Videogames are not subjects to be operated on, but rather bodies that humans live both with and inside of. In order to reconcile human existence with this nonhuman life, this thesis looks to evaluate the exact relationships developed between humans and assemblages in order to understand how humans are disciplined to return to games time and time again. The recognition of the nonhuman life of videogames necessitates a rethinking of the word “life,” as well as a reformulation of ethics around the new sets of obligations humans have toward videogames if we begin to recognize them as alive.

L’ambiguïté de la notion de jeu n'est plus à démontrer. Le concept recouvre en effet des phénomènes aussi divers que le développement de l'enfant, certains comportements animaux, les loteries et le PMU, les jeux vidéos et de société, les sports, le théâtre, etc. L'objet de notre propos est alors d'analyser ce qui est en cause quand il est question de jeu. Le traitement du problème du jeu s'est en effet souvent heurté à des « obstacles épistémologiques », selon le terme de Gaston Bachelard, qu'il nous appartient d'identifier et de surmonter, en recourant pour cela à une méthodologie rigoureuse que nous trouvons dans la théorie épistémologique de l'Anthropologie générale de Jean Gagnepain.Il s'agit alors de procéder à une déconstruction de l'objet qui mette en évidence les processus humains les plus déterminants dans la question du jeu. Il faut donc renoncer à parler de jeu de manière générique pour traiter plus spécifiquement de ce que nous appellerons « l'autocinèse du vivant » et le « jeu choral ». Cette dissociation entre ce qui tient à la nature même du vivant d'une part, et à une esthétique sociale rationnelle de l'autre, nous permet alors de proposer une modélisation de la question qui apporte un nouvel éclairage au traitement scientifique, technique, historique et critique du jeu, et renouvelle l'analyse des jeux eux-mêmes. / The ambiguity of the question of Play is now well-known. The concept includes such various phenomena as child development, animal play, gambling, board and video games, sports, acting, etc. The object of the present work is to attempt a disambiguation of what is at work when Play is in cause, avoiding the « epistemological obstacles » that have constantlty muddled the question. This implies a strict methodology that we find in Jean Gagnepain epistemological theory of General Anthropology.We can then procede to a deconstruction of Play, revealing two majors process at work in the situations of play. « Autocinesis of the living » deals with the inherent spontaneity of the living beings while « choral play » referes to a rational form of social aesthetics. The identification of these two process allows us to establish an original pattern of Play and games, thus bringing new lights to the scientifical, technical, historical and critical approaches of the question, and a new way of analysing games.

How do participants in communities of play centered around digital games engage with history? The historiographic influences of ludic form have been closely scrutinized in recent years, but little attention has been paid to the digital cultures—to the communities of play— which center the discussion and play of these historical games. My study aimed to closely examine one such community centered around the grand strategy game Crusader Kings III, released by Paradox Interactive in 2020. I use discourse analysis together with grounded theory to examine the game Crusader Kings III alongside two primary sites found on reddit and Paradox Interactive official forum. Chapter 1 provides the literature review alongside the project's methodology, and chapter 2 analyzes the artifact at the center of the study—Crusader Kings III itself. Chapter 3 moves to examine the first major site, the r/CrusaderKings subreddit, and presents the heuristics developed to identify historical discourse alongside the primary discursive genres involved. Chapter 4 focuses on the second major site, the Paradox Interactive official forum, and places the game and community in a temporal context in order to explore how the cyclical and iterative nature of the Games-as-a-Service model acts as a new mode of game production that shapes historical discourse and historiographic consciousness in the community. Chapter 5 then revisits the research questions at the heart of this study, discussing the dominant discourses of historioludic critique and imaginative (a)historical roleplay narration which weave history into play and play discourse. Finally, I present the synthesis of each chapter's methodological work, a form of discourse analysis—historioludic discourse analysis—that operationalizes historical game studies' grammars of form into those of mode within the assemblage of play.

For a long time, playing games was considered as the opposite of being productive. However, in the digital age, millions of players produce economic value in the game worlds. This new phenomenon challenges the previous dichotomy of labor and play. To understand this new phenomenon, theoretical innovations are required.   This thesis aims to give a better understanding of in-game productive activities from a theoretical perspective. Based on previous academic studies, I develop a new theoretical framework upon the concept “playbor.” This framework is an attempt of combining two theoretical traditions, namely the Ludology tradition and the Marxism tradition. It is a framework from a ludological starting point toward a critical direction.   In this framework, I firstly analyze how play has been transformed to playbor. This process is shown as a transition model by the shifts of characteristics. Based on the transition model, a taxonomy of playbor is introduced. In the taxonomy, I identify three types of playbors: unintentional playbor, autonomous playbor and obligational playbor. Thereafter, problems related to playbors are examined. Problems from which traditional labor suffers, such as division of labor, alienation and exploitation, can also be observed in the game worlds. Apart from these problems, I identify a new problem which threatens all forms of playbors, namely the vulnerability of data.   This thesis is based on my theoretical research from January to May 2015. The main research method is literature review. Data from news reports and participant observations have also been used to support arguments.

