LudoScience

In French-speaking research, the expression ‘serious gaming’ is used in English in order to refer to the practice of diverting videogames aimed at three new, functional purposes: the diffusion of message(s), training and data collection. ‘Serious games’ are thus distinguished from ‘serious gaming’: while the end result may appear similar (combining games with educational purposes), serious gaming applies new functions a posteriori. To highlight the phenomenon of diversion, we propose the expression ‘serious diverting’, which therefore constitutes a type of serious gaming, as it is understood in English. Beside ‘serious diverting’, we also identify a second category of serious gaming in the broad sense of the word, for which we coin the concept of ‘serious modding.’ In this chapter, we present several examples of ‘serious diverting’ taken from the education and health sectors, emanating from teachers, professors, researchers, medical teams or companies. 

Key Words: Serious games, serious gaming, serious modding, serious diverting, health, education.

About the Book :

Mappings the Digital: Cultures and Territories of Play is an interdisciplinary discussion about the state of play and the state of games in contemporary culture. This volume takes a critical look and how our cultures and territories are being renegotiated through our engagement with digital media, games, and tools. This volume argues broadly that our tangible world, and our understanding of it, are being renegotiated and remapped by the digital worlds with which we engaged. Specifically, the chapters in this volume analyse linguistic changes; unique in-game cultures and behaviours; and new methods for communicating across real and perceived boundaries, for understanding cultural experiences, and for learning through play. Drawing from the global expertise of scholars within the fields of Cultural Studies, Game Studies, Foreign Language, Science and more, this volume bridges academic boarders to assemble a cohesive and authoritative resource on digital culture and play.

Introduction

Lindsey Joyce and Brian Quinn

Part I Games and Cultural Identities

The Creation of a New Language: Videogaming Slang

Giuseppina Zisa

The Entertainment Applications of Home Computers and Their Early Extensive Household Appropriation (Spain, 1980s)

Ignasi Medà

Rapid Design of Cutscenes for Serious Games

Daniel Riha

Part II In-Game Cultures

Violent Encounters: The Hobbesian State of Nature in DayZ 

Tero Pasanen

Towards a Digital Humanity: Transhumanism and Cyber-Citizenship in Videogaming

René Schallegger

Divergent Masculinities in Contemporary Videogame Culture: A Tale of Geeks and Bros

Joe Baxter-Webb

Part III Game Systems

Immersion and Gamer’s Experience Issues in ‘Beyond: Two Souls’

Adam Flamma

Agency in Meaning and Intent: Limitations of Morality Systems in Interactive Narrative Games

Lindsey Joyce

The Politics of the Representation of the Dandy in East-Asian Video Games

Gaspard Pelurson

Part IV Serious Games/Serious Gaming

Serious Gaming, Serious Modding, a Serious Diverting: Are you Serious?!

Caatherine Bouko and Julian Alvarez

CODE RED: MOBILE, a LiveSynthetic Test Bed for Firefighter Training

Brian Quinn

Ghosts! A Location-Based Bluetooth LE Mobile Game for Museum Exploration

Tommy Nilson, Alan F. Blackwell, Carl Hogsden and David Scruton

The Nike Brand Embodied as a Playful Experience

Vincente Mastrocola and Marcela Simão de Vasconcellos 

Lindsey Joyce is in the Arts and Technology School at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is currently studying player agency in interactive narrative systems.

Brian Quinn is an Honorary Research Associate in the School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. A Fire Behaviour Analyst and mapper on call during the fire season for the Gisborne Incident Control Centre.

https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848883390_011  

https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9781848883390/BP000011.xml