From Their Website - Our Mission [is to] explore the rich cultural genre of games; to give scholars a peer-reviewed forum for their ideas and theories; to provide an academic channel for the ongoing discussions on games and gaming.
Game Studies is a cross disciplinary journal dedicated to games research, web-published several times a year at www.gamestudies.org.
Our primary focus is aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games, but any previously unpublished article focused on games and gaming is welcome. Proposed articles should be jargon-free, and should attempt to shed new light on games, rather than simply use games as metaphor or illustration of some other theory or phenomenon.
A Few Thoughts of My Own - The number of peer reviewed journals focused on the world of gaming and gaming culture has been [very] gradually increasing since the early 2000s. I think this is a wonderful thing. You know just as well as I that there is far more to these virtual worlds than pixels, avatars, and a sleep-deprived geek behind the keyboard. (Granted there is truth to the the sleep-deprived geek stereotype since I, for one, fit that bill perfectly. This, however, is not my point.) The "general public" does not always see beyond the stereotypes, and sometimes I wonder if that is partially our fault. How can we expect the public to take gamers seriously, when we don't bother to address mature audiences (in the sense of over 18) in way that is relatable? The average, educated adult is probably loath to sift through message boards or game driven sites for information. They might, however, be willing to read articles about gaming that draw connections between the virtual and physical worlds. Critically thinking about what we play and actively engaging in an informative dialogue about our experiences are two ways that we can positively present our pastime to an audience willing to listen. This is where websites like Game Studies come in. The presence of these e-journals reinforces the idea that gaming is a serious (yet very enjoyable) business. Below are links to their most recent issue, and a couple of other articles I found to be of interest (and plan to go back and read in more detail later).
Current Issue - volume 11 issue 1, February 2011
Past Articles of Interest
-Gerald Voorhees
-Marcus Schulzke
-José P. Zagal and Amy Bruckman
-Mark Rowell Wallin
-Joris Dormans
Image - Game Studies
Wow - thanks for bringing this to my attention, it's right up my street!
ReplyDeleteNo problem. I was quite excited to find them myself.
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