Journal of Games Criticism

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  • GAMING FOR BETTER LIFE: A REVIEW OF JANE MCGONIGAL’S REALITY IS BROKEN

    by Qihao Ji Published January 2014. Download full PDF here. Jane McGonigal. Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. New York: Penguin Books, 2011, 416 pp., ISBN NO.9781594202858. Jane McGonigal, a digital game designer who earned her Ph.D. in performance from the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, has… Continue reading

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  • VISUALIZING GAME STUDIES: MATERIALITY AND SOCIALITY FROM CHESSBOARD TO CIRCUIT BOARD

    by Aaron Trammell & Aram Sinnreich First published January 2014. Download full article PDF here. Abstract This article presents an alternate narrative of the way that game studies has been framed as a field of research. In order to challenge a definition of the field that is at times too insular, it is important to visualize the field’s… Continue reading

  • ACROSS WORLDS AND BODIES: CRITICISM IN THE AGE OF VIDEO GAMES

    by Brendan Keogh First published January 2014. Download full PDF of article here. Abstract Despite being the focus of academic studies for close to two decades and a significant part of popular culture for much longer, the humanities generally and cultural studies in particular lacks a coherent vocabulary to perform strong, analytical criticism of individual videogame… Continue reading

  • PUBLIC MEMORY AND GAMER IDENTITY: RETROGAMING AS NOSTALGIA

    by David S. Heineman Published January 2014 Download full PDF of article here. Abstract This essay explores the success of retrogaming to show how new public memories about gaming history are being rhetorically constructed.   It argues that recent arguments about this history function to reshape the identities of retrogamers and retrogaming communities.  After explaining the… Continue reading

  • “YOU’RE JUST GONNA BE NICE”: HOW PLAYERS ENGAGE WITH MORAL CHOICE SYSTEMS

    by Amanda Lange Published January 2014 Download full pdf of article here. Abstract Some data available from games with moral decision systems show that gamers are generally unwilling to play as evil characters. In a study, over 1000 gamers were surveyed to see how the average player interacts with a game system that allows the… Continue reading

  • THE OTHER SIDE OF THE VALLEY; OR, BETWEEN FREUD AND VIDEOGAMES

    by Kent Aardse Published January 2014 Download full pdf of article here. Abstract The digital world breathes new life into psychoanalysis, as simulations achieved with new technology challenge our notions of self, identity, and representation, which are at the basis of Freud’s work in psychoanalysis. I will discuss some seminal theories of Sigmund Freud, such… Continue reading

  • EDITORIAL: STANDING ON THE HORIZON OF THE SECOND GENERATION

    by Nicholas A. Hanford, editor-in-chief Published January 2014 Download full pdf of article here. On behalf of the editorial board of the Journal of Games Criticism, I would like to welcome you to the inaugural issue of this new peer-reviewed, open-access journal. This academic journal was born from a game studies reading group that took place over… Continue reading

The Journal of Games Criticism is a non-profit, peer-reviewed game studies journal that strives to connect the conversations between traditional academics and popular game critics. The journal strives to be a producer of feed-forward approaches to video games criticism with a focus on influencing gamer culture, the design and writing of video games, and the social understanding video games and video game criticism.

ISSN: 2374-202X

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