GAMING
As a Game Designer and Media Scientist, I work closely with the research and discussion about Game Studies and videogames in different areas. How is gaming present in our everyday and what can we learn from it?
Game Studies & Nostalgia (Español Latino) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
In my first video, I talk about Game Studies and nostalgia (nostalgy). How does it influence the way we play videogames and gaming preferences? How can nostalgia strenghten the way we play? How do videogames create and evoke nostalgic emotions?
Keywords: Game Studies, Research; Nostalgia; Gaming; Retro; Retro Gaming; Emotions
Game Studies & Glitches (Español Latino) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
In this next video in Game Studies Compact, I talk about Game Studies and Glitches. How do glitches change the perspectives we have from a certain videogame? How do players see glitches and exploit them? What can glitches bring into different franchises of videogames?
Keywords: Game Studies; Glitches; Game Research; Missingno; GTA; Bugs; Gaming; Exploits
Game Studies, Achievements & Motivation (Español Latino) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
In this next video in Game Studies Compact, I talk about Game Studies, Achievements and motivation. How are achievements seen by different gamer types? Which strategies and communication do players engage in to hunt trophies / achievements / badges? How can this meta-game system be inserted in other formats, such as Serious Games or Game-Based Learning (GBL)?
Keywords: Game Studies, Videogames, Achievements, Motivation, Fallout, Reddit, GBL
Game Studies & Empathy (Español Latino) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
In this video in Game Studies Compact, I talk about Game Studies and the avatar - player empathy from a psychology perspective. How does the empathy from the avatar to the character, and also on the other way around, take place? How can this player-avatar empathy lead to content learning? What can be good -and concerning- examples of this videogame empathy?
Keywords: Game Studies, Videogames, Empathy, Grand Theft Auto, GTA, DC Comics, Superman, Joker
Game Studies, Ecology & Cli-Fi (Español Latino) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
In this video in Game Studies Compact, I talk about Game Studies, ecology, and Cli-Fi. How do videogames carry the message of climate change, human responsibility on environment and our rol towards nature and fauna? How is the Game Design in some videogames structured that we become aware of our natural environment? How do videogames take the Cli-Fi tendendy from the literature and put it in different videogames?
Keywords: Game Studies; Research,; Cli-Fi; Ecology; Horizon Zero Dawn; Heaven's Vault
Game Studies, Mastery & Challenge (Español Latino) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
In this video, I talk about Game Studies, Mastery attitudes from players and the how challenging videogames can shape the way we play and deal with difficult games. What do games such as Dark Souls, Sekiro and Cuphead demand from us? Why do some players like them? How do these games shape our gameplay experience?
Keywords: Game Studies; Research; Dark Souls; Sekiro; Cuphead; Bloodborne; Zelda
From Aeons to Templars – Game Studies, Gods & Religions – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
Videogames are full of monsters and fiends, but also of gods, spirits and religion. We summon Shiva in Final Fantasy, we fight religious fanatics in FarCry or we kill templars in Assassin's Creed. We can be good or bad, support a faith or try to destroy it. So how are religion, gods and deities presented in videogames? And how can we better understand it to have a better game design and narrative when dealing with gods and religion?
Keywords: Final Fantasy; Shin Megami Tensei; Assassin's Creed; Dishonored; Theology; Religion
Cartridges, DVDs & Redeem Codes – Game Studies, Physical Media & Ownership – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
Media formats change constantly in the videogame landscape. From cartridges in the 90's to DVD discs in the 2000's and download codes today, players have more ways of finding and playing their games. But how does the physical or digital format of the videogame - the disc, the cartridge, the Colletor's Edition or the well-worn booklet- shape the way we enjoy videogames? And how can the future of digital format videogames help and influence Indie studios?
Keywords: Physical Media; Ownership; Collector's Edition; Ori and the Will of the Wisps; Yoshi's Story; Zelda 64; Final Fantasy X;
Karma Games & Morality Meters: Game Studies, Law & Ethics – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
Videogames allow us to become someone else. Either a comic-styled vigilante, a new girl in town with special powers or an interstellar explorer in vast planets. And when in these new virtual roles, we need to take moral decisions and measure our own ethics: save or destroy a planet? Lie to someone or be open? Redeem enemies or let the rage taje us? Moral decisions shape our gameplay, the response fom NPCs and even affect the way we see right or wrong. From Karma Games as in Dishonored to Morality Meters in Infamous, we are sorrounded by ethical and moral choices in games.
Keywords: Morality; Ethics; Law; Virtue; Aristotle; Karma Games; Infamous; Life is Strange; The Walking Dead; Mass Effect; Bioshock
Emulators, Jailbreaks & Abandonware – Game Studies, ROMs & Piracy – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
ROMs and console emulators have been around for quite some time. Either in PCs where we can play PSX, Nintendo64 or GameCube games to mobile phone APKs where we can find our favorite Gameboy or NDS games. Some of them bring us back to past times where we enjoyed them as kids, others exist as modification of original games to make them accessible to new audiences. Nowadays, we also find ways to play modern games without buying them legally. Despite their many uses, law, copyright and piracy legislations play a big role in ROMs and games downloaded from internet sites.
Keywords: Keygen; Crack; Dev Tycoon; Skullgirls Encore; Law; Copyright
Gaming as a TV Series - Game Studies, Transmedia & Seriality – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
Today, we have different gaming sagas, sequels and universes which expand in every new title. From Solid Snakes's missions starting in the PS One through Halo's five different titles until The Legend of Zelda's new sequels, each new title expands on the universe and lore of the game and attracts both new and veteran players. And not only the videogame software, but also merchandising as novels, board games or comic books give an extra to each new gaming saga.
Keywords: Seriality; Transmedia; Halo; Dishonored; Metal Gear; Zelda; Mario; Peach
Kawaii Schoolgirls & Love Stories: Game Studies, Bishoujo/Otome Gaming & Sexism (+18) – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
Graphic Novels have long left the Japanese boundaries and are available in many languages, in many countries. Their Japanese, kawaii-styled girls in bishoujo games are skilled in voice and body to attract male players and engage them in virtual relationships and attachements, either as fantasy magicians or innocent schoolgirls. And historical Japanese warriors and national saviors - as in the otome games - bring female gamers to imagining love stories with them. Waifus - a Japanese otaku expression for sexy anime wife - has become a modern noun to represent how devoted some players can become to their virtual Japanese ladies.
Keywords: Bishoujo; Otome; Gamergate, Sasakibara, Sexism
Pixelated Guns, Flags and Wars - Game Studies, Military Games & Politics – Multi-Subs. Game Studies Compact.
Military Games are a well known gaming genre. Titles such as #CallOfDuty, #MedalOfHonor or #BattleField simulate mankind's cruel wars or phantasize of future conflicts where technology, bio-weapons and politics shape the future of mankind. Brave avatars, dressed as American or rebel soldiers, fight through many levels to be able to raise their flag and sacrifice their life for the values and patriotism they think are the best. Or as in #ThisWarOfMine , war's saddest side is shown in a gamified format to teach the suffering of civilians during these conflicts.
Keywords: Call of Duty; This War of Mine; 9/11; Patriotism