Jesper Juul's Blog, page 10

We’ve had a long period where mobile platforms (were seen as) dominated by casual games (games flexible towards different use cases, and mostly positive in their fictions), but with the release of Fortnite on iOS, we suddenly have a situation where a more traditional shooter is top grossing.

In an MCV interview, Tim Sweeney argues that this is the future: that “serious” games (sic) will be dominant the mobile charts.

Well. It’s true that Fortnite is new in this context in terms of being a top-grossing shooter. But the news is not so much that it is a “serious” game, meaning one that has depth and that players can keep improving their skills at. Candy Crush is an involved game if you try to get far, and so is Clash Royale, and the latter one is about multiplayer competition as well.

The news is really that a traditional “core” game genre, in this case the shooter, has been successfully launched on mobile platforms.

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Published on May 04, 2018 00:54

How to sue a cloner

The question of cloning usually leads to great agitation, and I’ve written about the technical issues of what is legal before.

I think I am in the minority for believing that weak copyright protections are preferable to strong ones, but I do believe that strong copyright protections would eventually lead to all game genres effectively being owned by large companies with many lawyers.

So, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS: When Fortnite Battle Royale came out (the more successful game as of now), it was widely seen as copying PUBG’s battle royale format – except

a) this wasn’t invented by PUBG

b) a game format like battle royale is not the kind of thing you can copyright (it’s an idea), but you have copyright over the expression of that idea, so legal action has to happen on the grounds that the offending party made too many similar design decisions that were not necessary.

Now Ars Technica reports that PUBG corp is suing Chinese developer Netease. Their legal argument is illustrative of how such lawsuits can be made: the general game structure of PUBG cannot be legally defended, but a developer that makes too many similar choices in game design, level design, and visual design will be legally vulnerable:

The suit individually describes characteristics of the game as “a copyrightable audio-visual work, individually and/or in combination with other elements of Battlegrounds,” and it includes screenshots of the competing game to make a case of infringement. Remarkably, PUBG Corp lists what it believes are 25 copyrightable characteristics about the game…

PUBG Corp’s argument appears to hinge on that “in combination with other elements” label, as both targeted games include examples of each of the 25 elements by way of screenshot or gameplay description. As the lawsuit contends, “The use of cookware as a weapon or armor in a shooter game, the use of certain vehicles and landscapes and combinations thereof, the use of distinctive supply boxes, and the celebratory reference to chicken are elements of ornamental flair that are not functional but have acquired secondary meaning, as shown by their use by players in memes, parodies, skits and other contexts to refer to the Battlegrounds game and to its developer, i.e., PUBG.”

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Published on April 06, 2018 13:01

The Impossibility of the Internet of Things

XKCD is right: The Internet of Things is not going to work, as long as there is no guarantee of security updates, which there won’t be.

(I will start posting more.)

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Published on March 13, 2018 06:37

Appy to the Visual Game and Media Design Master’s program in Copenhagen, deadline March 1st

This is for the program that I run in Copenhagen. Join us!

Apply to the Visual Game and Media Design Master’s program at KADK in Copenhagen. The Application deadline for the 2018-2020 class is March 1st.

The application process is now open for the Visual Game And Media Design master’s program at KADK – the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in Copenhagen.

This is a two-year program running from September 1, 2018. The application deadline is March 1st.

Visual Game and Media Design is an intensive two-year program for students wishing to do creative work in game design, visual media, and beyond. During the program, you will continually combine the hands-on creation of digital games, animations, motion graphics and visual designs with innovative conceptual approaches to game design and storyworld design.

Who can apply?

The master’s program in Visual Game and Media Design is in English, and is open to all students, Danish and International, with a relevant bachelor’s degree in fields such as graphic design, game design, animation, or 3D modeling. We encourage students with nontraditional backgrounds to apply.

More about the program and application process

To learn more about the program, and to apply, go to the website or email program head Jesper Juul, jjuul@kadk.dk

https://kadk.dk/en/programme/visual-game-and-media-design

Why study at KADK in Copenhagen?

KADK is a leading academy in Scandinavia in the fields of architecture, design and conservation. It is located centrally by the Copenhagen harbor.

Copenhagen is a hub for video game development, with a vibrant English-language game development community, and home to both small and large companies such as Sybo games, IO Interactive, Playdead and Unity3D.

KADK works closely with (and is situated next to) the National Film School of Denmark, and with the professional TV and Film community in Denmark.

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Published on February 14, 2018 02:33

American Journal of Play 10.1

For your intellectual stimulation, American Journal of Play Volume 10, Number 1.

