ContactFrançais

International history of videogames (HACS)

Under the supervision of Carl Therrien. Co-investigators: Laureline Chiapello (École NAD), Jonathan Lessard (Université Concordia), Simon Dor (UQAT), Gabrielle Trépanier Jobin (UQAM)

This project seeks to create a better understanding of international videogame historical trends in a way that speaks to the community at large, including game enthusiasts, journalists, and game designers. It is based on HACS (Historical-Analytical Comparative System). The international development of these tools encompass eleven regions on four continents. A corpus of 2000 games selected by a wide commitee of experts will be analysed, along with an inspection of target audiences constructed through marketing in each region. These tools will allow us to achieve an unparalleled comparative understanding of videogame culture and its evolution.

International corpus selection committeeHaut de la page

Antoine Clerc-Renaud (jeux.ca)

Maize Longboat (Unity)

Anne Ladyem McDivitt (Stanford University)

Kyra Ocean Rehn (Soft Detours studio)

Wendi Sierra (Texas Christian University)

Carl Therrien (Université de Montréal)

William Audureau (journalist)

Milia Barrière

Alexis Blanchet (Université Paris 3)

Charlotte Courtois (Université de Montréal)

Mehdi Derfoufi (Université Paris 8)

Cécile Fléchon

Anthony Jauneaud (actezéro studio)

.
.
.

CollaboratorsHaut de la page

Alexis Blanchet (Université Paris 3), Kazufumi Fukuda (Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto), Greta Hoffmann (Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences), Mikael Jakobsson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge), Gabriela Birnfeld Kurtz (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul), Tomasz Majkowski (Jagiellonian University, Krakow), Souvik Mukherjee (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata), Farzad Parsayi (Monash University, Melbourne), Jaakko Suominen (University of Turku), Jaroslav Svelch (Charles University, Prague), Alex Wade (Birmingham City University), Lars de Wildt (Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven)

Videogame historians are working hard to synthesize one of the most astonishing cultural developments in modern history. Popular accounts of this history focus on “winners” to a large extent; from the great innovators that we interview to the most commonly cited games, technological breakthroughs and commercial success act as an implicit selection criteria. As more innovations and blockbusters are released, parts of videogame culture that don’t fit this bias are getting even less visible in the history of the medium. This is especially true in the context of a rising awareness for international and local videogame histories.

This project seeks to create a better understanding of international videogame historical trends by building tools and expertise in a way that speaks to the community at large, including game enthusiasts, journalists, and game designers. It is based on HACS (Historical-Analytical Comparative System), a set of analytical methods developed in the course of a FRQSC funded grant (2014-2017) The international development of HACS will allow us to achieve an unparalleled comparative understanding of videogame culture and its evolution, thanks to expansive datasets exploring both gameplay and the encompassing culture created through marketing. HACS features a visualization interface that allows us to navigate datasets in a way that facilitates pattern recognition and comparative studies between cultures. Thousands of videogames and printed adverts will be analyzed, emerging from ten different regions where game studies are implemented or currently flourishing: Benelux, Turtle island / North America, Czech Republic, Finland, French (Western Europe), India, Iran, Japan, Poland, English (Western Europe).

The tools developed in the course of this project were designed keeping in mind some overarching questions in game studies. Does the videogame experience integrate more natural interfaces over time? How can we map the ongoing hybridization of game genres? In terms or marketing, at what time were target audiences framed with heteronormative power fantasies, and which contexts led to more diversity in customer address? What are the regional differences in the development of these power fantasies? Does marketing have an influence on the way we frame videogame history and its significant periods? The project will allow us to shed some light on these aspects, along many other underexplored facets of videogame culture throughout history.

