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Our primary focus is aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games, but any previously unpublished article focused on games and gaming is welcome.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
The Ontology of Game Spatiality

by Frederik Bakkerud

This article builds on the cybermedia model to posit a specialised, four-layered framework of game spatiality comprising representational, mechanical, material and player levels. In principle, this ontology allows for the analysis and comparison of vastly different game systems, even those upheld entirely by the players themselves. [more]
Unexceptional Consoles

by Alex Custodio, Michael Iantorno

This article proposes the study of unexceptional consoles -- devices that have been relatively uncelebrated by either the public or the academy and thus sit outside the standard canon of game history. [more]
Playing Games with Gadamer: Language for the Player and Protagonist’s Interpretive Journey

by Eoghain Meakin, Brian Dixon, Murat Akser

This article posits using Hans-Georg Gadamer’s terminology when discussing the player’s interpretive journey. In contrast to other game studies research using hermeneutic approaches, this article focuses on specific key terms from Gadamer's work to analyze PlatinumGames’ NieR: Automata (2017). [more]
Imagining Latin America: Indigeneity, Erasure and Tropicalist Neocolonialism in Shadow of the Tomb Raider

by Yoel Villahermosa Serrano

This article examines the neocolonial portrayal of Latin America in video games, focusing on titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It explores the problematic use of Indigenous figures and the perpetuation of "white savior" archetypes. These depictions reinforce damaging stereotypes, erasing cultural nuances that foster internalized colonization. [more]

Review

Review: Player vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Video Game Monstrosity

by Paul Martin

Player vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Video Game Monstrosity (2023) by Jaroslav Švelch. Boston, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262047753. pp. 240. [more]
Review: Arcade Britannia

by Jaakko Suominen

Arcade Britannia: A Social History of the British Amusement Arcade (2022) by Alan Meades. Boston, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262544702. pp. 336. [more]
Review: Game: Animals, Video Games, and Humanity

by Hanna Wirman

Game: Animals, Video Games, and Humanity (2022) by Tom Tyler. Minneapolis, Maryland: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN: 9781517910198. pp. 248. [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.