http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory a Journal of Entertainment Media (ISSN:1447-4905) Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:03:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Volume 16 2009 'All Your Base Are Belong to Us': Videogames and Play in the Information Age Editors: Tom Apperley and Justin Clemens Contents 1. Editorial: Tom Apperley and Justin Clemens 2. A Critique of Play - Sean Cubitt 3. ‘The code which governs war and play’: Computer games, sport and modern combat – Jeff ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/18/volume-16/ ‘[U]se’ is a hopelessly ambiguous or wide word, just as is the word ‘meaning’, which it has become customary to deride. (J.L. Austin, How to Do Things With Words) Language, it is commonly held, describes or reports on some state of affairs. Statements can thus be evaluated as being either true or ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/18/how-to-do-things-with-images-darshana-jayemanne/ In the face of social imperfections, videogames are habitually condemned for their violent themes and role in debauching the innocence of the young (Buckingham & Bragg 2004). This article presents findings taken from a two-year funded project [1] that gathered young people’s viewpoints on ‘violent’ texts, ‘media effects’ research and ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/18/%e2%80%98i%e2%80%99m-ok%e2%80%99-how-young-people-articulate-%e2%80%98violence%e2%80%99-in-videogames-gareth-schott/ The Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004) has over 11.5 million players worldwide and growing (Blizzard Entertainment, 2008), making it one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world. In MMORPGs, players purchase software and create a game character based on a limited ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/17/myths-of-neoconservatism-and-privatization-in-world-of-warcraft-%e2%80%93-kyle-kontour/ Asian American gamers are, paradoxically, both hypervisible and out of sight. The presence of American gamers of Asian descent especially in game arcades, tournaments, and Internet cafes is often noted in online gaming forums. This dominant stereotypical perception of Asian American ubiquity and prowess is often circulated at the expense ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/16/being-played-games-culture-and-asian-american-disidentifications-dean-chan/ The concept of play has been a touchstone for cultural studies since the translation of Mikhail Bakhtin's work on carnival (1968), a natural and liberating resistance to domination. As the neo-baroque constructs its spectacles, it requires a spectacular, unquestionable depiction of both Evil and the Good (Bather 2004). Articulated as ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/16/a-critique-of-play-sean-cubitt/ In 1908, the head of Melbourne’s Wesley Grammar School, Dr Watkin, explained that “as [boys] strove on the football field or the river, so it might be that in the near future they would have to fight for their motherland, their King and the Commonwealth” (Crotty 2001, 87). A few ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/16/%e2%80%98the-code-which-governs-war-and-play%e2%80%99-computer-games-sport-and-modern-combat-jeff-sparrow/ This special edition of Refractory developed from a symposium at the University of Melbourne in September 2007, dedicated to—as the symposium subtitle has it—'videogames and play in the information age'. [1]. The title itself derives from the famous intro to the SEGA MEGADRIVE game Zero Wing (1991 Toaplan), in which ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/16/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us-videogames-and-play-in-the-information-age-%e2%80%93-tom-apperley-and-justin-clemens/ Babelswarm is a real-time 3D and audio art project built in the virtual world of Second Life. It was the winner of the Australia Council's first Second Life arts residency, and was launched simultaneously in-world and at the Lismore Regional Gallery in New South Wales, Australia. Overwhelmingly complex, extraordinarily diverse, ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/11/16/babelswarm-%e2%80%93-justin-clemens-christopher-dodds-and-adam-nash/ Volume 15 2009 Double Issue: General Issue and Television Issue Editors: Angela Ndalianis and Lucian Chaffey Contents 1. Reality is in the performance’: Issues of Digital Technology, Simulation and Artificial Acting in S1mOne – Anna Notaro 2. The Neo-baroque in Lucha Libre - Kat Austin 3. Ryan Is Being Beaten: Incest, ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2009/06/25/volume-15/