- Concordia University
CJ Bldg 4.407
7141 Sherbrooke St West
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
Mia Consalvo
Concordia University (Canada), Communication Studies, Faculty Member
- Baker, runner, gamer.edit
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The widely varying experiences of players of digital games challenge the notions that there is only one correct way to play a game. Some players routinely use cheat codes, consult strategy guides, or buy and sell in-game accounts, while... more
The widely varying experiences of players of digital games challenge the notions that there is only one correct way to play a game. Some players routinely use cheat codes, consult strategy guides, or buy and sell in-game accounts, while others consider any or all of these practices off limits. Meanwhile, the game industry works to constrain certain readings or activities and promote certain ways of playing. In Cheating, Mia Consalvo investigates how players choose to play games and what happens when they can't always play the way they'd like. She explores a broad range of player behavior, including cheating (alone and in groups), examines the varying ways that players and industry define cheating, describes how the game industry itself has helped systematize cheating, and studies online cheating in context in an online ethnography of Final Fantasy XI. She develops the concept of "gaming capital" as a key way to understand individuals' interaction with games, information about games, the game industry, and other players.
Consalvo provides a cultural history of cheating in videogames, looking at how the packaging and selling of such cheat-enablers as cheat books, GameSharks, and mod chips created a cheat industry. She investigates how players themselves define cheating and how their playing choices can be understood, with particular attention to online cheating. Finally, she examines the growth of the peripheral game industries that produce information about games rather than actual games. Digital games are spaces for play and experimentation; the way we use and think about digital games, Consalvo argues, is crucially important and reflects ethical choices in gameplay and elsewhere.
Consalvo provides a cultural history of cheating in videogames, looking at how the packaging and selling of such cheat-enablers as cheat books, GameSharks, and mod chips created a cheat industry. She investigates how players themselves define cheating and how their playing choices can be understood, with particular attention to online cheating. Finally, she examines the growth of the peripheral game industries that produce information about games rather than actual games. Digital games are spaces for play and experimentation; the way we use and think about digital games, Consalvo argues, is crucially important and reflects ethical choices in gameplay and elsewhere.
Research Interests: Business and Legitimacy
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Chain-mail bikinis, boob sliders, and Barbie-like physiques. Female avatars in MMO games would seem to be the equivalent of pinup Playboy bunnies, constructed solely for male players’ pleasure. Yet women players choose female avatars... more
Chain-mail bikinis, boob sliders, and Barbie-like physiques. Female avatars in MMO games would seem to be the equivalent of pinup Playboy bunnies, constructed solely for male players’ pleasure. Yet women players choose female avatars almost exclusively, and regularly talk of their joy in creating powerful, creative, dangerous characters. Those joys are not temporary either: other researchers have found that among heavy MMO players, women tend to play more hours than men do, and they are less likely than men to plan to quit playing (Williams, Consalvo, Caplan, and Yee, 2008). But do women enjoy such representations, or merely tolerate them as a flawed part of their gameplay experience? Perhaps different groups of women feel differently, with factors such as play style, player type, MMO experience, and demographic differences such as age or sexuality playing a role. And what of the gear that games provide for avatars, in all its multiple representations? Is it simply a stat-enhancing tool, or something more? These are some of the questions that drove us to explore more deeply how and why women choose their avatars and the ways in which they can now customize them, including avatar creation options, in-game barber shops, and increasingly through gear.
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The people who create videogames have ranged from lone individuals toiling away in their bedroom to teams of dozens or hundreds of developers who design and build games in AAA studios around the world. That diversity of approach has grown... more
The people who create videogames have ranged from lone individuals toiling away in their bedroom to teams of dozens or hundreds of developers who design and build games in AAA studios around the world. That diversity of approach has grown over time as accessible tools to make games proliferate and platforms on which to find games mushroom. In 1982, the US arcade industry newsletter Arcade Express reported on well-established companies such as Atari, Intellivision, Bally Midway, and Parker Brothers that were making arcade and console videogames. At the same time, as Graeme Kirkpatrick explains in a history of UK gaming magazines, "The majority of games for home computers prior to 1984 were made by very small, independent firms and individual hobbyists." In addition to creating games, those developers and publishers were creating a history for games, a "back catalogue" that inevitably led newer games to invite "comparisons with other [older] games." 1 While at first those comparisons might only have been between games that tackled similar subject matter or genres (such as racing games or baseball games), eventually they also led to game developers themselves cultivating reputations for their games, particularly as they began to specialize in certain genres or franchises.
