Games Research and Industry Meet Up
Games Research and Industry Meet Up
While videogames have become one of the largest global media industries rapidly developing alongside modern technological advances, play is part of a much wider lineage of human (and animal) activities.
The cultures of these industry publics are a heavily contested site, historically constructed around a marketed default ‘Gamer’ identity that emerged in the 80s-90s which popularly imagines players as white heterosexual boys and young men. This well-documented ‘Gamer’ stereotype has long alienated girls, women, people of colour, and people of the LGBTQIA+ community who are hostilely viewed as ‘Other’ and ‘outsiders’ to the medium.
Consequently, the communities relating to games must actively offer alternative sites of inclusion that can better foster and engage with a wider range of participants.
The "Games Research and Industry Meet-up" therefore seeks to offer an informal and inclusive event for anyone interested in critical discussions about the communities, cultures, and industries of games.
The cultures of these industry publics are a heavily contested site, historically constructed around a marketed default ‘Gamer’ identity that emerged in the 80s-90s which popularly imagines players as white heterosexual boys and young men. This well-documented ‘Gamer’ stereotype has long alienated girls, women, people of colour, and people of the LGBTQIA+ community who are hostilely viewed as ‘Other’ and ‘outsiders’ to the medium.
Consequently, the communities relating to games must actively offer alternative sites of inclusion that can better foster and engage with a wider range of participants.
The "Games Research and Industry Meet-up" therefore seeks to offer an informal and inclusive event for anyone interested in critical discussions about the communities, cultures, and industries of games.
when and where
date and time
FRI, OCT 20, 2023
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
location
Student Lounge - JMC AcademyPresenters
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Death and Dying in Videogames
THU, OCT 19, 2:30 PM
Conference
Death pervades videogames. It is how games signify failure and success. Players of Call of Duty: Black Ops killed each other’s avatars more than 60 billion times within a year of its release. Yet games also explore death and grief in more meaningful and powerful ways. That Dragon, Cancer explores the experience of raising a child with terminal cancer, based on the developers' own son. As games have become part of our social lives, they are increasingly sites of commemoration and mourning. Online games like World of Warcraft are now filled with monuments to real people who have passed, and ‘death positive’ videogames are a growing genre.
In this session, game developers and researchers will discuss the myriad ways that videogames incorporate both serious and playful themes of mortality. Dr Marcus Carter and Dr Fraser Allison will introduce the academic research on the topic and share highlights from their upcoming book ‘Death and Dying in Videogames’. Susan Dang (Ghost Pattern) will talk about designing around death in the heartfelt narrative game Wayward Strand. Mads Mackenzie (Fine Feathered Fiends / Freeplay Independent Games Festival) will delve into videogame makers’ use of Gothic themes and atmospheres.
