The International Journal of Computer Game Research

Our Mission - 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 non-profit, open-access, crossdisciplinary 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Our primary focus is aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games, but any previously unpublished article focused on games and gaming is welcome.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.



Game Studies is published with the support of:

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet)

The Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences

Blekinge Institute of Technology

IT University of Copenhagen

Lund University

If you would like to make a donation to the Game Studies Foundation, which is a non-profit foundation established for the purpose of ensuring continuous publication of Game Studies, please contact the Editor-in-Chief or send an email to: foundation at gamestudies dot org
“Stuttering Matt”: Linguistic ableism and the mockery of speech impediments in video games

by Danielle Burrell-Kim

This article is an exploratory study on the representation of speech impediments in the Dragon Age series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. This study emphasizes patterns of linguistic ableism as well as potential approaches to the normalization of characters with speech differences. [more]
Experiential Play as an Analytical Framework: Empathetic and Grating Queerness in The Last of Us Part II

by Kimberly Dennin, Adrianna Burton

Despite being an explicit endeavor in queer representation, we argue that The Last of Us Part II does not offer a resistive experience of play for its queer players. Our conclusion is grounded in a formalization and use of experiential play as an analytic tool--a framework that centers diversity by studying players' individual embodied experiences. [more]
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Hero's Journeys in Zelda: Opportunities & Issues for Games Studies

by Jacqueline Moran

This article provides an overview of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), including theoretical foundations and method through its application to a case study. Considering its roots in hermeneutic phenomenology and emphasis on lived experience, IPA is ideal for investigating personal experiences and situated meanings in games. [more]
Claustrophobia, Repetition and Redundancy: The Economy and Aesthetics of User-Generated Content in Sandbox Computer Games

by Peter Nelson

This article offers an aesthetic analysis of user-generated content in game sandbox platforms, with a focus on the consolidation of 3D creative tools, game engines and game sharing platforms into single software environments. [more]
Let’s not be Cultural Pessimists: The Social Construction of Nintendo’s Game Boy and the Need for Console-Specific Game Studies

by Jesper Verhoef

This article proposes to expand research into gaming discourse. An analysis of popular discourses on handheld game consoles suggests that a focus on consoles rather than games/gaming might challenge the prevailing view that gaming caused moral panic. A comparison with the response to other contemporary media foregrounds this divergent portrayal. [more]

 

©2001 - 2023 Game Studies Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the journal, except for the right to republish in printed paper publications, which belongs to the authors, but with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.