Book•
Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism
01 Jan 2006-
TL;DR: In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames and argues for the possibility of real collaboration between the humanities and information technology.
Abstract: In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames. Moreover, this approach can be applied beyond videogames: Bogost suggests that any medium -- from videogames to poetry, literature, cinema, or art -- can be read as a configurative system of discrete, interlocking units of meaning, and he illustrates this method of analysis with examples from all these fields. The marriage of literary theory and information technology, he argues, will help humanists take technology more seriously and hep technologists better understand software and videogames as cultural artifacts. This approach is especially useful for the comparative analysis of digital and nondigital artifacts and allows scholars from other fields who are interested in studying videogames to avoid the esoteric isolation of "game studies." The richness of Bogost's comparative approach can be seen in his discussions of works by such philosophers and theorists as Plato, Badiou, Zizek, and McLuhan, and in his analysis of numerous videogames including Pong, Half-Life, and Star Wars Galaxies. Bogost draws on object technology and complex adaptive systems theory for his method of unit analysis, underscoring the configurative aspects of a wide variety of human processes. His extended analysis of freedom in large virtual spaces examines Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and Joyce's Ulysses. In Unit Operations, Bogost not only offers a new methodology for videogame criticism but argues for the possibility of real collaboration between the humanities and information technology.
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12 Mar 2019
TL;DR: The authors argue that the best way to use the choice is as a tool for self-reflection, by saving a person's set of choices, a game or story can respond to them in a way that's unique and helps them to grow as a person.
Abstract: Interactive choices have become popular in today's games and stories. But how do choices work? This thesis examines the 'choice' as a form of expression. Some choices are like a quiz - they have a right answer. Others exist to help you explore a story from different sides. However both of these underutilise the choice. This thesis argues that the best way to use the choice is as a tool for self-reflection. By saving a person's set of choices, a game or story can respond to them in a way that's unique and helps them to grow as a person.
2 citations
01 Jun 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how the design of a game can offer players the chance to explore and learn all the possibilities within the playing experience of the game, and how a good game can teach you how to play it through the very act of playing it.
Abstract: With this chapter, we’re going to unpack how the design of a game
( Uncharted 2: Among Thieves ) can offer players the
chance to explore and learn all the possibilities within the playing
experience. In other words, a good game can teach you how to play it through
the very act of playing it. And players can develop a literacy of games as
they learn through the playing of a variety of games. In Well Played 1.0 , a book I edited, contributors performed
in-depth close readings of video games to parse out the various meanings to
be found in the experience of playing a game and how it can be well
played. To clarify, we used the term well played in two senses. On the one hand, well
played is to games as well read is to books. Thus a person who reads books a
lot is “well read” and a person who plays games a lot is
“well played.” On the other hand, well played as in well done.
Thus a hand of poker can be “well played” by a person, and a
game can be “well played” by the development team. With this in mind, Richard Lemarchand (lead game designer at Naughty Dog and
Co-Lead Game Designer of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves ) and I
are going to explore the making and playing of the game. We’re going
to analyze sequences in the game in detail in order to illustrate and
interpret how the various components of a game can come together to create a
fulfilling playing experience unique to this medium. With this chapter, I
wrote a complete first pass, unpacking my game-playing experience (which
included some discussions with Richard). Richard then added in his thoughts
and responses to my analysis, to which I, in turn, replied. Therefore, the
bulk of this chapter is from my perspective, but we’ve called out
specii c comments from Richard and my replies. Throughout, we’ve
tried to capture the range of dialogue we’ve had around and about the
game.
2 citations
26 Aug 2018
TL;DR: The article proposes some basic elements for the narrative structure of a Serious game dedicated to design, highlighting how the agreement between the invention and the technical competence are essential to obtain the experiential potential of the game.
Abstract: The article aims to reflect on the potential of the games in the educational context of university students attending History and Design Criticism courses. The central topic is the Serious Game, understood as digital tools for creative learning: their recent emergence as a branch of video games and a promising educational frontier, has introduced the concept of games designed for a serious purpose other than pure entertainment. The Serious Games are interactive digital activities that through simulation allow players to make a precise and accurate (even complex) experience. The article encourages the use of the Serious games as a participatory and engaging learning process to implement the active knowledge achieved through simulated experience of the game. Indeed, when used together or combined with conventional training and educational approaches, the Serious games could provide a more powerful means of knowledge transfer in almost all application domains. For this reason, the second objective of the article is to highlight the type of enrichment offered to the student-player by a Serious game: through the sensory gratification and iteration, he can know a topic through a critical action because the use of games stimulates ideas, improves individual sensitivity and collective work, and enhances knowledge skills. Finally, the article proposes some basic elements for the narrative structure of a Serious game dedicated to design, highlighting how the agreement between the invention, understood as “creativity with constraints” and the technical competence, are essential to obtain the experiential potential of the game.
