In the twentieth episode of Meaningful Play, Sian and Jordana welcome a special guest, Heather Blakey(!), a PhD candidate focused on games and aesthetics. Together, they discuss the concept of environmental storytelling (or “embedded narratives” as termed by scholar Henry Jenkins), sharing some of their favourite or notable games that have successfully implemented environmental objects as key narrative builders.

Games:

Animal Crossing, Bioshock (series), Convenience Store, Cyberpunk 2077, Destiny 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Hades, Life is Strange, Mass Effect Andromeda, Phasmophobia, The Last of Us Part II, The Sims 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (DLC).

References:

Barbet, R., & Koch, M. (2016, March 14-18). “Life is Strange” Case Study: Using Interactive Storytelling and Game Design to Tackle Real-World Problems [Conference presentation]. Game Developers Conference 2016. San Francisco, California. https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023468/-Life-is-Strange-Case

Gameumentary. (2021, March 26). Designing The Opening Moments of Bioshock with Bill Gardner | Gameumentary [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfv9v4bdTCw. 

GDC. (2017, May 16). Building Beauclair in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vEfH9SJ9mY 

Goins, E. (2018, December 5-8). Structuring Digital Game Stories. In R. Rouse, H. Koenitz & M. Haahr (Eds.), Interactive Storytelling: 11th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (pp. 265–269). Dublin, Ireland. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04028-4_27 

Graff, L. (2018). How narrative techniques affect players’ engagement in action RPG Dark Souls II. Bachelor’s thesis. Uppsala University. Available at: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-355846 

Jenkins, H. (2003). Game Design as Narrative Architecture. Response, 44(3), 118–130. DOI: 10.1111/b.9781444331899.2011.00023.x.

Nguyen, C. T. (2020). Games: Agency As Art. Oxford University Press.

Martens, S. (2021). The responsibilities in Red Dead Redemption 2: An analysis of playful learning through environmental storytelling in a videogame. Bachelor’s Thesis. Utrecht University. Available at: https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/402055

Morphologis. (2021, January 3). An Architect Reviews: Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IklZS20rJoI&t=657s 

Nielsen, T. L., Rafferty, E. I., Schoenau-Fog, H. S., & Palamas, G. (2020, November 3-6). Embedded Narratives in Procedurally Generated Environments [paper presentation]. In A. Bosser, D. Millard & C. Hargood (Eds.), Interactive Storytelling: 13th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (pp. 30-43). Bournemouth, UK. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62516-0_3 ;

Vredenberg, B. (2017). Signposting, Mise-en-Scene, and Environmental Storytelling: Understanding signposting as part of the embedded narrative in environmental storytelling [Master’s thesis, Utrecht University]. Utrecht University Repository. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/352414 

Shibolet, T. (2019). Towards a Framework for Embodied Narrativity: An enactive study of narrative phenomenology, through the lens of interactive digital media [Master’s thesis, Utrecht University]. Utrecht University Repository. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/381437 

Carson, D. (2000, March 1). Environmental Storytelling: Creating Immersive 3D Worlds Using Lessons Learned from the Theme Park Industry. Game Developer.  https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/environmental-storytelling-creating-immersive-3d-wo…

Zakowski, S. (2016, August). Environmental Storytelling, Ideologies and Quantum Physics: Narrative Space And The BioShock Games. In, DiGRA/FDG ’16 – Proceedings of the First International Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG. http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/environmental-storytelling-ideologies-and-quantum-physics-narrative-space-and-the-bioshock-games/.

Credits:
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

In this episode Jordana provides an analysis of the game Bully. After recapping what we’ve been playing lately, we explore player typologies: what are some of the ways that researchers have tried to understand player motivations and preferences? We take Quantic Foundry’s gamer motivation profile survey and discuss our results.

Games:

Animal Crossing, Bully, Greedfall, Moons of Madness, The Call of Cthulu, The Forgotten City, Spyro Reimagined

References:

Bartle, R. A. (2013). Design Principles: Use and Misuse. In T. Quandt & S. Kröger (Eds.), Multiplayer: The Social Aspects of Digital Gaming.