No description available.

Submitted by Daniel marques (danielmarquescontato@gmail.com) on 2016-08-18T12:08:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 _Dissertacao_DanielMarques.pdf: 10941912 bytes, checksum: 327d8d4fb97533c7c0209603a12ad878 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Patricia Barroso (pbarroso@ufba.br) on 2016-08-18T20:18:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 _Dissertacao_DanielMarques.pdf: 10941912 bytes, checksum: 327d8d4fb97533c7c0209603a12ad878 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T20:18:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 _Dissertacao_DanielMarques.pdf: 10941912 bytes, checksum: 327d8d4fb97533c7c0209603a12ad878 (MD5) / A presente pesquisa, a partir da análise do jogo móvel locativo Ingress enquanto objeto de estudo, toma como objetivo principal o mapeamento das novas perspectivas de manifestação de narratividade emergente a partir de produtos culturais mediados por software e novas mídias. Para tanto, a pesquisa parte para a investigação, através da revisão de literatura, do estado da arte da produção de narratividade na contemporaneidade, compreendendo esse processo enquanto uma atividade cognitiva – e criativa – inerente a condição humana. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa segue na compreensão de como se manifesta a narratividade emergente também nos games, enquanto ambientes de simulação, identificando as diferentes perspectivas que compõe um jogo enquanto ambiente procedimental capaz de veicular conteúdo narrativo além da sua codificação semiótica inicial. A pesquisa avança, a partir da apropriação inicial das teorias do campo da narrativa, para uma compreensão do cenário infocomunicacional contemporâneo, marcado pela presença dos fenômenos de softwarização e dataficação da cultura. Dessa forma, pode-se compreender de que forma a produção de produtos culturais assentados em software e coleta de dados pode apresentar novos caminhos e desafios para a produção narrativa, ainda através da revisão de literatura e levantamento bibliográfico. Tendo como base o aporte teórico levantado, o presente estudo propõe uma análise empírica e de caráter experimental do jogo móvel locativo Ingress, tendo como parâmetro uma matriz de análise desenvolvida especificamente para a questão. Constrói-se, portanto, um mapeamento das características principais do game enquanto software, ambiente de simulação e produto narrativo, buscando assim expor as relações e contaminações entre as estas diferentes camadas. O processo de análise culmina, portanto, na exposição de novas perspectivas para a emergência de narratividade, levando em consideração a abertura do sistema de simulação para o input de dados e performances diversas dos jogadores. / This research, based on the analysis of the mobile locative game Ingress, have as main objective mapping new prospects for emerging narrative behavior from cultural products mediated by software and new media. The research begins with a literature review, aiming to identify the state of the art of narrative production in contemporary times, understanding this process as a cognitive and creative activity inherent to the human condition. In this sense, the research follows to understand how emergent narrative manifests itself also in simulation environments, identifying the different perspectives that allows games, while procedural environments, to convey narrative content beyond its initial semiotic encoding. The research progresses, from the initial appropriation of the narrative field theories for a deeper comprehension of the contemporary informational scenario, marked by the presence of softwarization and datafication culture. Thus, one can understand how the production of cultural products seated in software and data collection can present new challenges for the narrative production. Based on the theoretical approach, this study offers an empirical and experimental analysis of the mobile locative game Ingress, based on an analysis matrix developed specifically for the issue. It helps, therefore, in mapping some of the major features of the game as software simulation environment and narrative product, thus seeking to explain the relations between the contamination of these different layers. The review process culminates in the exhibition of new prospects for the emergence of narrative, taking into account the opening of simulation system for the input data and various performances of the players.

Submitted by Pós-Com Pós-Com (pos-com@ufba.br) on 2015-04-01T12:03:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 thiago_falcao-tese_final (1).pdf: 3105288 bytes, checksum: d710bfb1d00cbcfb73a6879471e2bbde (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vania Magalhaes (magal@ufba.br) on 2018-01-23T13:21:08Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 thiago_falcao-tese_final (1).pdf: 3105288 bytes, checksum: d710bfb1d00cbcfb73a6879471e2bbde (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-23T13:21:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 thiago_falcao-tese_final (1).pdf: 3105288 bytes, checksum: d710bfb1d00cbcfb73a6879471e2bbde (MD5) / CNPQ / Partindo de um entendimento da ideia de social advindo da Teoria Ator-Rede (TAR) (LATOUR, 2005), para a qual as relações de agência se distribuem entre humanos e não humanos de forma simétrica, este trabalho demonstra como atores não humanosestão presentes e se insinuam como mediadores, sendo vitais para o processo deconstrução do tecido social no Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. Para tanto, nos utilizamos de um arcabouço teórico multidisciplinar que combina elementos do campo dos estudos de mídia, das ciências sociais e dos game studies, articulando estes através da lente interpretativa da TAR. Nos concentramos sobre as noções de prescrição e discriminação para criar um modelo de análise que capacite uma noção de agência aplicada aos jogos eletrônicos que não empreenda distinções a priori acerca do contexto analisado. O trabalho, com base na pesquisa realizada, estabelece uma crítica da aproximação a World of Warcraft no sentido de que a experiência do MMORPG se transforma crucialmente em seu uso. Os períodos de observação e de contato para com os informantes datam de março de 2010 até fevereiro de 2014. / Stemming from an understanding of the idea of social particular to the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) (LATOUR, 2005 ), to whom agency is distributed symmetrically between humans and nonhumans, this work demonstrates how nonhuman actors are present and behave as mediators in the process of construction of the social tissue in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. This dissertation makes use of a theoretical base that combines elements from the fields of media studies, social sciences and game studies, articulating them through the interpretative lens of ANT. By working with the notions of prescription and discrimination and thus creating an analysis model that enables a wider notion of agency applied to video games, this work seeks to avoid a prioriassumptions about the analysed context. Based on fieldwork, we establish a critique of the use of World of Warcraft, in the sense that the experience of the MMORPG is crucially transformed by its use. The observation period and the interviews were placed between March of 2010 and February of 2014.