Insight grant (SSHRH): “Towards a visualization-assisted international history of videogame culture” (2020-2025)

Nouveau chercheur grant (FRQSC): "Beyond the technological and industrial considerations: for a cultural history of the video game experience" (2013-2017)

Research assistants

  • Dany Guay-Bélanger (coordination)
  • Samuel Poirier-Poulin (marketing analysis)
  • Laïla Courchesne (marketing analysis)
  • Assia Doumiri (programming)
  • Rhodelyr Jean (programming)
  • Jean-Charles Ray (coordination)
  • Laurie Mei Ross-Dionne (gameplay analysis)
  • Fabienne Sacy (gameplay analysis)

2013-2017:

ResultsHaut de la page

Data visualisation: Marketing evolution

Data visualisation: Gameplay evolution


PublicationsTop of the page

The Media Snatcher

Therrien, Carl. 2019. The Media Snatcher: PC/CORE/TURBO/ENGINE/GRAFX/16/CDROM2/SUPER/DUO/ARCADE/RX. Cambridge : MIT Press. [Online]

Games and Culture

Therrien, Carl, Isabelle Lefebvre and Jean-Charles Ray. 2019. "Toward a Visualization of Video Game Cultural History: Grasping the French Touch". Games and Culture: A Journal of Interactive Media. [Online first]

Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens

Therrien, Carl. 2018. "La mise au jeu mise en récit". Sciences du jeu. [Online]

Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens

Therrien, Carl. 2017. "From Video Games to Virtual Reality (and Back). Introducing HACS (Historical-Analytical Comparative System) for the Documentation of Experiential Configurations in Gaming History". DiGRA '17, Vol. 14, No 1. Proceedings from "2017 DiGRA International Conference" (july), Melbourne : Digital Games Research Association.  [Online]

Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens

Therrien, Carl, and Isabelle Lefebvre. 2017. "Now You’re Playing with Adverts: A Repertoire of Frames for the Historical Study of Marketing Discourse". Kinephanos, Vol. 7, No 1. [Online]

Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens

Therrien, Carl. 2015. "Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First-Person Shooter Genre". Game Studies, Vol. 15, No 2 (December 2015). [Online]

New Media and Society

Therrien, Carl, and Martin Picard. 2015. “Enter the bit wars. A study of video game marketing and platform crafting in the wake of the TurboGrafx-16 launch”. New Media & Society, Vol. 18, No 10 (April). [Online]

The Handbook of Digital Games

Therrien, Carl. 2014. "From the Deceptively Simple to the Pleasurably Complex. The rise of the cooperative address in video game design". In Harry Agius and Marios Angelides (eds.), The Handbook of Digital Games, p. 548-572. Piscataway : IEEE Press. [PDF]

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media

Therrien, Carl. 2014. "Interface". In Lori Emerson, Marie-Laure Ryan and Benjamin Robertson (eds.), The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media, p. 305-09. Baltimore : The John Hopkins University Press.

History of Games internation conference

Therrien, Carl, and Martin Picard. 2014. "Techno-industrial celebration, misinformation echo chambers, and the distortion cycle". Introduction. Proceedings from "History of Games international conference" (Montreal, June 27-29, 2013), Montreal. [Online]

InMedia

Therrien, Carl. 2014. "Broken Beyond Repair : An Interview with Warren Spector". InMedia, No 4. [Online]

Cahier Remix de l'Observatoire de l'imaginaire contemporain

Therrien, Carl. 2014. "Réapprendre à voir, réapprendre à agir. L’immersion vidéoludique entre concrétisation et irréalisation". Figures de l'immersion, cahier "Remix". Montreal : Observatoire de l'imaginaire contemporain.[Online]

Avatars, personnages et acteurs virtuels

Therrien, Carl. 2013. "La présence vidéoludique : de l’illusion à la projection dans l’ecosystème affectif de la fiction". In Louise Poissant and Renée Bourassa (eds.), Avatars, personnages et acteurs virtuels, p. 37-60. Montréal : Les éditions de l’Université du Québec à Montréal.

The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies

Therrien, Carl. 2013. "Immersion". In Bernard Perron and Mark J. P. Wolf (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, p. 451-458. New York : Routledge.


Other relevant publicationsTop of the page

The Archives: Post-Cinema and Video Game Between Memory and the Image of the Present

Perron, Bernard, and Simon Dor. 2014. “Addressing the Preservation of Gameplaying: Archiving Actional Modalities (Execution, Resolution, and Strategy)”. In Bernard Perron and Federico Giordano (eds.), The Archives: Post-Cinema and Video Game Between Memory and the Image of the Present, p. 177-200. Milan : Mimesis International.

