CfP: Multiple Approaches to Game Analysis Workshop (MAGAW 2018), Lincoln, UK – deadline 2nd of September

Proposal FormatApplicants should submit a concise description of their preferred method of game analysis, no more than 250 words in length. Approaches to game analysis can be formal, empirical or qualitative in nature and should speak to a broad audience while featuring the applicant’s home discipline. Please send a description of your game analysis approach to magaw2018@gmail.com by September 2nd. The number of participants is limited. Acceptance/Rejection notifications will be sent by September 7th.

Workshop Structure

Applicants who are accepted will be invited to the two-day game analysis workshop at University of Lincoln, UK. Selected applicants will analyze a mainstream game during the workshop, but will not know in advance what game.

MAGAW 2018 will begin with the ‘big reveal’ of the game that will be the object of analysis. Participants will spend the rest of the day (Thursday November 8th) playing the selected game and analyzing it with their particular approach. The necessary equipment — consoles, PCs, portable devices, and copies of the game — will be provided.

On day two (Friday November 9th), participants will spend the morning reviewing the results of their analysis and preparing a brief recap. After lunch, participants will share their findings with one another and assess the efficacy of their methods by discussing such questions as: What worked? What could be improved? How might the diverse selection of approaches complement one another?

Important dates/info

Proposal deadline: September 2nd
Notification of acceptance: September 7th
Workshop: November 8th-9th (University of Lincoln, lincoln.ac.uk)
Workshop email: magaw2018@gmail.com
More information about Lincoln Games Research Network can be found at games.lincoln.ac.uk.

Here are two samples of what an approach to game analysis might look like:

Approach to Game Analysis: Diegetic vs. Non-diegetic Sound

The combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound is essential to establishing an immersive game world. Furthermore, sound cues often provide the player with a visceral form of feedback that shapes play development. This approach to game analysis revolves around key elements of sound information to catalogue the ways in which diegetic and non-diegetic sound are used to guide the player and enhance player experience. This analysis will include sound effects as well as soundtrack and/or score.In my game analysis, I will create a catalogue of diegetic vs. non-diegetic sounds, and analyze how various sound information distinguish themselves from one another and how they work together. Employing the catalogue of sounds, I will then illustrate the ways in which diegetic and non-diegetic sound is implemented in the game of choice by breaking down a few key sequences of gameplay. I hope to approach answers to the following questions: What is the nature of the interplay between diegetic and non-diegetic sound in creating an immersive game world? What is the nature of the interplay between diegetic and non-diegetic sound in guiding the player? How does the interplay of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in video games differ from that in film or theater?

An approach to Game Analysis: visual patterns discourse in gameplay progression by Mariana Amaro

Games, unlike movies, can mostly allow camera view framing control and exploration of large world scenarios to players. This relative freedom makes it more difficult to capture and analyze visual data in video games rather than in films, as every game experience can be somewhat unique to each player. So I propose a methodological approach to understand if there is a visual coherence in games regarding its challenges and climax progression with its visual elements, i.e. a “gameplay visual discourse”.

In my analysis, I will process gameplay images with ImageJ, a software that can extract numerical metadata of a large volume of images and also generates graphic charts from collected data. This analysis will only include visual elements from gameplay, excluding cutscenes.  Two techniques will be used: a) Parameter of hue, brightness, and saturation balances extracted from gameplay images, and b) Generate visualization of game scenario’s color scheme from collected data.

I intend with this approach observe gameplay visual impact (by the principle of color and tone contrast) and its affinity within the intensity of game’s progression structure. I hope to get answers to the following questions: What can it be analyzed from a scheme coherence’s graphic charts of gameplay visual data color? How is the relation between image metadata, color and tone scheme, and game challenges intertwined during gameplay? What layers of meaning could emerge from the confluence between game progression and color and tone contrasts in gameplay?