All Your Base Are Belong To Us: Videogame culture and textual production online

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Simons Iain Newman James
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

This paper examines the practices and activities of videogame fans online. In scrutinising a variety of player-produced texts including walkthroughs, fanart, theorising and FAQs, the authors seek not only to highlight the creativity and vibrancy of the participatory culture of videogame fandom but also to examine the ways in which discussion and the production of such texts are used by players to generate and communicate their identity within the community of otaku and modify the terms of engagement with the game. In this way, the authors seek to interrogate player-produced texts as examples of the involvement and activity of players in the construction of videogames’ meaning and as a means of problematising discussions of the pleasures of gameplay.

 

Make Videogames History: Game preservation and The National Videogame Archive

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Newman James Simons Iain
2009 DiGRA '09 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory

This paper introduces and describes the UK-based National Videogame Archive, detailing the process leading to its creation and the core methodologies and aspirations of the project. It places the work of the NVA within the wider contexts of preservation, player culture and academia and describes initial projects undertaken by the NVA to supplement core preservation activities.