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Because of rapid evolution in exergaming technology and content, the literature on the benefits of exergaming needs ongoing review. Updated syntheses incorporating high-quality critical assessments of included articles can provide... more
Because of rapid evolution in exergaming technology and content, the literature on the benefits of exergaming needs ongoing review. Updated syntheses incorporating high-quality critical assessments of included articles can provide cutting-edge evidence to drive research and practice. The objectives were to summarize evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the association between exergaming and (1) physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior and energy expenditure (EE); and (2) body composition, body mass index (BMI), and other weight-related outcomes among persons younger than 30 years; and to summarize recommendations in the articles retained. The Elton B. Stephens Co. (ESBSCO) database for reviews was searched from January 1995 to July 2019. Data on study characteristics, findings, and recommendations for future research, game design, and intervention development were extracted from articles that met the inclusion criteria, quality scores were attributed to each article, and a narrative overview of the evidence was undertaken. Twenty-eight reviews, with 5-100 articles per review, were identified. Seventeen assessed the evidence on the association between exergaming and PA, EE, and/or sedentary behavior, and 11 examined the association with body composition, BMI, or other weight-related outcomes. There was substantial heterogeneity across reviews in objectives, definitions, and methods. A positive relationship between exergaming and EE is well documented, but whether exergaming increases PA or changes body composition is not established. The reviews retained also provide evidence that exergaming is a healthier alternative to sedentary behavior and that it can be an exciting enjoyable pastime for youth, which adds variety in PA options for health and dietary interventions. Exergaming is likely more physically health promoting than traditional videogames because of higher EE and possibly improved physical fitness and body composition. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess if exergaming reduces sedentary time, has other health benefits, or is a sustainable behavior. We recommend that exergaming interventions be designed using behavior change theory, and that future reviews use standard review criteria and include recommendations for research, game design, and intervention development.
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Research limitations/implications – As with all qualitative research, the relatively small sample size makes it difficult to draw broad generalizations from the data. However, the research does suggest that there are many ways ...
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Character backgrounds are one of many elements players use to customize their protagonists in fantasy computer role-playing games. By documenting the narrative trappings, mechanical benefits, and hierarchical availability of character... more
Character backgrounds are one of many elements players use to customize their protagonists in fantasy computer role-playing games. By documenting the narrative trappings, mechanical benefits, and hierarchical availability of character backgrounds in Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001) and Dragon Age: Origins (2009), this paper considers how real-world socioeconomic class markers and racial stereotypes have been repeatedly associated with fictitious races such as orcs, dwarves, and elves. Class is an understudied axis of identity in media studies and this research scrutinizes how developers construct socioeconomic class, particularly through character-creator interfaces. We begin by building a theoretical repertoire for studying identity in digital game interfaces while also scrutinizing long-established discourses of race and gender in the fantasy genre. We then analyze the hierarchies embedded in both games’ character creators, connecting them with broader gameplay and narrative themes and contextualizing them in established media stereotypes and existing scholarship.
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Game engines have largely become synonymous with the production of certain game genres, and creating games outside those genres is at the least cumbersome if not outright impossible to do. This study demonstrates how the affordances and... more
Game engines have largely become synonymous with the production of certain game genres, and creating games outside those genres is at the least cumbersome if not outright impossible to do. This study demonstrates how the affordances and constraints of particular engines, working in consort with the creative community around a particular engine, shape both game engine use as well as the game engine thinking that determines what is and is not possible. It does so by looking at a game project developed using the Ren’py engine. Using Fiadotau and Bogost as conceptual springboards, we focus on our decision to use Ren’py and how that decision shaped the game and our production processes. In addition to discussing the engine itself, we also look at how the practices and discourse of the Ren’py community—most notably represented on the engine’s official forums—also shaped our work.
