Spiel|Formen

Game, Play and Material

Claudius Clüver — 2022-11-15

Paper and Polygon

Felix Raczkowski — 2022-11-15

This contribution to the research on games and materiality has two goals. One the one hand, it deals with a problematic generalization in computer game research and, on the other hand, it tries to point out an omission in game studies and gives some hints as to which investigations of game materiality this omission requires. The problematic generalization is that games are themable, meaning that every game can be equipped with an arbitrary representation (theme) without changing, while the omission concerns the lack of research on the decisive role of materialities in the game design process, which has only been taken into account by publications on design practice. The underlying assumption is that there is a relationship between both topics that makes it possible to criticize the generalization with regards to the omission. Accordingly, this paper is divided into three sections: (1) an explanation of critique of the idea of theming; (2) an elaboration on its generalization with reference to pedagogy in the second part, and outlining a proposal for dealing with the materiality of digital games in the third part.

Dice, Cards and Boards

Claudius Clüver — 2022-11-15

The study of dice games, card games and board games shows that similar material objects as well as the specific moments of attraction attached to them evoke similar games. These objects therefore have the affordance to play those games with them. Dice, for example, lend themselves to games with a component of randomness; Card games have historically undergone a change from luck-based to skill-based games, while the mathematical principles underlying them are developed; Boards invite competition for the space on their geometric surfaces. On the basis of these findings, I propose the notion of a play-form for these object-affordances, which are characterized by being stable, recognizable and functionally related to the game context. In addition to these object-like forms of play, practices such as gestures or infrastructures related to games can also have a formal character. If several forms of play come together and the combination in turn has formal qualities, meaning the combination is also stable, recognizable and functional, I speak of game formats, such as board or card games, that draw on a common inventory of forms. In more modern games it is common to use the entire range of play-forms, whereas stronger format delineations are characteristic of traditional games.

Playing with Light

Arvid Kammler — 2022-11-15

When playing video games players are encountering light in many different ways. On the one hand the display rendering the game space visible is emitting light into its surroundings. On the other hand the environment itself may become visible in reflections on the display. Both phenomena contribute significantly to the experience of playing video games. Consequently this calls for an investigation regarding the constituent effects of light in the process of playing video games. This contribution is going to question the superimposition of spatialities of light as well as the construction of the space of light in the act of playing. The second part of this contribution deals with the question of the processuality of the light play space. Thirdly, the meta-materiality of light as a constituent element of the video game is of particular interest. Light in video games appears as a process of constant transformation and manifests itself as representation of sand, water and spaceship corridors and other materialities. Since it seems to always be visible only as a reference, the question must be asked whether light is ultimately describable as the simulacrum of the video game.

Materialities of the Mise-en-Game

Andreas Rauscher — 2022-11-15

The mise-en-game connects the analog game board and the digital playground within a network of cinematic playfulness. It provides a more expanded perspective on a transmedia history of cinema. This article discusses three contexts for the materialization of the mise-en-game that have been prominent since the late 1970s: the social space of arcade gaming, the material adaptations of board games and the emergence of hybrid world-projections initiated by role-playing systems.

Playful Metadata

Pablo Abend — 2022-11-15

In the field of specialized hardware for digital gaming, an increasing number of products not only promise ever-increasing precision, but also provide self-tracking functions intended to quantify the player’s gaming activities and actions. We position these developments at the intersection between the Quantified Self movement and the tradition of playful selfmeasurement. Building on practice theory, we raise the following questions concerning the datafication of gaming practices and the use of what we call playful metadata: What do players and game developers do with data that is generated within, and in relation to, games? How does the emergence of playful metadata modify interactions, both between players and between the players and the game? By analyzing exemplary quantifying practices found in the contexts of speedrunning, competitive gaming and game streaming, we identify three central motives for quantified gaming: 1) the appropriation of games’ spaces and goals by players who define their own parameters of success by quantifying their gameplay; 2) the production and communication of individual performance careers aimed at modulating the player’s affects towards their own performance; 3) the production of data for competitive comparability and/or cooperative sharing of knowledge.

On the Reification of Game Culture Using the Example of Sharing

Timo Schemer-Reinhard — 2022-11-15

In 2013, Sony introduced a new interface element with the PS4 game controller DualShock 4: its own share button. The article uses this button to open up two thematic fields and bring them together. First, the button is discussed as a basic interface element. It is shown that technically mediated processes, which are to be triggered by buttons, must always have a strong conciseness and a high degree of enculturation. Second, sharing is discussed as a changing social practice. It is shown how practices of sharing have changed and differentiated under the conditions of digital networked media in general and in the context of play and games in particular. Against this background, the successful introduction of the PS4 share button shows that sharing in the context of digital games has achieved a level of conciseness and enculturation that is necessary for a button to function.