Crecente, B. (2013, Sep 25). Rockstar’s Dan Houser would still love to make another Bully game. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2013/9/25/4769298/rockstars-dan-houser-would-still-love-to-make-another-bully-game

Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs. MUD. http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm

Kallio, K. P., Mäyrä, F., & Kaipainen, K. (2011). At Least Nine Ways to Play: Approaching Gamer Mentalities. Games and Culture, 6(4), 327-353. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412010391089

Klevjer, R., & Hovden, J. F. (2017). The Structure of Videogame Preference. Game Studies, 17(2). https://doi.org/10/d6cxsv

Lazzaro, N. (2004). Why We Play Games: Four Keys to More Emotion Without Story. XEODesign. https://www.xeodesign.com/research/

Quantic Foundry (2021). The 9 Quantic Gamer Types. https://quanticfoundry.com/gamer-types/

Quantic Foundry (2021). The Quantic Lab. https://apps.quanticfoundry.com/

Quantic Foundry. (2020). Player segments based on gamer motivations. https://quanticfoundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/9-Player-Segments-GDC-2020-Excerpt.pdf

Yee, N. (2014). The Proteus Paradox. Yale University Press.

Credits:
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

In the eighteenth episode of Meaningful Play, Sian and Jordana discuss a genre of videogames that has become increasingly popular in the last decade – walking simulators! Resultingly, this episode discusses definitions of walking simulators and how they are categorised by games audiences and games scholars, as well as dissects and muses upon some notable walking simulator titles.

References:

Consalvo, M., & Paul, C. A. (2019). Real Games. The MIT Press.

Kagen, M (2018). Walking, Talking and Playing with Masculinities in Firewatch. Game Studies 18(2). http://gamestudies.org/1802/articles/kagen

Montembeault, H. M., & Deslongchamps-Gagnon, M. M. (2019). The Walking Simulator’s Generic Experiences. Press Start, 5(2), 1-28.

Suits, B (1967). What is a Game?, Philosophy of Science, 34(2), pp. 148–156. doi: 10/bsnxpc.

Sliva, M (2020, December 20). ‘Walking Simulator’ Is a Bad Name for a Genre So Diverse, as Call of the Sea Proves. The Escapist. https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/call-of-the-sea-walking-simulator-genre-needs-new-name/

Feldman, K (2020). Wandering Videogames: Play, Performance, Protest. Tufts Experimental College: News. https://excollege.tufts.edu/news-wandering-videogames

Further reading:

Polygon 2020, ‘Ranking walking simulators by how good the walking is’, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQst_UtBj6c

Games:

Abzu, Animal Crossing, Anodyne, Blair Witch, Dear Esther, Death Stranding, Depression Quest, Firewatch, Gone Home, Infra, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Layers of Fear, Observer, Octodad, Pamali, Paratropic, Return of the Obra Dinn, Sagebrush, Slender, Super Mario 3D All Stars, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Legend of Dragoon, The Station, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

Credits:

Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

We’re back!

Neopets is a virtual pet website that launched in 1999 and surged popularity, but two decades later is under threat of becoming obsolete. Easing back into our podcast, we take a trip down memory lane and reflect on our experiences of Neopets as children. We reflect on what we enjoyed and why, the rise and fall of Neopets, and its possible resurgence.

References:

Carpenter, N (2021, March 16). Inside the Neopets ‘black market’. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/22334511/neopets-still-exists-black-market-cheating

Carpenter, N (2021, March 8). Neopets is reckoning with black market pet trading. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/22319750/neopets-uc-pets-trading-black-market

Dumitrica, DD (2011). An exploration of cheating in a virtual gaming world. Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds. 3(1), 21-36.

Grimes, SG & Shade, LR (2005). Neopian economics of play: Children’s cyberpets and online communities as immersive advertising in NeoPets.com. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics. 1(2) 191-198.

