Visualizing Diversity: A Character Design Tool For Creative Reflection

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Jakobsson Mikael Houghton Noah Okwo Uche Wu William
2019 DiGRA '19 - Abstract Proceedings of the 2019 DiGRA International Conference: Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo-Mix

 

The Achievement Machine: Understanding the Xbox Live Metagame [Abstract]

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Jakobsson Mikael
2009 DiGRA '09 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory

Xbox Live Achievements and Gamerscores have become an important part of Xbox 360 gaming and have played an important role in the success of the console. Based on the framework provided by Microsoft, the community has created a rich and intriguing meta-game where the individual games become pieces of a larger whole. ... This paper is based on a year-long study of Xbox Live gamers. The empirical materials are made up of blogs, news sites, forums, podcasts, YouTube clips, participatory observations during Xbox Live gaming sessions, articles and reviews from enthusiast and mainstream press as well as face-to-face interviews. The theoretical foundation for the investigation is a mix of gamestudies, internet studies, sociology of technology and critical media studies.

 

Playing with the Rules: Social and Cultural Aspects of Game Rules in a Console Game Club

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Jakobsson Mikael
2007 DiGRA '07 - Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play

In this study of a Swedish console game club I have looked at how the rules of the games are connected to the social and cultural aspects of the context that the games are played in. I have devoted special attention to the game Super Smash Bros. Melee and how different contexts of play have formed around this game, for instance the emergence of a professional smash scene and the polarization of console club members into smashers and anti-smashers. My conclusion is that the idea that rules can play a core role in defining a game without the need to take the situated aspects of play into account is problematic. Rules do not inherently belong to the formal aspects of games. Even at the most fundamental level, rules are influenced by, and affect, the social and cultural aspects of the gaming context.