Steam and the Platformization of Virtual Goods

Tim Glaser — 2022-11-15

Random reward mechanisms, such as loot boxes, crates and cases, have been increasingly implemented by computer game companies to monetize additional content. These mechanisms have been wildly criticized, especially for being addictive and a digital form of gambling. This paper, however, analyzes the phenomenon from a media-economic and cultural studies perspective in order to determine to what extent random-based reward mechanisms can be regarded as a platformization (according to Helmond, Niebog and Poell) of computer game culture. This connection is exemplified by the weapon skin economy in COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE. The economy consists of virtual goods (skin cases and weapon skins) that can be acquired, exchanged and traded via the platform Steam. Additionally, the labor of users is commodified in the process: the creation of user-generated content (modding) is monetized, on the one hand, and the distribution and evaluation of the content is centralized via Steam, on the other. The analysis of the weapon skin economy thus makes it possible to focus on the entanglement of labor, play and economization.

Video Game Modding and Money

Finja Walsdorff — 2022-11-15

As hobbyist game developers, ‘modders’ transform video games by altering and extending their content. Even though the labor they carry out often contributes to the success of games, they usually do not get a monetary share of the value they enhance. Building upon this, modding has been discussed as a form of ‘precarious labor’ in the past, with authors drawing attention to the power imbalance between modders and official developers. At the same time, most efforts of reimbursing modders and ‘paid modding’ have caused controversy within the modding community, and modding is still seen as a voluntary, free-of-charge ‘labor of love’ by many fans. Among modders, however, increasing professionalization tendencies and commercial endeavors can be observed as well. Taking into account past and current efforts to commodify modding and indepth interviews with modders of Bethesda Softworks games, this article explores different perspectives on modding and money and examines the strategies modders use to commercialize their derivative works and their fannish labor in general.

Papercrafting Utopia

Hanns Christian Schmidt — 2022-11-15

What does the Bauhaus have to do with Nintendo Labo and the Maker Movement? The text represents a media-pedagogical investigation. It explores the question of the extent to which material studies at the Bauhaus - especially in the preliminary course, the “Vorkurs” - were understood as a field of experimentation in order to test and further develop reform pedagogical approaches. Certain ideals and values are inscribed in this process, which we can still identify today not only in so-called pioneering communities such as the Maker Movement, but which are also a central component of an educational game such as Nintendo Labo in which we are supposed to use cardboard kits to assemble the components of the Nintendo game console in a new way. These considerations are followed by ideas about play and game literacy, which is outlined here in general terms. Three aspects come to the foreground: (1) a rejection of traditional pedagogical approaches; (2) a fundamental re-evaluation of the possibilities and a radical simplification of the artistic material; and (3) an experimental, playful approach that has an explicitly constructive character.

Lyonel Feininger's Locomotives and Trains

Ina Scheffler — 2022-11-15

This paper focuses on the “Block-Eisenbahn” (block train), a particular work by Lyonel Feininger, one of the first masters appointed to the Bauhaus in 1919. The block train’s main characteristics are internationality, model consistency and unbreakability – and it is one example of how material and color experiences through toys were discussed in different frames of reference in the context of the Bauhaus. These works were developed, discussed and commercialized in various situations and taken seriously as learning material, but above all, they represented a design task in teaching. Feininger used the term ‘model’ when explaining his work. A model is a representation of an object and all of its physical properties, but not an exact reproduction. Through models, central features of an object are represented abstractly and perhaps even highlighted. This negotiation and upheaval of the original exemplifies how toys, if they are taken seriously and if their innovative strength is acknowledged, can serve as a starting point for educational and didactic figures of thought.

Losing the Game

Claudius Clüver — 2022-11-15

In this first op-ed, we want to comment on the relationship between certain phenomena of crypto technology – mainly non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – and the gaming world. As one can easily miss the forest for the proverbial trees by getting lost in the financial and technological minutiae of the topic, we deliberately focus on the broad strokes, contextualizing recent developments at the intersection of gaming and cryptocurrency. Even though these might be painfully obvious for anyone observing the discourse and culture around it, we nevertheless feel the need to provide an explicit counterpoint to the notion that NFTs and crypto in general offer exciting or promising technological innovations or that they might be a harmless, nerdy trend. As we will show, the rise and fall of crypto is revealing of a larger trend pervading online, technological, and especially financial cultures as well as of harsh truths about the neoliberal project. These broader insights will remain vitally important, even as current crypto products continue to fizzle out.