Abstract
In terms of communication and media studies, gaming constitutes an incredibly complex phenomenon of mediated communication that is based on a global, multilayer, and mostly only virtual game culture. This chapter presents a theoretical approach to the phenomenon of digital game culture(s), which was exemplarily applied empirically in the context of a case study on the World Cyber Games 2008 (WCG) in Cologne. Digital game cultures are defined as an aspect of the current media culture with increasing significance, whose primary resources of meaning are manifested in digital games that are mostly mediated or provided through technical communication media such as handhelds or consoles. The results show that digital game cultures nowadays refer to fields of identity, characterized by a complicated interdependence of both deterritorializating and reterritorializating effects. The experience of individual gaming in a local and everyday context is structurally connected to a transnational and highly commercialized game system. For many gamers, this process is a sign of social acceptance and establishment of gaming.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The term “digital games” fits better analytically than the terms “computer games,” “video games,” and “screen games” as it is a generic term that refers to the different digital technologies which make playing games possible. Hence, the different gaming platforms such as consoles or computers as well as handhelds or cellular phones are included (see Kerr 2006, 4).
- 2.
An ideal example, often cited in the media, is the phenomenon of “gold farmers” in online role-playing games, who sell game avatars and game items to other gamers outside the game.
- 3.
For the characteristics of public spheres in more general, see Wimmer (2009, 46–49).
- 4.
Nonetheless, digital game cultures are well described concerning individual dimensions, such as the fields of juvenile gamers, girl gamers, massive multiplayer online games, and participatory game cultures, for example, the modding scene (see Unger, Chap. 32).
- 5.
Further characteristics or manifestations of game subcultures are (1) “languages,” the respective subcultural use of certain terms and ways of interaction; (2) “artifacts” such as “original packed games, gaming devices, books, posters” that demonstrate an identification with the subculture; (3) “memorabilia,” souvenirs of individual or mutual gaming experiences; and (4) “shared places,” shared places of reflection and dialogue about the gaming experience, such as online discussion forums.
- 6.
This model puts the focus of observation on a better understanding of media culture, grasping media cultures as a collective phenomenon that is distinguished by the levels of media production, media content, their reception and adoption, and also their (political) regulation and identification.
- 7.
Neither theoretically nor practically resolved is the issue how far the gamers’ power of individuality and creativity reaches. For example, Jessen demonstrated empirically that single player games such as Tomb Raider can be played in teams, which automatically prevents separation and isolation of the gamer: “Contrary to appearances, the computer and the games are absorbed into the existing children’s culture. This happens very much on that culture’s own terms – and often in ways that are quite contrary to the interests of the toy market” (1995, 6).
- 8.
In contrast to the size of the audience, the proportion of female gamers at the WCG is negligible, clearly making the tournaments a male domain.
- 9.
About 1.6 million gamers are said to have competed in the preliminary rounds.
- 10.
The rather superficial application of the symbols of the Olympic Games was vividly demonstrated when the digital flame was “extinguished” by a programming mistake and the display only showed the source, which did not provoke any remarkable reactions from the organizers, participants, or audience.
- 11.
The following games were part of the WCG 2008: Fifa Soccer 2008, Need for Speed: Pro Street, Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath, StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, Carom 3D, Red Stone, Virtua Fighter 5, Project Gotham Racing 4, Counter-Strike: 1.6, Halo 3, Guitar Hero 3 and Asphalt 3.
- 12.
The names of the interview partners have been changed.
- 13.
Quotations from German newspapers have been translated into English by the author.
References
Bibliography
Bauman, Z. (2007). Consuming life. London: Polity.
Burkeman, O. (2000, April 20). Pokemon power. The Guardian G2, 1–3.
Butler, M. (2007). Would you like to play a game? Die Kultur des Computerspielens. Berlin: Kadmos.
Crawford, G., & Rutter, J. (2006). Digital games and cultural studies. In J. Bryce & J. Rutter (Eds.), Understanding digital games (pp. 148–165). London: Sage.
Debord, G. (2000). Potlach [1954]. Berlin: Edition Tiamat.
du Gay, P. (Ed.). (1997). Production of culture/cultures of production. London: Sage.
Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S., Smith, J. H., & Tosca, S. P. (2008). Understanding video games. The essential introduction. New York: Routledge.
Fromme, J., & Biermann, R. (2009). Identitätsbildung und politische Sozialisation. In T. Bevc & H. Zapf (Eds.), Wie wir spielen, was wir werden. Computerspiele in unserer Gesellschaft (pp. 113–138). Konstanz: UVK.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.
Götzenbrucker, G., & Köhl, M. (2009). Ten years later: Towards the careers of long term gamers in Austria. Eludamos, 3(2), 309–324.
Hand, M., & Moore, K. (2006). Community, identity and digital games. In J. Bryce & J. Rutter (Eds.), Understanding digital games (pp. 241–266). London: Sage.
Hepp, A. (2008). Translocal media cultures: Networks of the media and globalisation. In A. Hepp, F. Krotz, S. Moores, & C. Winter (Eds.), Connectivity, networks and flows. Conceptualizing contemporary communications (pp. 33–58). Cresskill: Hampton Press.
Humphreys, S. (2004). Commodifying culture. It’s not just about the virtual sword. In M. Sicart & J. H. Smith (Eds.), Proceedings of the Other Players Conference. Copenhagen: IT University Copenhagen.
Hutchins, B. (2008). Signs of meta-change in second modernity: The growth of E-sport and the world cyber games. New Media Society, 10(6), 851–869.
Jansz, J., & Martens, L. (2005). Gaming at a LAN event: The social context of playing video games. New Media Society, 7(3), 333–355.