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This chapter explores how professional game developers live stream their creative work on Twitch.tv. It asks how these developers engage in co-creative acts with their viewers and how they engage in game talk during their design process.... more
This chapter explores how professional game developers live stream their creative work on Twitch.tv. It asks how these developers engage in co-creative acts with their viewers and how they engage in game talk during their design process. These practices lend themselves to daily professional practice and advancement, which is structurally incentivized by the platform itself. This chapter is therefore framed in a broader examination that questions the potential use of streaming platforms as educational environments, and how these practices intersect both formal and informal educational models. There are synergies between the practices emerging on Twitch and the educational practices surrounding game development as a field as universities find themselves engaged in exploring how to deliver educational experiences at a distance.
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This article explores how Facebook as a game platform influences players’ gameplay, arguing that platforms shape play as well as cheating behaviours. Based on a player survey and follow-up qualitative interviews, it asks how players... more
This article explores how Facebook as a game platform influences players’ gameplay, arguing that platforms shape play as well as cheating behaviours. Based on a player survey and follow-up qualitative interviews, it asks how players theorize cheating in such games relative to their existing social networks, Facebook’s Terms of Service, and the specific types of games prevalent on Facebook. It explores how these features shape players’ understandings of what constitutes cheating. It finds that platforms do influence how players define or imagine cheating in several ways, including the normalization of new payment models and gameplay mechanics, differences in how cheating is conceptualized by strangers versus friends and family, and how different terms of service can frame what counts as cheating.
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ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that researchers who study players of persistent online games must take into account the lifespan of the game in order to better understand how and why players are playing the way they do. ... Keywords... more
ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that researchers who study players of persistent online games must take into account the lifespan of the game in order to better understand how and why players are playing the way they do. ... Keywords Digital games, players, qualitative methods, game temporality ... 1. The Life of a Game One area receiving little attention from those who study digital game players is the concept of game temporality, in at least two senses. First would be attention to how a player's interests, play styles, frequencies and so forth change over time—both ...
Much study of MMOGs as well as other videogames presumes an affinity between players and their avatars. Gee has developed the concept of 'projective identity' and Bailensen, Yee and others have done extensive work exploring the Proteus... more
Much study of MMOGs as well as other videogames presumes an affinity between players and their avatars. Gee has developed the concept of 'projective identity' and Bailensen, Yee and others have done extensive work exploring the Proteus effect (and other similar effects) that suggest humans are deeply influenced by the avatars they choose, and likewise how such avatars become extensions of themselves in games and virtual spaces. Some of my own past work has explored how women strongly identify with female avatars, 'gender-swapping' at rates much lower than similar male players. Yet what of games that don't employ avatars, or rely on multiple or non-human avatars for players to employ? What of players who simply do not characterize game avatars as extensions of themselves? How can we speak of identification such instances? Is it still a useful concept to investigate?
This paper will review some of the basic research about players, identity and avatars, to offer a starting point for argument. But the heart of the talk explores instances of games where avatar presentation and use depart from our traditional conceptualizations --either by their absence or their opposition to humanoid facsimiles. By doing so this talk challenges game studies' easy reliance on avatars as proxies for identity in games, and asks what happens when players fail to use or access such embodiments in their gameplay. It suggests alternative ways to understand player agency and identification in games, and moves beyond avatars as the principle means for doing so.
This paper will review some of the basic research about players, identity and avatars, to offer a starting point for argument. But the heart of the talk explores instances of games where avatar presentation and use depart from our traditional conceptualizations --either by their absence or their opposition to humanoid facsimiles. By doing so this talk challenges game studies' easy reliance on avatars as proxies for identity in games, and asks what happens when players fail to use or access such embodiments in their gameplay. It suggests alternative ways to understand player agency and identification in games, and moves beyond avatars as the principle means for doing so.
