![]() ![]() Rather than to provide a comprehensive description of the main results, within this paper it was preferred to adopt a methodological angle. However, due to the limited amount of methodological literature available on this type of analysis, a number of methodological difficulties were encountered that had not been accounted for on beforehand. A selection was made of 11 mature-rated games, and a scheme for analysis was developed, inspired by the structural analyses performed by Juul (1999) and Aarseth (1997). Variations in the nature of video game ‘violence’ have rarely been studied.” In the study reported here, an attempt was to map the variations in the nature of violence in a number of contemporary games. Goldstein (2005:22) brings up this matter as follows: “The context of violent stories … varies along dimensions of realism, involvement, excitement, how violence/conflict begin and end, whether they are presented in an erotic or humorous context. Nevertheless, no instruments have yet been developed that allow to investigate or define these constructs in the context of media effect research. Many researchers have associated the mechanisms of script rehearsal and social learning with the interactive experience that is offered in electronic games (Anderson & Dill, 2000), with the increased graphical realism of nowadays games (Sakamoto, 2000) or with the moral justifications that are given for acting violently (Carnagey & Anderson, 2005). ![]() It is remarkable, on the other hand, that when the effects of playing games on aggression in daily life are debated, aspects such as graphical explicitness, interactivity or realism of the game world (all elements of game content) are to a large degree found responsible for the negative impact video games are assumed to have. Only a few researchers with a background in media sociology or psychology have done the effort of analyzing a number of games, taking into account aspects that go beyond the binary oppositions of ‘violent vs. Media effect theory is one of the disciplines where the insights provided by ludology have thus far not been able to conquer solid grounds. More specific, an exploration is made of the complexities one encounters when studying the content of a selection of mature-rated video games from a media sociology perspective. Nevertheless, very few attempts have been made to operationalize the principles introduced by ludology in a framework suitable for practical, empirical analysis. ![]() narratology’ dispute has more or less been settled, a consensus appears to exist about the general terminology that should be used when video games are studied, and about the research traditions that could fare well by taking into account concepts such as rule-based play, emergence or simulation in a virtual environment. Frasca, 2003) or as second-order cybernetic systems (e.g. Aarseth, 1997), as rule-based systems (e.g. In recent years a lot of debate has been held on the formal characteristics that mark out the boundaries of video games as a distinct medium, and on the terminology that is the most appropriate for analyzing video games as cybertexts (e.g. As such the article provide a blueprint, mapping the difficulties and challenges one encounters while performing a qualitative video game analysis. In the end a brief overview is given of the main results. In a step by step overview of the phases in which the analysis was carried out, the article describes the procedures that were used while constructing a scheme for analysis, while selecting a number of game titles and while training the coders. A selection was made of 11 contemporary, mature-rated games, and a scheme for analysis was constructed, addressing the different shapes violent activity takes within these games. This article focuses on the methodology of qualitative video game content analysis, aiming to complement the insights provided by Konzack (2002) and Consalvo & Dutton (2006) from a media sociology perspective. Adapting the Principles of Ludology to the Method of Video Game Content Analysis by Steven Malliet Abstract ![]()
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