Reddit AMA with a founder of Neopets Powell, D (2014, May 25). I am Donna, one of the founders of Neopets, ask me anything… Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/neopets/comments/26fwhh/i_am_donna_one_of_the_founders_of_neopets_ask_me/

Teruelle, R (2011). Stealing the age of innocence: A critique of the commodification of children’s Culture Through an Analysis of Neopets. Teaching & Learning. 6(1) 53-61. https://journals.library.brocku.ca/teachingandlearning/index.php/home/article/view/377

Further Reading:

PAX (2020). GOOD NIGHT mr.coconut – The Rise and Fall of Neopets. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYPFI0NXHao

Kidwell, E (2018, August 15). How Neopets has influenced a generation of game developers. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/324436/How_Neopets_has_influenced_a_generation_of_game_developers.php

Neopets (2020). What’s Happening to Neopets When Flash Ends? | Producer Chat. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoeOQZqd4Ns

Games:

Alphabear 2, Cyberpunk, Final Fantasy VII Remake, I Love Hue Too, KHUx, Neopets, Persona 4: Golden, Plants vs Zombies, Sea of Thieves, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Credits:
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

*Apologies for our extended absence and this episode’s recording quality, there were some technical issues and we have not been able to record with our usual equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the sixteenth episode of Meaningful Play, Jordana and Sian discuss Life Simulation videogames. They converse with a strong focus on what constitutes a ‘life simulation’ game (i.e. the elements that define the genre), the history of this genre, what our own favourite simulation titles are, and of course, what issues currently surround popular life simulation series such as Animal Crossing and The Sims.

References:

Crogan, P 2012, ‘Simulation’, in, M. J P. Wolf (eds), Encyclopedia of video games: The Culture, Technology and Art of Gaming, pp. 581-586. ABC-CLIO, United States.

Donovan, T 2011, ‘The Replay Interviews: Will Wright’, Gamasutra, 23 May. Available from: <https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134754/the_replay_interviews_will_wright.php>. 

Fantone, L 2009, ‘Female players from margin to centre: female sociality, digital consumer citizenship and reterritorialisations’, Digital Creativity, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 211–224.

Frasca, G 2001, ‘The Sims: Grandmothers are cooler than trolls’, Game Studies, vol. 1, no. 1. Available from: <http://gamestudies.org/0101/frasca/>.

MacDonald, K 2020, ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the escape we all need right now’, The Guardian, 17 March. <https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/mar/16/animal-crossing-new-horizons-review-nintendo-switch>

Sicart, M 2003, ‘Family Values: Ideology, Computer Games & Sims’, in DiGRA ’03 – Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up, pp. 1–12, retrieved November 13, 2018, from <http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/05150.09529.pdf>;.

Triple J, 2020, ‘CLUB ISOLATION: Animal Crossing over to the light side of life’, Triple J Music News, 9 April. https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/news/musicnews/club-isolation:-animal-crossing/12133496

Whitta, G 2000, ‘The Sims’, PC Gamer, Vol. 7 no. 4, pp. 82-85. 

Games:

Animal Crossing, Attentat 1942, Beat Saber, Detroit: Become Human, Fantasy Life, Farming Simulator, Farmville, Harvest Moon, Imagine (series), Little Computer People, Neopets, Nintendogs, Persona 5, Resident Evil 4, Runescape, Tales from the Borderlands, The Invisible Hour, The Last of Us Part II, The Sims

Credits:
Season 1 artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

In the fifteenth episode of Meaningful Play, we continue to discuss user-generated-content related to videogames. Specifically, we discuss our favourite gaming-based YouTubers and Twitch streamers, and the reasons behind why we tune into these certain content creators – why do they appeal to us, and what use do we get out of their content? Moreover, we explore some of the ethical issues surrounding content creation, such as creator burnout and toxic spaces.

Games:

Castlevania, Katamari Damacy, Silent Hill (series), Red Dead Redemption 2, Kingdom Hearts (series), Kaizo Super Mario World, Fatal Frame 4, Minecraft, Siren, Silent Hill 2, Pokemon, Borderlands 3, Overwatch.

YouTube and Streams:

Sir Ron Lion Heart, Sky Does Everything, Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, Supergreatfriend, Twitch Plays Pokemon, Games Done Quick (GDQ), Felicia Day.  

References:

Alexander, J 2018, ‘YouTubers, Twitch streamers are opening up about serious burnout, personal struggles’, Polygon, 18 Jan. Available from: < https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/18/16899532/youtube-twitch-burnout-h3h3-pewdiepie-lirik>.