New social games are released daily, yet many of the most popular games offer very limited forms of interaction between players. This presentation answers the question: how social are social games? It does so through analysis of 80... more
New social games are released daily, yet many of the most popular games offer very limited forms of interaction between players. This presentation answers the question: how social are social games?
It does so through analysis of 80 games, identifying the major types of interactions employed, and highlighting games offering unusual social mechanics.
The second part of the lecture explores how social media applications are using interaction in novel ways, such as Nike's new running app, which invites users to broadcast the start of their run, turning friends' responses into real-time cheering.
In closing, the lecture identifies the range of social functions offered by social games, and points to other types of interactions enabled via social media, to encourage game designers to think beyond the boundaries of game design.
It does so through analysis of 80 games, identifying the major types of interactions employed, and highlighting games offering unusual social mechanics.
The second part of the lecture explores how social media applications are using interaction in novel ways, such as Nike's new running app, which invites users to broadcast the start of their run, turning friends' responses into real-time cheering.
In closing, the lecture identifies the range of social functions offered by social games, and points to other types of interactions enabled via social media, to encourage game designers to think beyond the boundaries of game design.
During this global pandemic, play and games are often discouraged (if not outright disparaged) because they are activities that bring us too close together physically, when instead we should be practicing ‘social distancing.’ Worse still,... more
During this global pandemic, play and games are often discouraged (if not outright disparaged) because they are activities that bring us too close together physically, when instead we should be practicing ‘social distancing.’ Worse still, the act of ‘having fun’ or being playful is often perceived as diametrically opposed to the seriousness needed to confront this situation. Yet as the weeks and months continue, many of us turn to play and games for escape, agency, pleasure, control, novelty, familiarity, sociality, and more. This special edition of the game studies seminar explores fundamental questions of how and why we play games, both in times of crisis (past and present) as well as during “regular” everyday life. We will focus on a number of issues including how varying contexts shape play, how games structure meaning making, barriers to play, the evolution of games, and different approaches to how to study games and leisure.
Course Description This course focuses on games through the lens of research-creation. Time will be spent at the beginning of the class investigating the evolution of research-creation (also known as arts-based research and creative... more
Course Description
This course focuses on games through the lens of research-creation. Time will be spent at the beginning of the class investigating the evolution of research-creation (also known as arts-based research and creative making) as a recognized area of practice as well as the development of games as valid forms of entertainment, art, persuasion and catalysts for change.
The course then investigates how we can (1) advance research (broadly defined) through the act of making games; (2) use games as tools for doing research; and (3) creatively present research through games. Readings, class discussions, and course assignments explores these areas, focusing on the following goals: defining research-creation; understanding the multiple ways research-creation can intersect with games; debating/discussing/developing standards for assessing research-creation projects that use games in some way; and experimenting with game creation.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course students should be able to:
• Clearly articulate how research-creation expands our field of knowledge making
• Create small-scale/prototype games (analog or digital) as part of a research-creation project
• Integrate relevant theoretical frameworks into various projects
This course focuses on games through the lens of research-creation. Time will be spent at the beginning of the class investigating the evolution of research-creation (also known as arts-based research and creative making) as a recognized area of practice as well as the development of games as valid forms of entertainment, art, persuasion and catalysts for change.
The course then investigates how we can (1) advance research (broadly defined) through the act of making games; (2) use games as tools for doing research; and (3) creatively present research through games. Readings, class discussions, and course assignments explores these areas, focusing on the following goals: defining research-creation; understanding the multiple ways research-creation can intersect with games; debating/discussing/developing standards for assessing research-creation projects that use games in some way; and experimenting with game creation.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course students should be able to:
• Clearly articulate how research-creation expands our field of knowledge making
• Create small-scale/prototype games (analog or digital) as part of a research-creation project
• Integrate relevant theoretical frameworks into various projects
