Describing the Game Studies Canon: A Game Citation Analysis

---

Frome Jonathan Martin Paul
2019 DiGRA '19 - Proceedings of the 2019 DiGRA International Conference: Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo-Mix

This article analyzes how game studies scholars cite videogames in their research. A content analysis of over 580 articles from the field’s two main journals is used to identify the currently-invisible canon of most-frequently cited games in game scholarship. We show that the canon is far more varied than previously suggested and demonstrate ways that it has changed over time. The article's research implications include explicating different functions of game citation as well as providing an empirical basis for identifying under-researched games. Our findings also identify the games with which familiarity is most important to understand existing research. Finally, we propose ways the game studies canon can help address pedagogical, technological, and legal obstacles to the development of game studies as a discipline.

 

Interactive Narrative Strategies in Videogames

---

Frome Jonathan
2018 Chinese DiGRA '18 Abstract Proceedings

 

Eight Ways Videogames Generate Emotion

---

Frome Jonathan
2007 DiGRA '07 - Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play

Many fields are interested in how videogames can generate emotion but most have a very limited conception of what emotional response includes. This paper presents a comprehensive model of emotional response to the single-player game based on two roles players occupy during gameplay and four different types of emotion. The emotion types are based on different ways players can interact with a videogame: as a simulation, as a narrative, as a game qua game, and as a crafted piece of art. The paper then describes the various inputs videogames can provide to produce these types of emotions.