Bishop, S 2018, ‘Anxiety, panic and self-optimization: Inequalities and the YouTube algorithm’, Convergence, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 69–84.

Cunningham, S & Craig, D 2017, ‘Being ‘really real’ on YouTube: authenticity, community and brand culture in social media entertainment’, Media International Australia, vol. 164, no. 1, pp. 71-81.

Ferchaud, A, Grzeslo, J, Orme, S, & LaGroue, J 2018, ‘Parasocial attributes and YouTube personalities: Exploring content trends across the most subscribed YouTube channels’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 80, pp. 88–96

Glas, R 2015, ‘Vicarious play: Engaging the viewer in Let’s Play videos’, Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 81-86. 

Credits:
Season 1 artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

In this episode of Meaningful Play, we discuss user-generated-content (UGC) focused on videogames. Specifically, we explore what makes UGC appealing to audiences (i.e. the use of cultural or ‘gaming capital’ – see Consalvo 2007, and common video templates, formats, and topics) as well as discussing some of our favourite YouTubers (such as Felicia Day, and Summoning Salt), some in which have created channels around videogames and gaming culture specifically. This is the first part of our two part series on UGC, and focuses more generally on YouTube as an online platform for UGC creation.

Games:

A Hat in Time, Alan Wake, Alan Wake: American Nightmare, Control, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mario Kart, Runescape, Sonic Heroes, Soulsborne.

YouTube Channels:

Contrapoints, Felicia Day/Geek and Sundry, Lindsay Ellis, Polygon’s Unraveled, Summoning Salt, Vaati Vidya.

References:

Bourdieu, P 1989, Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste, Routledge, London.

Bruns, A 2008, Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., United States.

Consalvo, M 2007, Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames, MIT Press, United States. 

D’onfro, J 2015, ‘The ‘terrifying’ moment in 2012 when YouTube changed its entire philosophy’, Business Insider 4 July. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/youtube-watch-time-vs-views-2015-7

Perreault, G & Vos, T 2019, ‘Metajournalistc discourse analysis on the rise of gaming journalism’, new media & society, pp. 1-18. 

Webster, JG 2014, The Marketplace of Attention. The MIT Press, Cambridge.

Credits:
Season 1 Artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

In the thirteenth episode of Meaningful Play, Sian and Jordana discuss their favourite games of the decade, as well as the concept of a ‘canon’ of video games – what are the best games of all time, and how is their position justified?

Games:
Minecraft, God of War, Pokémon Sword/Shield, Death Stranding, I Love You, Colonel Sanders, Super Smash Bros, Three Burly Men, A Bewitching Revolution, Persona 5, World of Warcraft Classic, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Portal 2, Slenderman, The Last of Us, Hatoful Boyfriend, Rocket League, Firewatch, Prey, Divinity: Original Sin II, Nier: Automata, Super Mario Odyssey, Overcooked 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Anthem, Dark Souls, Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

References:

Consalvo, M & Paul, C 2019, Real Games: What’s Legitimate and What’s Not in Contemporary Videogames, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusettes.

IGN n.d., ‘Top 100 Video Games of All Time’, IGN. Available from: <https://au.ign.com/lists/top-100-games>.

Metacritic n.d., ‘Best Video Games of All Time’, Metacritic. Available from: <https://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/all/all/filtered>.

Parker, F 2018, ‘Roger Ebert and the Games-as-Art Debate’, Cinema Journal, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 77-100.

Stuart, K & MacDonald, K 2019, ‘The 50 best video games of the 21st century’, The Guardian, 19 September. Available from: <https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/sep/19/50-best-video-games-of-the-21st-century>.

Thomas, D; Zagal, J; Robertson, M; Bogost, I & Huber, W 2009, ‘You played that? Game studie meets game criticism’, Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory – Proceedings of DiGRA 2009, pp. 1-6.

Credits:
Season 1 Artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

In this episode of Meaningful Play, we discuss the notion of ‘realism’ in video games. Using a framework developed by scholar Ciara Cremin’s succinct typology of realism in video games, this episode asks questions such as what realism is (or is generated by) in video games and their construction, what forms of realism we personally respond to personally and why, and how audience’s interpret and expect realism to be produced and represented in games.