2 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as discussed by the authors explored the spatial and bodily practices of Sleeping Dogs players in the virtual terrain of Hong Kong through the lens of Lefebvre's spatial theory, and the virtual city is not a static representation but a congruence of vigorous interactions between the originally designed space and gamic actions of the players.
Abstract: http://www.gamejournal.it/3_zhang/ ABSTRACT Sleeping Dogs is an open-world role-playing game developed by United Front Games, a Canadian Studio based in Vancouver, in conjunction with Square Enix London Studios and released by Square Enix in 2012. The game features the city of Hong Kong and the society of Chinese Triads. While the game itself is mainly a representation of post-colonial Hong Kong targeting a transnational audience entrenched in similar gameplay mechanics of the genre, the native Hong Kong players react to these reconstructions of Hong Kong through their own gameplay and unique interpretations. The virtual city is not a static representation but a congruence of vigorous interactions between the originally designed space and gamic actions of the players. This paper seeks to explore the spatial and bodily practices of Sleeping Dogs players in the virtual terrain of Hong Kong through the lens of Lefebvre’s spatial theory.
2 citations
Cites background from "Unit Operations: An Approach to Vid..."
...Ge Zhang 27 http://www.gamejournal.it/3_zhang/ There is always a “simulation gap between the rule-based representation of a source system and a user’s subjectivity” (Bogost, 2006)....
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...it/3_zhang/ There is always a “simulation gap between the rule-based representation of a source system and a user’s subjectivity” (Bogost, 2006)....
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24 Nov 2014
TL;DR: In this paper, essential features in prominent theories of serious games, and compares them to interaction features of commercial computer games that could be used for history and heritage-based learning in order to develop heuristics that may help future the specific requirements of serious game design for interactive history and digital heritage.
Abstract: This paper critiques essential features in prominent theories of serious games, and compares them to interaction features of commercial computer games that could be used for history and heritage-based learning in order to develop heuristics that may help future the specific requirements of serious game design for interactive history and digital heritage.
2 citations
Cites background from "Unit Operations: An Approach to Vid..."
...There has also been some criticism of Bogost’s other (but related) book, Unit Operations [16]....
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another, and the impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored.
Abstract: Analysis of social networks is suggested as a tool for linking micro and macro levels of sociological theory. The procedure is illustrated by elaboration of the macro implications of one aspect of small-scale interaction: the strength of dyadic ties. It is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another. The impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored. Stress is laid on the cohesive power of weak ties. Most network models deal, implicitly, with strong ties, thus confining their applicability to small, well-defined groups. Emphasis on weak ties lends itself to discussion of relations between groups and to analysis of segments of social structure not easily defined in terms of primary groups.
37,560 citations
TL;DR: The discipline and practice of qualitative research have been extensively studied in the literature as discussed by the authors, including the work of Denzin and Denzin, and their history in sociology and anthropology, as well as the role of women in qualitative research.
Abstract: Introduction - Norman K Denzin and Yvonna S Lincoln The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research PART ONE: LOCATING THE FIELD Qualitative Methods - Arthur J Vidich and Stanford M Lyman Their History in Sociology and Anthropology Reconstructing the Relationships between Universities and Society through Action Research - Davydd J Greenwood and Morten Levin For Whom? Qualitative Research, Representations and Social Responsibilities - Michelle Fine et al Ethics and Politics in Qualitative Research - Clifford G Christians PART TWO: PARADIGMS AND PERSPECTIVES IN TRANSITION Paradigmatic Controversies, Contradictions and Emerging Confluences - Yvonna S Lincoln and Egon G Guba Three Epistemological Stances for Qualitative Inquiry - Thomas A Schwandt Interpretivism, Hermeneutics and Social Constructionism Feminisms and Qualitative Research at and into the Millennium - Virginia L Olesen Racialized Discourses and Ethnic Epistemologies - Gloria Ladson-Billings Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualitative Research - Joe L Kincheloe and Peter McLaren Cultural Studies - John Frow and Meaghan Morris Sexualities, Queer Theory and Qualitative Research - Joshua Gamson PART THREE: STRATEGIES OF INQUIRY