We thus propose 3 normative claims about how we believe the study of games should be approached *critically*, thinking about the common pitfalls we've seen researchers in the field make (new and old!), and how we want to see game studies progress in the future:

To coincide with Melbourne International Games Week, MAGPIE has put together a special report with @unimelb.bsky.social's Pursuit talking all about the effects gaming is having socially and culturally on the world around us.

pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/special-repo...

Our (@mahliann.bsky.social, @marcuscarter.com, and I) book GAME STUDIES: A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD is officially OUT everywhere in the world except the US for some reason. So here is an actual thread about why we wrote it and what we were trying to achieve with it.

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! @mahliann.bsky.social, @marcuscarter.com, and myself have combined our collective brains and written a wide-reaching introduction to the complex and interdisciplinary field of Game Studies in this forthcoming book for Polity. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

(PDF) Domesticating Play at the Playboy Mansion PDF | This paper explores how Playboy magazine and the Playboy Mansion shaped early gaming cultures through the lens of domestication theory. Focusing... | Find, read and cite all the research you nee...

Excited to share the pre-print of my DiGRA paper titled "Domesticating Play at the Playboy Mansion." The paper uses domestication theory to explore how Playboy magazine integrated early domestic entertainment computing and board games into its concept of masculinity.

Screenshot of the front cover of the white paper report. It reads 'Making Games Available in Higher Education' by Dr Cassandra Barkman (Chief Investigator) and Dr Mahli-Ann Butt (Co-Investigator).

This week @mahliann.bsky.social and I released a white paper report looking into ways to make games more available for teaching in Higher Education. Report can be found here! arts.unimelb.edu.au/school-of-cu...

‘We need to talk about “Florence” and emotional labour’ by Mahli-Ann Butt

Thanks to @oddgoo.bsky.social for digging up a copy of my old Florence piece from the internet archives! I thought it was gone forever! 🥹

web.archive.org/web/20180615...

😭😭😭

i just think at this point it you don't see the direct path from gamergate to trumpism then you're purposely ignoring it

Honestly, I think even those of us who were saying gamergate is a training ground for/and direct path to outright fascism are probably a little bit surprised at how literally correct we actually were.

Resharing this thing i wrote for @ideasonfirephd.bsky.social as #ica25 decisions come out: ideasonfire.net/why-was-my-p...

Ursula K. LeGuin on technology

VOLUME 5, BONUS ISSUE A: SURVIVING WHITENESS IN GAMES FULL ISSUE PERMALINK (September, 2023) Introduction Bonus issue editors: Sabine Harrer, Mahli-Ann Butt, Rilla Khaled, Florence M. Chee, Amani Naseem, Katta Spiel, Cale Passmore, Kishonna L. Gray, O…

Surviving Whiteness In Games
Co-edited by @mahliann.bsky.social, @sabha.bsky.social, @cheeflo.bsky.social, @amaani.bsky.social, @katta.bsky.social, @outi.bsky.social, Rilla Khaled, Cale Passmore & Kishonna L. Gray

14 essay collection examining whiteness in games

gamescriticism.org/volume-5-bon...

Defend RMIT Students Facing Discipline for Palestine Activism! In the latest attack on Palestine free speech on campus at RMIT, three students have been issued with notices for disciplinary hearings based on their involvement in pro-Palestine activism and speech,...

Defend RMIT Students Facing Discipline for Palestine Activism:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Congrats to the new elected DiGRA board!

Hi everyone!

We are a new research initiative at the University of Melbourne interested in games, play and interactive entertainment.

We have put together an starter pack of people involved in MAGPIE - feel free to share, and if you're involved and want to be added let us know! go.bsky.app/CimEnwF

I have created a starter pack for Australian & New Zealand based games academics, particularly those active in the DiGRA Australia community. Please reply if you'd like to be added! bsky.app/start/did:pl...

A short teaser for the book I'm working on. Play often obscures the data-collecting aspects of locative media and augmented reality games. I give some insights in this short post for CAVRN cavrn.org/how-play-sha...

Social media ban ignores importance of online gaming to children With Australia's proposed underage social media ban yet to be defined, experts fear that the importance of online gaming could be overlooked.

With concerns that Australia’s proposed social media ban hasn’t explicitly ruled out online gaming, I spoke with @darthtayrah.bsky.social about how important safe digital spaces are for children and why video games should be protected 🎮

www.gadgetguy.com.au/australia-so...

Combat in Dungeons & Dragons A short history of design trajectories.

In case you missed it in May:

I wrote an essay on the rhythms and incentives of D&D combat, one of the most important subsystems in gaming, for the 50 Years of D&D collection from MIT Press. You can read it on Rascal News:

www.rascal.news/combat-dnd-f...

Games might be caught in the crossfire of this frankly poorly thought out and unclear legislative move - and that would be really bad!! Thoughts from @marcuscarter.com & myself on why 💅

Catalogue cover that reads Feminine Play

2-page table of contents

Preview of the first page of the catalogue essay titled ‘Feminine Play’

Big thank you to everyone who visited Feminine Play! You can now view/download an online version of the catalogue at feminineplay.org with beautiful art from all the exhibited works and an essay by @jtg.design @mahliann.bsky.social and I about femininity and games :)

Frog Detective You're a detective, and a frog, and it's time to solve a mystery.

Frog Detective is complete!

out now on Nintendo Switch / PS4+PS5 / Xbox+GamePass

+ full EFIGS+PtBr localisation

frogdetective.net

Note, new issue is out:

Games and Culture, Volume: 18, Number: 7 (November 2023)

journals.sagepub.com/toc/gaca/18/7

I’m conducting research at SXSW Sydney - hmu if you have insights you could share with me (I’m particularly interested in the themes of fashion and alcohol)

I'll be at #SXSWSydney today hosting a fireside chat with Amy & Mike Morhaime.

🔥 1pm-2pm at ICC

We're going to be talking Blizzard ➡️ Dreamhaven, creative leadership, culture and probably videogames (hopefully I don't perish).