Before the Crash: Early Video Game History

Therrien, Carl. 2012. "Video Games Caught Up In History. Accessibility, Teleological Distortion and Other Methodological Issues". In Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.), Before the Crash: Early Video Game History, p. 9-29. Detroit : Wayne State University Press. [PDF] [Online]

Encyclopedia of Video Games

Therrien, Carl. 2012. "Interfaces"; "Help Function"; "Videotopia". In Mark J.P. Wolf (ed.), Encyclopedia of Video Games, p. 288-290; 324-326; 674-675. Westport : Greenwood / ABC Clio Press.

DiGRA

Therrien, Carl. 2011. "'To Get Help, Please Press X'. The Rise of the Assistance Paradigm in Video Game Design". Proceedings from "DIGRA 2011, Think Design Play" (Utrecht, September 14-17, 2011). [Online]

Horror Video Games: Essays on the Fusion of Fear and Play

Therrien, Carl. 2009. "Games of Fear. A Multi-Faceted Historical Account of the Horror Genre in Video Games". In Bernard Perron (ed.), Horror Video Games: Essays on the Fusion of Fear and Play, p. 26-45. Jefferson : McFarland & Company.

The Video Game Theory Reader 2

Arsenault, Dominic, and Bernard Perron. 2008. "In the Frame of the Magic Cycle: The Circle(s) of Gameplay". In Bernard Perron and Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.), The Video Game Theory Reader 2, p. 109-131. New York and Londres : Routledge.

Lo stile cinematografico/Film Style

Therrien, Carl, and Bernard Perron. 2007. ">>Pointez-et-cliquez ici<< Les figures d’interactivité dans le cinéma interactif des premiers temps". Lo stile cinematografico/Film Style, p. 395-403. Proceedings from "13ème colloque international d’études cinématographiques", Udine : Forum.

Le game design de jeux vidéo. Approches de l'expression vidéo-ludique

Therrien, Carl. 2005. "L’appel de la simulation. Deux approches du design vidéoludique". In Sébastien Genvo (ed.), Le game design de jeux vidéo. Approches de l'expression vidéo-ludique, p. 175-194. Paris : L’Harmattan.

EventsTop of the page

History of Games international conference
1st edition: construire, raconter, et travailler avec l'histoire

Game History annual symposium, Montréal [Website]


Selected Conference PapersTop of the page

Therrien, Carl. “Inspecting Video Game History. Misinformation Echo Chambers, Techno-industrial Glorification, and the Distortion Cycle” (keynote speaker, “best paper award”). Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) National Conference, Brock University, St-Catharines, May 27-28, 2014.

Therrien, Carl. “The Hunt for the First-Person Shooter. Video Game Historiography through the Lens of a Critical Etymology”. Games and Literary Theory 2nd annual conference, University of Amsterdam, November 20-21, 2014.

Goggin, Joyce, and Carl Therrien. “Constructing Bodies: Welcome to the Dollhouse”. ColloqueFrom ‘Traditional’ Games to Digital Games, Nancy, November 26-28, 2014.

Roux-Girard, Guillaume, and Carl Therrien. “Tracing the Evolution of Gameplay”. Pressing Restart: Discussions on Video Game Preservation, New York University Game Center, September 28, 2013.

Therrien, Carl. “From the Deceptively Simple to the Pleasurably Complex. The Rise of the Cooperative Address in Video Game Design”. History of Games International Conference, Grande bibliothèque de Montréal, June 21-23, 2013.

Therrien, Carl. “Living in the Edge, or the Mapping Situation. The illusion of Symbiosis and the Six Types of Mapping in Video Game Interface Design”. Canadian Game Studies Association National Conference, University of Victoria, June 4-5, 2013.


Recommended LinksTop of the page

© Copyright LUDOV (Laboratoire universitaire de documentation et d'observation vidéoludiques) - Tous droits réservés

Veuillez fournir le sigle du cours pour lequel vous effectuez la réservation :

×