Archive for the ‘Game Research’ Category

Lamentations on Gamestop (or is it Gamestop Analysts?)

Posted: September 24, 2011 by aegisfang in Game Platforms, Game Research, Games and Marketing, Games and the Media
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I recently read an article entitled “Game Over for Gamestop“ on a website called SeekingAlpha.com which suggested that Gamestop as a business will collapse at some vaguely defined point in the near future if their business model does not change.  Now I see several flaws in the theory and logic that they are using to make [...]

On Not Feeling the Love

Posted: September 9, 2011 by Twitchdoctor in Game Research, Games and Life
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There are many occasions in an ongoing discussion or debate where you know that the better thing would be to take the high road. Unfortunately, this often involves having to switch off your brain and wear a blindfold. Therefore, low road it is.

Here Comes Democracy

Posted: April 28, 2011 by twinhits in Game Research, Games and Life, New Media, Uncategorized
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I’ll probably start off with this story in every blog post that I write in my life, but when I was thirteen years old I had the honor to found and lead a clan called The Order in the game Star Wars: Jedi Academy. What proceeded was a five year journey that would change my [...]

Artful Dodging

Posted: January 17, 2011 by Twitchdoctor in game design, Game Research, Games and Life, Games and the Media, New Media, Uncategorized
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In his article Broadpaw made an excellent point about the reluctance of many people to think of games as art or even that particular games might be a form of art; we are lightyears away from someone acknowledging that a specific game might be great art.  Broadpaw noted that the entire debate is structured around [...]

An Alzheimer’s Culture

Posted: June 25, 2010 by Twitchdoctor in Game Research, Games and Life
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Human endeavours, especially those that desire in some sense to be transformative of their surroundings rather than a merely diversionary acquiescence to the passage of time, in fact cannot depend on a simple version of memory. Human memory is–in contrast to most people’s “common sense” view–deeply flawed and unreliable. It doesn’t preserve the past as much as make it available for complex forms of manipulation and reworking that include biased selection, distortion, and outright omission.

The Artifice of Community

Posted: April 27, 2010 by Twitchdoctor in game design, Game Research
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In most MMOs, all too often other players don’t matter, not really. Of course, if you are part of a guild, then your guildmates typically do matter. But to a large extent that “mattering” derives from associations and motivations that while linked with the game world are often external to it. There are many games out there that encourage players to group. But they do this chiefly by bribing players. They try to encourage Joe and Jane Gamer to break out of their entrenched solipsism by then encouraging them to see other players simply in a self-serving light, as props to their own prowess. So grouping with other players will give you an XP boost, or provide you with healer support, etc. This, however, is a long way from feeling that other players really matter. Because what matters to you is not the individual player but rather their class and/or level.

Shameless Plug

Posted: October 31, 2009 by Twitchdoctor in Game Research
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One of the things that getting involved with blogging has done is really made me aware of the lag in academic publishing practices.