Playing Research: Methodological approaches to game analysis

Abstract

Espen Aarseth Título original: Playing Research: Methodological approaches to game analysisArtnodes, n.º 7 (2007) I ISSN Revista electrónica impulsada por la UOC ResumenEl estudio de la estética de los juegos es una práctica reciente que abarca menos de dos décadas. A diferencia de las teorías de juegos en matemáticas o ciencias sociales, que son mucho más antiguas, los juegos se convirtieron en objeto de estudio para las humanidades sólo cuando los videojuegos y juegos de ordenador se volvieron populares. Esta falta de interés continuada puede parecer extraña, pero sólo si consideramos que los juegos tradicionales y los juegos de ordenador son intrínsicamente similares, lo cual no es así. Podemos intentar explicar esta carencia señalando que las élites estéticas y teóricas que cultivan el análisis de objetos artísticos de los medios (literatura, artes visuales, teatro, música) suelen considerar los juegos como algo trivial y popular. Pero esto no explica el hecho de que los estudios estéticos sobre juegos sean posibles en la actualidad, e incluso en algunos entornos académicos, se estimulen y apoyen con becas. ¿Qué ha sucedido para provocar este cambio?

Games in University Education

“…The script of the location-based game Zostań przedsiębiorcą 1 [Become an entrepreneur] by Natalia Romanowska, Justyna Sochacka, and Ewa Jurczyk-Romanowska was based on the rules of designing location-based games. 25 participants of the Przedsiębiorczość w dolnośląskiej praktyce edukacyjnej [Entrepreneurship in Lower Silesian educational practice] and five instructors who supervised the groups took part in the game, as well as two persons supervising the overall course of the game, and four animateurs responsible for the locations where the teams could receive extra points.…”

“…(2) aim -that is, what the players need to achieve to win -pertains to the factual aspect, (3) action -the actions of the players defined by the game plot, (4) obstacles, difficulties, that the players encounter on their way to achieve the aim, (5) rules -that is, the limitations that one has to take into account when playing, rules of functioning in the game (Tkaczyk, 2012, p. 74) 1 .…”

“…The term ludology applies to two notions: ludus (Latin) -stands for "game", "play", as well as "a place for exercise", "school", and logos (Greek) -"word". In the context of research on games in general and video games in particular the term has most probably been used first by Gonzalo Frasca in Simulation versus Narrative:Introduction to Ludology (Frasca, 2003) and Espen Aarseth Playing Research: Methodological approaches to game analysis (Aarseth, 2003). What is important in this context is the research on the structure of games.…”

“…Introduction to Ludology (Frasca, 2003) and Espen Aarseth Playing Research: Methodological approaches to game analysis (Aarseth, 2003). What is important in this context is the research on the structure of games.…”

Introduction : To Build a Past That Will “Stand the Test of Time”—Discovering Historical Facts, Assembling Historical Narratives

“…28 Espen Aarseth goes even further to describe this interactivity as integral to gameplay itself, claiming, "since a game is a process rather than an object, there can be no game without players playing. " 29 That is not to suggest, of course, that film audiences are passive consumers of content, but that is to say instead that the nature and technological setup of video games is predicated precisely on an interface with the game. Uricchio terms play "the sine qua non of games generally, " which makes the hypothetical "passive" consumer an untenable concept since all action (with the obvious exception of cutscenes) is a direct consequence of the player's input.…”