Editor’s Note

The New Video Game History

Interview

Collecting, Preserving, and Interpreting the History of Electronic Games: An Interview with Jon-Paul C. Dyson

Overview Only> Full Text>

Articles

New…Now?: Or Why a Design History of Coin-op Vide o Game Machines

Raiford Guins

Abstract Only> Full Text>

Ronnie, Millie, Lila—Women’s History for Games: A Manifesto and a Way Forward

Carly Kocurek

Abstract Only> Full Text>

Let’s Begin Again: Sierra On-Line and the Origins of the Graphical Adventure Game

Laine Nooney

Abstract Only> Full Text>

Teaching Us to Fear: The Violent Video Game Moral Panic and the Politics of Game Research

Patrick M. Markey and Christopher J. Ferguson

Abstract Only> Full Text>

Book Reviews

Ian Bogost, Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games

James D. Ivory

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Jason Reid, Get Out of My Room!: A History of Teen Bedrooms in America

Jamie C. Saucier

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Eric J. Green, Jennifer N. Baggerly, and Amie C. Myrick, Counseling Families: Play-Based Treatment

Carol Korn-Bursztyn

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Tanya Jones, ed., Toy Stories: The Toy as Hero in Literature, Comics, and Film

Michelle Parnett-Dwyer

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Michael Z. Newman, Atari Age: The Emergence of Video Games in America

Anastasia Salter

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Dan Ackerman, The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World and Tetris: The Games People Play

Jennifer deWinter

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Phillip Penix-Tadsen, Cultural Code: Video Games and Latin America

Tom Apperley

First Paragraph Only> Full Text>

Contributors

Raiford Guins

Carly A. Kocurek

Patrick M. Markey and Christopher J. Ferguson

Laine Nooney

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Published on January 26, 2018 04:49

Open call for PhD projects at KADK in Copenhagen

At KADK in Copenhagen, we are posting a call for PhD applications for 2018, with deadline January 12, 2018.

This is an open call which can include, of course, games. A game PhD would be located with the research group of Visual Media. We are interested in candidates with strong research interests of their own.

KADK is a lively multidisciplinary institution located centrally in Copenhagen, offering a BA and MA in game design.

Please contact me for any questions. Jesper Juul. jjuul@kadk.dk

Open call for PhD applications at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation (KADK)

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation (KADK) invites applications within subject areas of the institution for prequalification in connection with The Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF) Call for Research Educations outside the Universities (PhD).

PhD positions are 3 years, and fully funded and salaried.

Application

Applications to KADK must contain the following documents in PDF format:

Project description of no more than 5 pages. Please follow the DFF–Project Description template (https://dff.dk/en/application/calls/call-autumn-2017.pdf, chapter 3.3) and include references/bibliography.
Applicant’s CV and list of publications for applicant (see also chapter 3.3)
Diploma and complete academic transcript, from applicant’s bachelor’s programme as well as graduate studies – or alternatively a written evaluation of your master’s thesis.

Please mention the relevant research program to evaluate your application: Architecture, Design or Conservation.

Application deadline

12 Jan at 12:00 AM (Danish time).

To apply for the position

https://candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationInit.aspx?cid=5001&ProjectId=109013&DepartmentId=7810&MediaId=5

For questions concerning the advertisement contact Ditte Dahl at ditte.dahl@kadk.dk (general), or Jesper Juul jjuul@kadk.dk (for game-related questions).

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Published on December 18, 2017 06:40

Kinephanos issue: It’s [not just] in the game

For your theoretical dissection.

Kinephanos special issue: “It’s [not just] in the game”: the promotional context of video games / le contexte promotionnel des jeux vidéo

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 / Volume 7, numéro 1, novembre 2017

Edited by / Dirigé par Ed Vollans, Stephanie Janes, Carl Therrien & Dominic Arsenault

Introduction: “It’s [not Just] in the Game”: the Promotional Context of Video Games

ED VOLLANS, STEPHANIE JANES, CARL THERRIEN & DOMINIC ARSENAULT

Peer-reviewed articles / Articles avec comité de lecture

Exploring the Myth of the Representative Video Game Trailer

JAN ŠVELCH

Independent Scholar

Now You’re Playing with Adverts: A Repertoire of Frames for the Historical Study of Game Culture through Marketing Discourse

CARL THERRIEN & ISABELLE LEFEBVRE

Université de Montréal

Man’s Best Enemy: The Role of Advertising During Atari’s Launch in Brazil in 1983

ANDRÉ FAGUNDES PASE & ROBERTO TIETZMANN

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)

“The most Cinematic Game yet”

ED VOLLANS

Bournemouth University

Marketing Authenticity: Rockstar Games and the Use of Cinema in Video Game Promotion

ESTHER WRIGHT

University of Warwick

Configurative Dynamics of Gender in Bioware’s Marketing for the Mass Effect Franchise

LEANDRO AUGUSTO BORGES LIMA

King’s College London

Pervasive Games Beyond the Promotional Tools: Approaches of Aesthetic Pervasiveness in Consumption of Experience

THAIANE MOREIRA DE OLIVEIRA

Federal Fluminense University

Not actual game play, but is it real life?: Live-action footage in digital game trailers and advertising as gamerspace

THEO PLOTHE

Walsh University

Quality of Video Game Trailers

ZEYNEP TANES-EHLE & SARA SPEEDY

Duquesne University

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Published on November 28, 2017 12:16

Game-playing, from Submission to Creation

I keep returning to this question: When we play a game, are we free – or are we prisoners of the game rules?

Here is Playing, my contribution to Henry Lowood and Raiford Guins’ wonderful Debugging Game History collection.

In the piece I argue that there are four main conceptions of the act of game-playing, going from playing as submission to playing as creation.

1. Playing as submission, where the player is bound by the limits set forth by the game rules.

2. Playing as constrained freedom, where the game creates a space in which players acquire a certain amount of freedom and the opportunity to perform particular acts.

3. Playing as subversion, where the player works around both the designer’s intentions and the game object’s apparent limitations.

4. Playing as creation, where the game is ultimately irrelevant for (or at least secondary to) the actual playing.