Jessen, C. (1995). Children’s computer culture. http://www.carsten-jessen.dk/childcomp.html. Accessed 10 Jan 2010.
Juul, J. (2005). Half-real. Video games between real rules and fictional worlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Juul, J. (2009). A casual revolution: Reinventing video games and their players. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kerr, A. (2006). Business and culture of digital games. London: Sage Publications.
King, G., & Krzywinska, T. (2006). Tomb raiders and space invaders. Videogame forms and contexts. London: Tauris.
Kline, S., Dyer-Witheford, N., & de Peuter, G. (2003). Digital play: The interaction of culture, technology and marketing. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Krotz, F. (2007). The meta-process of mediatization as a conceptual frame. Global Media and Communication, 3(3), 256–260.
Krotz, F. (2008). Computerspiele als neuer Kommunikationstypus. Interaktive Kommunikation als Zugang zu komplexen Welten. In T. Quandt, J. Wimmer, & J. Wolling (Eds.), Die Computerspieler: Studien zur Nutzung von Computergames (pp. 25–40). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Kücklich, J. (2009a). Virtual worlds and their discontents. Precarious sovereignty, governmentality, and the ideology of play. Games and Culture, 4(4), 340–352.
Kücklich, J. (2009b). Computerspiele, Medialität und Öffentlichkeit. In L. Bisky, K. Kriese, & J. Scheele (Eds.), Medien – Macht – Demokratie. Neue Perspektiven (pp. 411–425). Berlin: Karl Dietz.
Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2008). New media. A critical introduction. London: Routledge.
Malaby, T. M. (2007). Beyond play: A new approach to games. Games and Culture, 2(2), 95–113.
Mäyrä, F. (2006). A moment in the life of a generation (why game studies now?). Games and Culture, 1(1), 103–106.
Mäyrä, F. (2008a). An introduction to game studies. Games in culture. London: Sage.
Mäyrä, F. (2008b). Open invitation: Mapping global game cultures. Issues for a sociocultural study of games and players. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 11(2), 249–257.
Morley, D., & Robins, K. (1995). Spaces of identity. Global media, electronic landscapes, and cultural boundaries. London: Routledge.
Mortensen, T. E. (2009). Perceiving play. The art and study of computer games. New York: Peter Lang.
Quandt, T. (2010). Real life in virtual games. Computerspiele und Jugendkultur. In K. U. Hugger (Ed.), Digitale Jugendkultur (pp. 187–207). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Quandt, T., & Wimmer, J. (2009). The social impact of online games – The case of Germany. In N. Pantelli (Ed.), Virtual social networks. Mediated, massive and multiplayer sites (pp. 75–97). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schmidt, J., Dreyer, S., & Lampert, C. (2008). Spielen im Netz. Zur Systematisierung des Phänomens “Online-games”. Hamburg: Arbeitspapiere des Hans-Bredow-Instituts Nr. 19.
Simon, B. (2006). Beyond cyberspatial flaneurie: On the analytic potential of living with digital games. Games and Culture, 1(1), 62–67.
Squire, K. (2002). Cultural framing of computer/video games. Game Studies, 2(1). http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/squire. Accessed 4 Dec 2010.
Taylor, T. L. (2006). Play between worlds. Exploring online game culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wark, K. (1994). The video game as emergent media form. Media Information Australia, 71, 21–30.
Wimmer, J. (2009). Revitalization of the European public sphere? A meta-analysis of the empirical research about counterpublic-spheres and media activism. In S. Van Bauwel, I. Garcia-Blanco, & B. Cammaerts (Eds.), Media agoras: Democracy, diversity and communication (pp. 45–72). Cambridge, MA: Scholar Publishing.
Wimmer, J., Quandt, T, & Vogel, K. (2010). The edge of virtual communities? An explorative analysis of clans and computer games. In K. Mitgutsch, C. Klimmt & H. Rosenstingl (Eds.), Exploring the Edges of Gaming. Proceedings of the Vienna Games Conference 2008–2009 (pp. 77–90). Vienna: Braumüller.
Gameography
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. (2003). Ensemble Studios/Big Huge Games (Dev.); Microsoft (Pub.).
Asphalt 3: Street Rules. (2006). Gameloft (Dev./Pub.).
Carom 3D. (2006). NeoAct (Dev.); Samsung Electronics (Pub.).
Command & Conquer 3: Kanes Wrath. (2007). Electronic Arts (Dev./Pub.).
Counter-Strike: 1.6. (1998). Valve (Dev./Pub.).
Fifa Soccer 08. (2007). Electronic Arts (Dev./Pub.).
Guitar Hero 3. (2008). Neversoft (Dev.); Activision (Pub.).
Halo 3. (2006). Microsoft (Dev./Pub.).
Need for Speed: Pro Street. (2007). Electronic Arts (Dev./Pub.).
Project Gotham Racing 4. (2005). Bizarre Creations (Dev.); Microsoft (Pub.).
Red Stone. (2003). L&K Logic Korea (Dev.); Samsung Electronics (Pub.).
StarCraft: Brood War. (1998). Blizzard Entertainment (Dev.); Vivendi (Pub.).
Tomb Raider. (1996). Core Design (Dev.); Eidos Interactive (Pub.).
Virtua Fighter 5. (2007). Sega-Am 2 (Dev.); Sega (Pub.).
WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne. (2003). Blizzard Entertainment (Dev./Pub.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wimmer, J. (2012). Digital Game Culture(s) as Prototype(s) of Mediatization and Commercialization of Society: The World Cyber Games 2008 in Cologne as an Example. In: Fromme, J., Unger, A. (eds) Computer Games and New Media Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2777-9_33
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2777-9_33
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2776-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2777-9
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)