Ribbens, W., Steegen, R. (2012). A qualitative inquiry and a quantitative exploration into the meaning of game reviews. Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies, 1(2), 209-229 (original) (raw)
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The aim of this book is to deconstruct, theorize and critique the development and circulation of console games. With the launch of the Xbox 360 (2005) and the Playstation 3 (2006), the advent of the seventh console cycle afforded a new type of cultural commodity: The 'next gen' Triple-A videogame. It is argued that the Triple-A game's commodity form, also known as the blockbuster game, hit game, or core game, is emblematic for a specific modality of cultural production in the game industry. Drawing on political economy, critical theory, media economics and innovation studies, this book theorizes how the forces of capitalism shape the console game's commodity form, how Triple-A games work as products and which purpose they serve for game publishers and platform owners Microsoft and Sony. The book investigates how the blockbuster game is institutionally embedded, how game software is integrated with game hardware and how the commodity form is at the same time culturally defined and shaped both by consumer and industry practices.
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Game reviews are one of the primary forms of videogame journalism and are also one of the prevalent forms of discourse about games. How can we characterize them and better understand the role they might play in helping create and shape our understanding of games? This article reports on the results of a study that analyzed and deconstructed a selection of game reviews from popular online websites. Our findings show that game reviews are rich and varied in terms of themes and topics covered and that considering them purely as "shopping guides" ignores the broader role they play in the discourse of games. We found that game reviews often include game design suggestions, hypothesize about the intentions and goals of game creators, and offer advice to readers on how to approach and best enjoy particular games. More generally, game reviews can also help preserve videogame history by contextualizing the links and historical connections that exist between games.
The Impacts of Live Streaming and Twitch.tv on the Video Game Industry
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This article explores the growing importance of live streaming, specifically on website and platform Twitch.tv, to the games industry. We focus not on live streaming as a form of media production and consumption, but instead explore its newly central role in the contemporary political economy of the whole video games ecosystem. We explore three cases: streaming newly released games and the attendant role of streaming in informing consumer choice; the visibility and added lifespan that streaming is affording to independent and niche games and older games; and the live streaming of the creation of games, shedding light on the games industry and subverting ordinarily expensive or highly competitive game-design courses, training and employment paths. To do so, we draw on empirical data from offline and online fieldwork, including 100 qualitative interviews with professional live-streamers, offline ethnography at live-streaming events, and online ethnography and observation of Twitch streams. The article concludes that live streaming is a major new force in the games industry, creating new links between developers and influencers and shifting our expectations of game play and game design, and is consequently a platform whose major structural effects are only now beginning to be understood.
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