4S at Play: Video Game Studies in STS - I

Abstract

This panel aims to bring together scholars whose work examines critical issues surrounding video games. Such games are not simply games; they let us play, but they are also work, sport, business, sites of cultural production, and lenses for introspection. The field of video game studies is increasingly being recognized for its theoretical rigor and diversity of method, as well as the contributions it has made to academic discussions on topics such as technological development, identity formation, labor, and digital sociality. But, there is more work to be done. This panel thus invites papers representing the rich body of scholarship on video games as well as the diverse webs of actors arrayed around them to encourage discussion about this vibrant medium. STS provides fertile ground for these discussions about video games and the complex networks in which they are embedded; with critical inquiry, STS shows us how we might uncover and recover diverse actors and practices in the video game ecosystem. 4S 2019 is a prime place to engage in such discussions with its tripartite theme of Innovations, Interruptions, Regenerations; after all, video games exist at the confluence of all three. How might we productively study video games using STS theory and methods while exploring this theme? Novel approaches to the study of video games are also welcome, as they represent critical steps towards the innovation and regeneration of video game studies and STS in turn.

Individual Presentations

• Affective and Entangled Worldings in Games - Spencer Taylor Berdiago Ruelos, University of California, Irvine

• Sociotechnical Engagement and Environmental Narratives: Oscillations between Immersion and Awareness in Fornite Battle Royale - Martin Andrés Perez Comisso, SFIS - Arizona State University

• The Ecology of Distributed Play - Sonia Fizek, Abertay University

• The Performance of the Game - Colin S Stricklin, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Playing Games with the Idea of Intelligence: AI, Game Studies, and the Ideal of Managerial Intelligence in Starcraft 2 - Bart Simon, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

Session Organizer

• Alexander John Daniel Mirowski, Indiana University