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En analyse af den kulturpolitiske situation i Norden hvad computerspil angår samt forslag til metode til vurdering af kvalitet i computerspil

As one of the more visible manifestations of the boom in new media, computer games have attracted a great deal of attention, both from the popular press, and from academics. In the case of the former, much of this coverage has focussed on the perceived danger games pose to the young mind, whether that danger be physical (in terms of bodily atrophy due to inactivity) or social (in terms of anti-social and even violent behaviour, caused by exposure to specific types of content). The massacre at Columbine High School in the United States seems to have further fuelled these fears, with several stories focusing on the fact that the killers were both players of violent video games. These concerns have also found their way into political circles, promoting a seemingly endless cycle of inquiries and reports. Academic discourse on the subject has, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, tended to adopt a similar line, tracing out a return to the dark days of media effects theory. This is especially true of those studies that focus on the psychological aspects of computer game usage.

Computer games and organizations are becoming increasingly interwoven in the 21st century. Sophisticated computer games connected by networks are turning into spaces for organizing. Therefore, it may not be surprising that conventional organizations are now scrounging these games for novel ways to enhance efficiency. The result is the formation of game/organization hybrids; uneasy recontextualizations of partly incompatible ideas, values and practices. We begin this essay by elucidating what it is socially that makes something a game by exploring the notion's anthropological foundations. We then introduce two examples of actual game/organization hybrids; raiding in computer games and gamification in formal organizations. We conclude by discussing the implications of such hybridization and suggest venues for how organization and management scholars can benefit from studying computer games and theories of play.

In this compelling book, Graeme Kirkpatrick argues that computer games have fundamentally altered the relation of self and society in the digital age. Tracing the origins of gaming to the revival of play in the 1960s counter culture, Computer Games and the Social Imaginary describes how the energies of that movement transformed computer technology from something ugly and machine-like into a world of colour and 'fun'. In the process, play with computers became computer gaming - a new cultural practice with its own values. From the late 1980s gaming became a resource for people to draw upon as they faced the challenges of life in a new, globalizing digital economy. Gamer identity furnishes a revivified capitalism with compliant and 'streamlined' workers, but at times gaming culture also challenges the corporations that control game production. Analysing topics such as the links between technology and power, the formation of gaming culture and the subjective impact of play with computer games, this insightful text will be of great interest to students and scholars of digital media, games studies and the information society.

The most heated public debates on the subject of violent computer games in Germany take place following incidents of school shootings. Such reactions are often conceptualized as moral panics and signs of underlying social conflict. Focus is rarely on the violent computer games themselves. Actor-network theory allows for an analysis of how phenomena are sequentially drawn together, contingent upon the material available for the press at specific times, to which violent computer games can be related. Six months of press coverage following the 2006 school shooting in the German town of Emsdetten were not a continuous narrative of violent computer games, but divided into six distinct phases. In these, violent computer games achieved several different identities. Both the way the material was brought together in the press and the contingent events beyond the context of publishing houses were decisive for which identities were generated in the press, and which of these became the most enduring.

The recent announcement by the Federal Government that the mandatory blacklist will explicitly target computer and video games has caused much alarm. This page by Electronic Frontiers Australia aims to cover the issue quickly and will be updated as matters progress.

Computer simulations have strong potential as learning tools, both to deepen theoretical understanding and for skills development. However, it is important to understand the different factors that may affect the success of this relatively new classroom tool. This article is based on a computer simulation workshop for International Relations students, where the objective is to manage a transition to democracy from an authoritarian regime. ; SIN FINANCIACIÓN ; No data 2014

The purpose of this article is to consider a specific aspect which has become an obvious source of social inequality in the digital era: computer games from a gender perspective. To this end, the existing literature is reviewed to show that despite the positive educational aspects of play, educational use of computer games is minimal. Details are also given of various research which shows the gender bias in different aspects related to multimedia games. The results of the research carried out by the authors (which received a subsidy from the Catalan Autonomous Government Catalan Women's Institute), dealing with the prevailing sexism in multimedia games, is also listed. Finally, the need for safeguarding the quality of multimedia games is highlighted, without forgetting new technologies' socialising importance in today's society.