Category: Game studies (Page 1 of 6)

Women in the World of Digital Games: The Case of Slovakia


Anna Hurajová, Alexej Slezák, Vladimíra Hladíková 

ABSTRACT:
This research paper aims to provide a picture of women’s participation in various positions in the field of digital games in Slovakia, such as creators of game content, women involved in eSports, the gaming industry, casual gamers as well as women working in the field of digital game education. Based on theoretical knowledge and qualitative in-depth interviews with seven women working in various positions in the gaming industry, the women’s positive and negative work experiences, and the problems and obstacles linked to their gender were identified. The research is specifically focused on the situation of women in the gaming industry in Slovakia. The results show that female gamers and streamers face negative behaviour from their fellow players and viewers which may result in an array of negative consequences. Findings also indicate that the low representation of women in some areas of the gaming industry is a consequence of prevailing gender roles in society. Furthermore, women’s participation in eSports and competitive gaming is limited due to toxic meritocracy, prevailing masculinity and sexism.

KEY WORDS:
eSports, gaming industry, gender, obstacles, stereotypes, women.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-2.92-115

View full article

Invisibility of Game Localizers and the Status of Localization in Slovakia


Mária Koscelníková

ABSTRACT:
The standard industry practice in publishing or audiovisual translation should be mentioning the translators for their work in the credits. When it comes to technical texts, for example manuals or localized texts such as websites, translators or localizers are hardly ever mentioned, especially when translation agencies provide the entire process of translation or localization. Digital games usually do contain credits listing all people working on a digital game, but such lists tend to leave out translators or localizers. The paper aims to investigate the issue of crediting digital game translators or localizers in Slovak digital games and show different crediting practices. We inspect credits in digital games made by Slovak developers and show different crediting practices in the industry. We examine the use of credits in Slovak digital games and rationalize the situation by looking at the localization of digital games, localization training at Slovak universities, and language support for Slovak digital games. The paper contains reviews of 69 selected computer and mobile device games published by 34 studios or developers.

KEY WORDS:
digital game credits, game localization, localization training, translator crediting.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-2.80-91

View full article

Agency, Appropriation, Politics: Three Epistemological Keys Towards an Aesthetics of Play  


Emmanoel Ferreira

ABSTRACT: 
Based on a dialogue with authors of pragmatist philosophy, game studies, and communication, this article intends to understand the relationship between aesthetic experience and ludic media, in particular digital games, in what this relationship distinguishes from the aesthetic experiences provided by different media, such as literature, music, film and the arts in general. To better understand this relationship, we propose the presentation and development of three epistemological axes (or keys), namely: i) aesthetics and agency, ii) aesthetics and appropriation, and iii) aesthetics and politics. Furthermore, this article intends to present and comment on selected works of digital games to illustrate the relationship between play and aesthetic experience in each of those respective axes.

KEY WORDS: 
aesthetics, agency, appropriation, digital games, epistemology, play, politics.

DOI: 
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-2.62-78

 

View full article

Effect of Audio-Visual Appeal on Game Enjoyment: Sample from Turkey


Naz Almaç

ABSTRACT: 
A player’s subjective interaction with a digital game is referred to as player experience. The consequence of playing a game affects a player’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviours. To measure player experience there are various qualitative and quantitative methods. Iterative game development and play testing sessions enhance and optimize game designs, to determine the impact of functional and psychosocial consequences of gaming in various cultures, a credible scale is required. To be able to measure and analyse player experience, this study aimed at adapting the ‘Player Experience Inventory’ (PXI) scale developed by V. V. Abeele1 to Turkish. The results of test-retest analysis and back-and-forth translation demonstrate that linguistic equivalence is not applicable for the Turkish variant. Only one item for functional – audio-visual appeal – and two items from psychosocial – immersion and autonomy – consequence of gaming have a proper factor structure. In this way an adaption study was carried out by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and explanatory factor analysis (EFA) with three items from the scale. The validity and reliability of the scale and relationship of audiovisual appeal of gaming on game enjoyment were tested and this article proposes a model for the functional and psychosocial consequences of gaming.

KEY WORDS: 
digital games, game user research, moderation effect, player experience, scale adaptation.

DOI: 
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-2.42-61

 

View full article

Gamer Identity: How Playing and Gaming Determines How Those Engaged in Gaming See Themselves


Oleg Dietkow 

ABSTRACT: 
The issue with gamer identity has been troubling researchers for the last decade. Despite trying to assign different parameters such as time spent playing, individuals themselves do not identify along such lines and the reasons why one person defines themselves as a gamer and another does not have not been clear. The goal of this paper to demonstrate, by applying B. Suits ontology of games and understanding identity in accordance with H.-G. Moeller’s concept of profilicity as a form of identity construction, the existence of two separate constructs of the gamer label. To demonstrate this, a series of interviews were conducted with two groups of people engaged in gaming: those who sought fun and those that desired winning. Both groups show clear differences in selfidentification with their identity and the observed differences explain inconsistencies and issues observed by prior studies. Playing for fun is a factor that acts against seeing oneself as a gamer while playing to win is a factor inducive towards identifying as a gamer. Those that seek winning are likely to seek validation of their identity by comparing themselves to known gamer influencers while those that prefer playing over gaming will construct their definition of a gamer in an authentic manner.

KEY WORDS: 
digital game culture, digital games, gamer identity, profilicity, second-order observations.