Games:
Assassin’s Creed (series), Back to the Future: The Game, Battlefield V, Control, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Dark Souls II, Darksiders (series), Death Stranding, Destiny 2, Fatal Frame (series), Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XV, Grand Theft Auto (series), Journey, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , LOTR Online, Minecraft, Persona 5, Saints Row (series), Silent Hill (series), The Sims (series), Super Mario Bros. (movie), Super Mario Galaxy, The Witcher 3, World of Warcraft, Yooka-Laylee The Impossible Lair

References:

Braithwaite, A 2014, ‘“Seriously, get out”: Feminists on the

Calleja, G 2010, ‘Digital games and escapism’, Games and

Cremin, C 2015, Exploring videogames with Deleuze and

Reyes, I & Adams, S 2010, ‘Screening Play: Rules, Wares, and Representations in “Realistic” Video Games’, Eludamos, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 149-166. Available from: <https://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/view/vol4no2-3/174>.

Schubert, D 2013, ‘Do we always have to strive for

Young, H 2014, ‘Race in online fantasy fandom: Whiteness on

Gaming Historian 2016, ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Gaming

Credits:
Artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music.

Welcome back to Meaningful Play! Our second season begins with a discussion on empathy in video games. We reflect on how we understand empathy and feeling in games, and consider some of the ways that researchers and philosophers encourage us to think about these issues. We find that in many cases empathy is linked to immersion and identification (but it certainly remains a separate issue). Next, we discuss numerous games in which we experienced some kind of empathy, such as NieR: Automata, The Wolf Among Us, Dark Souls, and The Last of Us. We also consider some games where we did not emotionally respond, such as Final Fantasy XV and Fallout: New Vegas. Many game designers want to elicit an emotional response from their players, and empathy can be highly effective, but players experiences will vary and it’s not always easy to get it right.

Games:
Bloodborne, Control, Dark Souls, Detroit: Become Human, Fallout: New Vegas, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XV, Inside, Mass Effect 3,Murdered: Soul Suspect, NieR: Automata, Okami, Red Dead Redemption II, Silent Hill 2, Spec Ops: The Line, The Last of Us, The Last of Us 2, The Wolf Among Us

References:

Brown, E & Cairns, P 2004, ‘A grounded investigation of game immersion’, in CHI ’04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vienna, pp. 1297–1300. Available from: < https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcairns/pubs/Immersion.pdf>

Colebrook, C 2006, Deleuze: A guide for the perplexed, Continuum, London.

Greitemeyer, T; Osswald, S & Brauer, M 2010, ‘Playing prosocial video games increases empathy and decreases schadenfreude’, Emotion, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 796-802.

Grodal, T 2009, ‘Stories for eyes, ears, and muscles: The evolution of embodied simulations’, in Embodied visions, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 129-155.

Jackson, G 2019, ‘Control’s eerie architecture took me back to my college days’, Kotaku, 8 September. Available from: <https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/controls-eerie-architecture-took-me-back-to-my-college-days/>.

Muriel, D & Crawford, G 2018, ‘Video games beyond escapism: Empathy and identification’, in Video games as culture: Reconsidering the role and importance of video games in contemporary society, Routledge, Oxon, pp. 115-142.

Phillips, W 2019, ‘Game music and empathy: How game composers can enhance virtual presence (pt. 3)’, Gamasutra. Available from: < https://gamasutra.com/blogs/WinifredPhillips/20190909/350337/Game_Music_and_Empathy_How_Game_Composers_Can_Enhance_Virtual_Presence_Pt_3.php>

Spinoza, B 1876, The ethics of Benedict de Spinoza D van Nostrand (ed), G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.

Tronstad, R 2008, ‘Character identification in World of Warcraft: The relationship between capacity and appearance’, in HG Corneliussen & J Walker Rettberg (eds), Digital culture, play, and identity: A World of Warcraft reader, MIT Press, Massachusetts, pp. 249-264.

Wilson, E 2019, ‘Remedy’s Control is built on concrete foundations’, Eurogamer, 3 September. Available from: <https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-09-03-remedys-control-is-built-on-concrete-foundations>.

Credits: 
Artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music