http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory a Journal of Entertainment Media (ISSN:1447-4905) Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:36:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Guest Editors: Christian McCrea, Darshana Jayemanne, Tom Apperley Contents 1. Deviant Materials: Reflecting Surfaces and Hollow Bodies in CSI - Zach Whalen 2. Rez: An Evolving Analysis - Douglas Brown 3. Meaningless Play: The Psychological Experience of Shame in Computer Gameplay - Glen Spoors 4. The Paradigmatic ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/25/games-and-metamateriality/ Abstract: In Deviant Materialities: Reflecting Surfaces and Hollow Bodies in CSI, Zach Whalen examines the simulation of two kinds of gaze – the surface reflection of the mirror and the penetration of forensic and surgical procedures. The ‘CSI shot’, a signature of the television series, ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/24/deviant-materials-reflecting-surfaces-and-hollow-bodies-in-csi-zach-whalen/ Abstract: Douglas Brown’s Rez: An Evolving Analysis dives into Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s ‘trance shooter’ to reveal how the game’s recursive dynamics – between sight and sound, rhythm and novelty, abstraction and representation – work to construct the player’s spatial and temporal experience. http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/24/rez-an-evolving-analysis-douglas-brown/ Abstract: This article draws an analogy to Sartre’s (1943/1993) existentialism to describe qualities of “meaningless” computer gameplay. Silvan Tomkins’ (1962, 1963, 1992) work is used to argue that disjunctive moments of gameplay may elicit an affect of shame that possess an existential tone, and Donald ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/meaningless-play-the-psychological-experience-of-shame-in-computer-gameplay-glen-spoors/ Abstract: As a way of envisioning futuristically appropriate player experiences, this paper speculates on the emergence of participatory virtual environments as a metamaterial phenomena resulting from the confluence of aleatory, tribal playspaces and human-computer interaction (HCI). Using a set of revolutionary influences from 1960s, ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/the-paradigmatic-shift-of-interactive-theatre-into-aleatory-tribal-playspaces-lori-shyba/ Abstract: In this exploratory essay the author describes the shared context of Sculptor turned Games Designer Keita Takahashi, best known for his PS2 title Katamari Damacy, and superstar contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. The author argues that Takahashi’s videogame is an expression of the technical, aesthetic and cultural values ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/notes-on-superflat-and-its-expression-in-videogames-david-surman/ Abstract: Terence McSweeney investigates the evocation of emotional response in two recent remediations of the King Kong story: cinematic and ludic. Drawing together a number of streams – gameplay, cinematic techniques, celebrity culture, cross-media storytelling and the overarching directorial signifier ‘Peter Jackson’, the King Kong ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world-meets-the-eighth-art-some-thoughts-on-medium-specificity-and-experience-in-king-kong-and-peter-jackson%e2%80%99s-king-kong-the-official-game-of-the-movie-terence-mcs/ Abstract: Exploring the notion of the literary imagination, Holly Wills examines how several major works of videogame art invite the viewer/participant to imagine the world differently through their deployment of gamic tropes. Relations open up and expand under some aesthetic conditions; contract and distort under others. Wills offers a ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/conceptual-vertigo-holly-willis/ Abstract: Many different approaches have been suggested for how stories can be told using interactive media. Forms have emerged which range from the collections of text fragments and links that one finds in hypertext fiction, the adventure-game-like experience of interactive fiction, the story-driven gameplay of Half-Life 2 (Valve ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/narrative-production-and-interactive-storytelling-alex-mitchell/ Abstract: Mike Skolnik’s Authorship, Environment and Mediation in Role-Playing Games takes up a classificatory and evaluative task regarding analog and digital role-playing environments. Utilising Murray’s procedural authorship and Mackay’s account of mediation in games, Skolnik explores the methods which role-players construct and disseminate meaning ... http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/23/authorship-environment-and-mediation-in-role-playing-games-michael-ryan-skolnik/