DOI: 
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-2.20-40

 

View full article

Following the Hero’ s Memories: The Role of Memory as a (Re)construction of the Narrative in the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


Esteban Vera

ABSTRACT:
This paper discusses the concept of the hero and the role of memory as an object of (re) construction of the world in the narrative of the Nintendo digital game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Through the analysis of how memory is reconstructed in Link and the characters that inhabit Hyrule, memories, historical and social memory, monuments, documents, space, and gameplay within the same digital game are also reconstructed. Testimonial memory, in turn, will help remember and construct the narrative of Link’s personal and social history by reconstructing the story. The personal experience that the player has while interacting with the game through the act of playing can build the meta- discourse between memory and narrative to understand the hero and his journey through the world. In this sense, the importance of the character Link within the game is affirmed, as he is a much more complex subject than a simple archetype within the game mechanics.

KEY WORDS: 
digital games, hero, memory, narrative, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-2.4-18

View full article

 

Application of Roger Caillois’ Typology in the Strategy Game Genre: A Case Study of Sudden Strike 4

Zuzana Kvetanová

ABSTRACT:
The presented study closely explains R. Caillois’ theory of game principles, while attempt- ing to point out its apparent application in the digital dimension. It is our main intention to clarify the significance and topicality of the characteristics of individual game categories within media products – digital games. Thus, confrontation between the fundamental theoretical framework and its consequent practical application within the selected case study occurs in the submitted scientific text. The study’s ambition is to identify the indicative characteristics of R. Caillois’ game categories in the selected media product – the digital game Sudden Strike 4. The chosen research material can be qualified as a suitable representative of the strategy game genre, which was the direct determinant of our selection. Therefore, the primary objective of the study is to ascertain the possible application of R. Caillois’ game theory in the strategy game genre. For the purposes of achieving the defined objective, the author uses methods of logical analysis of text in combination with qualitative content (narrative) analysis. She thus presumes a certain increase and revaluation of the existing scientific knowledge necessary for both the theory and practice.

KEY WORDS:
digital game, game principles, genres, strategy, Sudden Strike 4, virtual reality.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-1.96-110 

View full article

Factors Influencing the Quality of Digital Game Localization

Marián Kabát

ABSTRACT:
Software localization is an integral part of a business process as long as a company wants to sell their software products on a global scale. The purpose of the following article is to provide information about some key features of the development and publishing process that have a significant impact on digital game localization from English into Slovak. The selected features are based on a study by M. Kabát on localization aspects of non-gaming software that are here adapted to digital game localization, and on the author’s practical experience. Each key feature is briefly introduced and its impact on digital game localization is described. Where necessary, examples are provided. Other than presenting key features of digital game localization, the intent behind this paper is to spread information on digital game localization as I believe that, e.g., developers should be more informed on this topic to create more effective cooperation with localizers and in that way higher quality localization.

KEY WORDS:
development, digital games, English, localization, Slovak, variable.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-1.84-94 

View full article

Gaining New Insights into Professional Knowledge in Digital Game Art by Taking a Design Perspective

Dave Hawey

ABSTRACT:
Although artists contribute a great deal to what digital game players see on the screen, there is a marked absence in the literature of direct studies of artists working in digital game development. We stress the need to understand these artists’ professional knowledge in a rich and contextualized manner, and beyond technical expertise. In this paper, we describe the design process carried out by an experienced technical artist during game preproduction. We report findings gained through ethnography/shadowing at the Montreal-based Red Barrels studio. We refer to pragmatist and constructivist theories of professional design practice to make sense of its reflective, collaborative, situated, and transactional aspects. This paper draws conclusions on three ideas: (1) the benefits of using design theory to examine design-like reflective skills in game art practice; (2) the utility of qualitative methods to construct a thorough, holistic, and contextualized understanding of professional practice, and (3) how a richer, more elaborate understanding of ‘design’ in game development points to a need for further research on the sociocultural aspects of game experience design.

KEY WORDS:
design theory, digital game artists, digital game development, ethnography, professional knowledge.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-1.66-82 

View full article

Viability of Using Digital Games for Improving Team Cohesion: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Juraj Kovalčík, Magdaléna Švecová, Michal Kabát

ABSTRACT:
Team cohesion, teamwork and team building are important constructs regarding teams and their performance in various organizations and environments. In this review, we sum- marize the current state of research on the influence of digital games on team cohesion and related constructs. We found a total of 7 studies that fit the criteria, resulting in 18 outcomes. Among the 18 outcomes that improved throughout the intervention, 15 reported significant improvement from the intervention and 3 reported no significant differences. Specifically, team communication, task delegation, atmosphere, trust, team flow, team performance and goal commitment were the most improved sub-constructs by team building video gaming interventions. The majority (n = 9) of those with significant improvements post-test were from randomly controlled trials (RCTs) with single or two control groups. Overall, we found that team video gaming may be effective in supporting team cohesion or team building; however, to enhance the understanding of the relationship between digital games and team cooperation, it is recommended to extend or vary gameplay intervention times, prioritize diverse outcome measures, address re- porting biases, conduct follow-up assessments, include diverse populations and report demographics, and recognize the specific effects of different game features on outcomes.

KEY WORDS:
digital games, review, team building, team cohesion, team performance, teamwork.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2023-6-1.46-65

View full article
« Older posts

© 2024 Acta Ludologica

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