Minor Platforms in Videogame History

Nicoll, Benjamin

doi:10.2307/j.ctvpbnq9j

Cited by 2 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Videogame histories (e.g. Swalwell, 2021) point toward social, technical and economic conjunctures that have shaped production and end-use, including attentiveness to moments which have been suppressed by wider historical master-narratives (Nicoll, 2019).…”

Section: Game Production Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others have studied the discourses surrounding new forms of development software, which have emerged in the in the years following the consolidation of power by a handful of large hardware manufacturers and developer-publishers. Nicoll (2019) for example examine the discourses of ‘democratisation’ espoused by creators of the game development engine Unity. In sum, the way that industrial actors talk about their audiences, technologies and expected use practices play a pivotal role shaping collective attitudes toward – and practices with – videogames in valuable ways.…”

Section: Game Production Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Zynga notes elsewhere, their high DAU and MAU can be attributed to Zynga’s ‘global portfolio of over 200 mobile games’. For Unity, who provides a game engine that is purportedly used in over half of videogames today (Nicoll, 2019), the sale of a large volume of ad inventory (within iOS and Android games and apps) makes up a sizeable portion of the company’s revenue (with Unity reporting 62% of its revenue as coming from its ‘Operate solutions’, which include advertising). It is as such that Unity claim that ‘we count our MAUs to 3 billion’.…”

Section: Metrics Commensuration and Digital Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Platform studiesa field emerging in the late 2000s, sought to examine the socio-technical infrastructures of videogames. Initially focusing on the materiality of hardware (and its interface with production and end-use, see Montfort and Bogost, 2009), subsequent work on platforms has sought to study on the politics of hardware (Therrien, 2019) and software (Nicoll, 2019) platforms. Videogame histories (e.g.…”

Section: Game Production Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Techniques of commensuration in the videogame industry

Egliston

Padua

2022

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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This article considers the role of techniques of measurement and quantification, or ‘commensuration’, within the videogame industry. We argue that commensuration is performed as a discursive technique by institutional actors in the videogame industry to shape the form of, and ultimately derive value from, videogame markets – doing so by influencing collectively held perceptions concerning public policy and financial investment. This article draws on two case studies. First, the use of commensuration techniques by the Entertainment Software Association in lobbying the US government on behalf of large publishers, hardware manufacturers and videogame holding companies within the videogame industry. Second, the use of metrics and enumeration by videogame software companies in their financial reporting to craft narratives of user scale, engagement and ultimately value, particularly as it relates to articulating the value of their data-driven advertising services.

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Section: Game Production Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Game Production Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Metrics Commensuration and Digital Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Game Production Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Techniques of commensuration in the videogame industry

Egliston

Padua

2022

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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“…Over the years, DTube has remained a minor platform (Nicoll, 2019). Although DTube started as a Dapp, it had all the characteristics of a platform defined by Poell et al (2019, p. 3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives of Change to Platform Governance on DTube, an Emerging Blockchain-Based Video-Sharing Platform

Nagappa

2023

Social Media + Society

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Several blockchain-based social media (BSM) platforms have emerged as alternatives to mainstream social media (MsSM) platforms in the recent past. Using blockchain architecture as a mechanism for governance and economics, these second-generation alternative social media (ASM) platforms aim to create social media platforms without advertising revenue or algorithmic governance. BSM platforms are relatively new and less popular than other platforms. They are, therefore, understudied in the disciplines of media studies, communication studies, platform studies, or cultural studies. This article traces changes to platform governance on DTube, a blockchain-based video-sharing platform. Using platform biography as a systematic framework and methodological approach, this article aims to understand the ever (re)configuring assemblage of technology, people, media, and economics on DTube, between 2019 and 2022. Platform governance on DTube changed from being manually driven by community members to a semi-automated process using bots. Although characteristics of blockchain technology influenced platform governance, the changes over time reiterated that user practices (not the technology itself) determined the platform’s functions. In the reconfiguration of platform governance, DTube articulated minor structures of feeling that aimed to produce an inclusive space over rapid scaling. Furthermore, it hints toward “agonistic pluralism” to govern a (transactional) community with differential ties.

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Minor Platforms in Videogame History

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Techniques of commensuration in the videogame industry

Techniques of commensuration in the videogame industry

Narratives of Change to Platform Governance on DTube, an Emerging Blockchain-Based Video-Sharing Platform

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