The Choreography of Qualitative Research Design - Valerie J Janesick Minuets, Improvisations and Crystallization An Untold Story? Doing Funded Qualitative Research - Julianne Cheek Performance Ethnography - Michal M McCall A Brief History and Some Advice Case Studies - Robert E Stake Ethnography and Ethnographic Representation - Barbara Tedlock Analyzing Interpretive Practice - Jaber F Gubrium and James A Holstein Grounded Theory - Kathy Charmaz Objectivist and Constructivist Methods Undaunted Courage - William G Tierney Life History and the Postmodern Challenge Testimonio, Subalternity and Narrative Authority - John Beverley Participatory Action Research - Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart Clinical Research - William L Miller and Benjamin F Crabtree PART FOUR: METHODS OF COLLECTING AND ANALYZING EMPIRICAL MATERIALS The Interview - Andrea Fontana and James H Frey From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text Rethinking Observation - Michael V Angrosino and Kimberly A Mays de Perez From Method to Context The Interpretation of Documents and Material Culture - Ian Hodder Re-Imagining Visual Methods - Douglas Harper Galileo to Neuromancer Auto-Ethnography, Personal Narrative, Reflexivity - Carolyn Ellis and Arthur P Bochner Researcher as Subject Data Management and Analysis Methods - Gery W Ryan and H Russell Bernard Software and Qualitative Research - Eben A Weitzman Analyzing Talk and Text - David Silverman Focus Groups in Feminist Research - Esther Madriz Applied Ethnography - Erve Chambers PART FIVE: THE ART AND PRACTICES OF INTERPRETATION, EVALUATION AND REPRESENTATION The Problem of Criteria in the Age of Relativism - John K Smith and Deborah K Deemer The Practices and Politics of Interpretation - Norman K Denzin Writing - Laurel Richardson A Method of Inquiry Anthropological Poetics - Ivan Brady Understanding Social Programs through Evaluation - Jennifer C Greene Influencing the Policy Process with Qualitative Research - Ray C Rist PART SIX: THE FUTURE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Qualitative Inquiry - Mary M Gergen and Kenneth J Gergen Tensions and Transformations The Seventh Moment - Yvonna S Lincoln and Norman K Denzin Out of the Past
26,318 citations
Book•
[...]
01 Jan 1927
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an interpretation of Dasein in terms of temporality, and the Explication of Time as the Transcendental Horizon for the Question of Being.
Abstract: Translators' Preface. Author's Preface to the Seventh German Edition. Introduction. Exposition of the Question of the Meaning of Being. 1. The Necessity, Structure, and Priority of the Question of Being. 2. The Twofold Task of Working out the Question of Being. Method and Design of our Investigation. Part I:. The Interpretation of Dasein in Terms of Temporality, and the Explication of Time as the Transcendental Horizon for the Question of Being. 3. Preparatory Fundamental Analysis of Dasein. Exposition of the Task of a Preparatory Analysis of Dasein. Being-in-the-World in General as the Basic State of Dasein. The Worldhood of the World. Being-in-the-World as Being-with and Being-One's-Self. The 'they'. Being-in as Such. Care as the Being of Dasein. 4. Dasein and Temporality. Dasein's Possibility of Being-a-Whole, and Being-Towards-Death. Dasein's Attestation of an Authentic Potentiality-for-Being, and Resoluteness. Dasein's Authentic Potentiality-for-Being-a-Whole, and Temporality as the Ontological Meaning of Care. Temporality and Everydayness. Temporality and Historicality. Temporality and Within-Time-Ness as the Source of the Ordinary Conception of Time. Author's Notes. Glossary of German Terms. Index.
16,708 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1988
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a very different view of the arts of practice in a very diverse culture, focusing on the use of ordinary language and making do in the art of practice.
Abstract: Preface General Introduction PART I: A VERY ORDINARY CULTURE I. A Common Place: Ordinary Language II. Popular Cultures: Ordinary Language III. Making Do: Uses and Tactics PART II: THEORIES OF THE ART OF PRACTICE IV. Foucault and Bourdieu V. The Arts of Theory VI. Story Time PART III: SPATIAL PRACTICES VII. Walking in the City VIII. Railway Navigation and Incarceration IX. Spatial Stories PART IV: Uses of Language X. The Scriptural Economy XI. Quotations of Voices XII. Reading as Poaching PART V: WAYS OF BELIEVING XIII. Believing and Making People Believe XIV. The Unnamable Indeterminate Notes
10,978 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: In this article, the status of science, technology, and the arts, the significance of technocracy, and how the flow of information is controlled in the Western world are discussed.
Abstract: Many definitions of postmodernism focus on its nature as the aftermath of the modern industrial age when technology developed. This book extends that analysis to postmodernism by looking at the status of science, technology, and the arts, the significance of technocracy, and the way the flow of information is controlled in the Western world.
10,912 citations