14 replies to this topic

[Not A Real RAbbi]

So, a serious question for all you game junkies, as well as PGI/IGP folks.

IS there any proper scholarly study of video games out there (preferably in English or Russian)? If so, could someone provide some reference?

***EDIT*** I'm not talking about the Computer Science, Software Engineering, etc. kind of perspective, but more of a humanities/cultural studies perspective. ***END_EDIT***

I'm asking, because it occurs to me that video games have some place in the humanities. Perhaps not yet on the same level as fine art, theater, literature, etc., but they nonetheless belong.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Edited by TheRAbbi, 21 April 2014 - 09:06 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

I don't know, but if there is it sounds interesting already

[Alaskan Nobody]

Marack Drock, on 21 April 2014 - 02:50 PM, said:

No. Because videos games on all levels get shunned to the placement of Lazy bum.

You would be surprised, but like comic books, the people who study them seriously are rare.

[Hex Pallett]

Um, don't take it as a career guide, but here are two possible leads:

Ken Levine, the mastermind behind Bioshock and System Shock 2, majored in drama.

Also, I hear Valve is hiring a whole lot of Psychology majors to help them make games from a very "mental" perspective. Maybe that's why all their recent game trailers, especially Portal 2's, are so f**king amazing.


EDIT: Wait, I see what you're saying....

So you're looking at studies ON videogames...that's probably easier than you think, but go check out some websites of universities and look around social studies and modern media studies and such. They may not be pointing directly at videogames but could be going toward that general direction.

Edited by Helmstif, 21 April 2014 - 08:41 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Helmstif, on 21 April 2014 - 08:37 PM, said:

Also, I hear Valve is hiring a whole lot of Psychology majors to help them make games from a very "mental" perspective. Maybe that's why all their recent game trailers, especially Portal 2's, are so f**king amazing.

Gotta be careful with Psychology though - psychologists tend to be almost as (forgot the word....negative opinion on humanity, except not quite, because the psychs help people get better....usually) ....as a cop.
(comes from dealing with a lot of negative sides of humanity I am told)


Having said that - a lot of game design does seem to be more psychological than much else

IE: why ICO was/is so good (I am told/have read about, haven't had a chance to actually play it yet), as well as the bulk of the design of the Portal series - try playing through Portal with the directors commentary on, fascinating stuff.

Even stuff in MWO, like the cockpit bounce, yes it makes no sense when you really think about it (my pilot's head is moving smooth and level, but my cockpit isn't?), but (for most people at least) it hits that back-of-the-head "this is right" button.

Edit: typos

Edited by Shar Wolf, 21 April 2014 - 08:44 PM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Thanks, guys.

Helmstif, your edit hit the nail on the head. That is just what I'm looking for. Just trying to cut down the leg work by seeing if someone else already knows the whereabouts. It's like this: Go to JStor.org, search for articles with a general topic (say, Science Fiction), maybe add something that narrows the category for you (Stanislaw Lem, or Andrey Tarkovsky, or Strugatsky), and see what comes up. Where did it come from (Journal of Science Fiction Studies, for instance). Look up other articles from that journal. Find their references/citations. Build your knowledge base accordingly.

Yeah, I now have a subscription to that journal. Scholarly articles are usually dry, boring reads, but full of interesting insights and reasons to re-read your favorites.

Anyhoo...

Thanks, y'all.

[S3dition]

Quote

That is just what I'm looking for. Just trying to cut down the leg work by seeing if someone else already knows the whereabouts.

Open Web Browser
type in www.google.com
type in video game studies
note first search result

Exactly how much leg work can you cut out before it's just plain laziness?

[Alaskan Nobody]

S3dition, on 22 April 2014 - 01:37 PM, said:

Exactly how much leg work can you cut out before it's just plain laziness?

Every few days (or less? more?) the results I get from google change.

The day he asked, I tried that, and got pages of people talking about whats-his-face ranting about how evil video games are.

[S3dition]

Google has an entire sub domain specifically for this kind of thing: http://scholar.google.com/

[990Dreams]

Video games are a large part of social functionality.

Not only that, but they affect the neural pathways and the synapses of the brain. In some cases they do it a lot.

I can see where you're coming from. I think it is more beneficial to humanity than studying, say, black holes.

[990Dreams]

Nikolai Lubkiewicz, on 25 April 2014 - 09:01 AM, said:

We love our players and want you all to stick around for the MechWarrior experience into 3050 and beyond!

I'll be around so long as the servers stay up (and the game remains playable )

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

There was and has been ongoing study of effects related to interaction of persons and gameplay from MIT, DARPA and a few others. All with the intent of studying how gameplay as opposed to actual worldly events play a role on decisions they make. With additional research on study, learning, memory, and interaction with computer generated environments.

- Some of these were directed to issues with a current use of military equipment and there operation.
- Interaction with autonomous vehicles and our ability to trust self guiding vehicles, again some Military related.
- Google itself has many studies and research related to self driving vehicles, with aspects taken from computer games.
- Studies and research relating to multitasking and brain activity, information overload, ergonomics, and decision making.

Quite a bit of this information is confidential, classified, or restricted, but there is a growing field of documentation being formed.

Just some info,
9erRed

[Ninthshadow]

Having studied computer games technology at university, I assure you there are quite a few various resources out there. There were, as already mentioned, an interest from the military. When I was there, a good deal of thought was also being put into physical disabilities and improving mobility using the same technology most games do, or potentially will in the near future.

Granted, they may not quite be what you had in mind in the humanities/art department. Google Scholar is definitely very helpful. I think the important thing to realise is as a field, its rather small and is by no means large enough to be done 'for its own sake'. The research is there, but let me be clear: In my rather limited experience, it is mostly in an applied fashion. Done by the people in the companies/industry itself, for themselves.

One of the most memorable documents I remember reading was a breakdown of the art choices in Team Fortress 2 in regards to silhouettes, map design and so on. It identified all the key factors they consciously put into the game to make distinguishing between classes and the different teams (specifically, their bases if I recall correctly.)

Assuming the forum wouldn't have a problem with it maybe I'll try and dig up some links of what was considered 'good reading', although I highly doubt its remotely considered academic.

http://www.gamasutra.com/ << Off the top of my head. The post mortem articles sound like they might be your sort of thing.

Edited by Ninthshadow, 26 April 2014 - 02:29 PM.