strong intermolecular interactions in the chlorophyll a (Chl a) pools of all complexes. Characteristic features occur in the electronic spectrum of Chl b, which reflect the increased values of dipole moment and polarizability differences between the ground and excited states of interacting pigment systems. The strong Stark signal recorded for LHCIIb at 650–655 nm is much weaker in CP29, where it is replaced by a unique Stark band at 639 nm. Electrochromism of Chl b in CP26 and CP24 is significantly weaker but increased electrochromic parameters were also noticed for the Chl b transition at 650 nm. The spectra in the blue region are dominated by xanthophylls. The differences in Stark spectra of Chl b are linked to differences in pigment content and organization in individual complexes and point to the possibility of electron exchange interactions between energetically similar and closely spaced Chl b molecules

Zespół Aspergera, nauki ścisłe i kultura nerdów

Asperger Syndrome, Hard Science and Nerd Culture In this paper we analyse selected psychological and cultural aspects of the Asperger Syndrome (a mild form of autism). We present its characteristic cognitive style and compare it to that of the hard sciences. Our claims about this connection are supported by some empirical data. Additionally, we investigate similarities in the social behaviour of people with Asperger Syndrome and nerds (i.e. intelligent people with deep interests, but also with certain social difficulties)

Ćwierć wieku polskich badań nad grami wideo

Krawczyk and Garda present the history of digital game research in Poland. Drawing on existing as well as newly generated data, they present early studies and later processes of institutionalization and internationalization. This, along with a discussion of the terminology, leads them to conclude that over the last few years Polish game research has given rise to the field of game studies, which is in many respects analogous to the respective fields in English-language academia. Additional arguments to support this thesis come from a quantitative analysis of articles published in Polish academic journals from 1995 to 2015. The discussion bears on the history of game research in Poland, the Nordic states and the USA.</p

Ćwierć wieku polskich badań nad grami wideo

Artykuł poświęcony jest historii badań gier wideo w Polsce. Na podstawie szeregu danych zastanych i wywołanych przedstawia wczesne badania oraz późniejsze procesy instytucjonalizacji i umiędzynarodowienia. W połączeniu z rozważaniami terminologicznymi prowadzi to do konkluzji, że w ostatnich kilku latach w polskich badaniach nad grami (game research) ukształtował się nurt groznawstwa (game studies), który pod wieloma względami przypomina analogiczny nurt badań anglojęzycznych. Dodatkowych argumentów na rzecz tej tezy dostarcza ilościowa analiza artykułów zamieszczonych w polskich czasopismach naukowych w latach 1995–2015. Głównym kontekstem badawczym pracy są publikacje poświęcone historii badania gier w Polsce, państwach nordyckich i Stanach Zjednoczonych.Krawczyk and Garda present the history of digital game research in Poland. Drawing on existing as well as newly generated data, they present early studies and later processes of institutionalization and internationalization. This, along with a discussion of the terminology, leads them to conclude that over the last few years Polish game research has given rise to the field of game studies, which is in many respects analogous to the respective fields in English-language academia. Additional arguments to support this thesis come from a quantitative analysis of articles published in Polish academic journals from 1995 to 2015. The discussion bears on the history of game research in Poland, the Nordic states and the USA

Groznawstwo, którego nie było. Polemika z książką Katarzyny Marak i Miłosza Markockiego Aspekty funkcjonowania gier cyfrowych we współczesnej kulturze

Tekst stanowi polemikę z krytycznym przeglądem polskich badań nad grami cyfrowymi dokonanym przez Katarzynę Marak i Miłosza Markockiego. Przedmiotem polemiki nie jest przy tym sam zamysł refleksji nad stanem badań, lecz sposób jej poprowadzenia. W pracy ukazano słabości przeglądu: formułowanie stanowczych, uogólnionych ocen na podstawie niepełnego i nierzetelnego obrazu krajowego i zagranicznego groznawstwa, traktowanie polskich badań jako z założenia gorszych od anglojęzycznych, a także szereg błędów warsztatowych. Polemika dotyczy m.in. sposobów nazywania gier cyfrowych, szerokiego i wąskiego znaczenia terminu „ludologia”, relacji między podejściem ludologicznym a narratologicznym w badaniu gier, stopnia unifikacji rodzimego groznawstwa oraz statusu klasycznych koncepcji gier i zabaw.This article polemicizes with Katarzyna Marak and Miłosz Markocki’s critical outline of Polish game studies. The reviewers critique the way in which the book’s intention was put into practice. The main weaknesses in Marak and Markocki’s critical outline lie in their tendency to proposed general evaluations based on an incomplete and unreliable portrayal of Polish and international game studies; their premise that Polish reserach is by default inferior to research published in English, as well as a number of methodological shortcomings. The reviewers also suggest that the terminology that Marak and Markocki use in their description of digital games is inadequate; the term ‘ludology’ is applied in both its broad and its narrow sense; the relationship between the ludological and the narratological approach in game studies, the extent to which Polish game studies are unified, as well as the status of classical concepts of games