This dissertation is study into the phenomena of video game play through the use of personal narrative and autoethnographic performance methods. First, this dissertation seeks to understand the epistemological and ontological ways that ludic forms of phenomenological engagement and embodiment can be conceptualized as a site of autoethnographic performance possibilities. Second, the author utilizes the stage performance of their solo show, Game (Over) Life, to interpret the experiential ways that video games can be utilized for performance-based research and scholarship. Last, this dissertation compares, contrasts, and expands on the multitude of ways that performance studies scholarship and game studies scholarship resonant with each and argues for greater interdisciplinary exchange between the two academic disciplines.

Virtual reality (VR) and videogames present, enable, and constrain human engagement with what may broadly be called digital worlds. Videogames have already become a global force in popular culture. Although VR technologies have existed for half a century, it is only during the past decade that VR has become more widely accessible to the public beyond the confines of research institutions and industry use. Very little scholarship has examined the interconnections of videogames and VR as co-extensive cultural forces that shape ideas and feelings about inhabiting digital worlds. This thesis specifically examines the often-employed lexicon of immersion, presence, or feelings being inside of computer-generated contexts as they exist across videogames and VR. By analyzing 15 participants’ interactions with a contemporary VR videogame and interviewing them about this experience, I discuss how immersion, presence, or the feeling of being inside computer-generated worlds is performative and exceeds what the technology affords. Instead, engagement with digital worlds intersects with other performances, actions, and previous engagement with objects or other digital worlds to make sense of creating meaning in VR. / Graduate

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-12-20T11:28:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Bernardo Cortizo de Aguiar_.pdf: 12672053 bytes, checksum: 53f9d4ee6b8fa676eb831751c176104f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-20T11:28:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bernardo Cortizo de Aguiar_.pdf: 12672053 bytes, checksum: 53f9d4ee6b8fa676eb831751c176104f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-29 / Nenhuma / A transmissão ao vivo pela internet, via streaming, do ato de jogar um videogame configura novas formas midiatizadas de jogar. Como podemos concebê-las e entender essas novas configurações em um viés comunicacional e através da Midiatização? Quais novos circuitos-ambiente se formam? Como podemos enxergar a figura do streamer, aí surgida de uma hibridização entre apresentador, comentador, jogador e especialista? A presente tese se debruça por essas e outras questões para explorar as relações inter- e intra- circuitos surgidas desses e nesses processos, através de uma abordagem abdutiva, calcada em inferências, e a observação de três casos de estudo (os streamers Brian Kibler e Trump – Jeffrey Shih –, e o site e portal brasileiro sobre jogos Overloadr), das transmissões via streaming por eles feita e dos meios aí envolvidos. Chega-se a uma concepção do circuito-ambiente formado tendo como cerne o círculo mágico, instaurando novos códigos e codificações específicos a cada um e pondo em operação a tríade Regras-Lúdico-Negociação (concebida no presente trabalho). / The live internet broadcast, via streaming, of the act of playing a videogame configures new, mediatized, ways of playing a game. How can we conceive and understand such configurations through the lenses of Communication and Mediatization? Which new ambient-circuits are formed therein? How can we view the character of the streamer, created through a hybridization between show host, commentator, game player and expert? This doctoral thesis leans over these and other questions to explore the inter- and intra- circuit relationships created from and within said processes, through an abductive approach, built upon inferences, and the observation of three case studies (the streamers Brian Kibler and Trump – Jeffrey Shih –, and the Brazilian gamin news site and portal, Overloadr), their streaming sessions and the media involved in such activities. We reach a concept of ambient-circuit formed as having at its core a magic circle, establishing new codes and codifications specific to each one and putting into operation the triad Rules-Ludic-Negotiations (conceived in this work).