LudoScience
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EnglishDeconstruct video games? Ways to build a coherent game library offering Olivier Rampnoux, Josette Hospital, Damien Djaouti, Julian Alvarez - 2008
Informations
Support : ConférencesAuthor(s) : Olivier Rampnoux, Josette Hospital, Damien Djaouti, Julian Alvarez
Editor : 11ème Congrès International des Ludothèques, Paris
Date : 2008
Lang :
Description
Presentation of the workshop:
The idea of video game ratings is far from new. There are many and varied “free classification” systems used by the video game industry, the trade press or simply by gamers. However, while these systems are an important part of common video game culture, they are unfortunately not suitable for cataloguing or classifying all existing video games.
Indeed, these so-called “free” systems follow the course of video game evolution: categories appear and disappear, definitions change and remain vague. Above all, there is no real consensus within these classifications: they are generally subjective and shared by a restricted group of users, and relate to games from a given era.
Although there have been a few attempts by designers and researchers to propose a unified system based on these free classifications, these attempts have so far failed to produce a consensus on a truly generalizable system...
This general situation is confirmed by a detailed presentation of the way in which the Odyssud toy library classifies the 500 or so video games in its collection, backed up by feedback on the integration of video games into this library since the 1980s.
The absence of a video game classification system truly suited to cataloguing gave rise to the idea of exploring new ways of classifying all video games in a unified way.
A collaborative multi-criteria classification tool on the Internet
This conference presents a different approach to classifying video games through a system that classifies them according to several criteria: their gameplay, their intention, their field of application and target audience, as well as a system of free keywords. Based on these criteria, a general category is then proposed for each title.
Far from being a purely theoretical system, this classification is accompanied by a practical tool in the form of a website. Totally free to access, this site is designed to share classification information for as many video games as possible. Several search engines can be used to find a given game according to the various classification criteria. This video game classification database can be accessed at: http://www.gameclassification.com
This site is based on the principle of collaboration, and therefore calls on contributions from Internet users, whether to add games not yet classified, or to improve the information concerning games already listed.
A pragmatic approach to building a videogame offering
The tool and classification system presented in this conference is part of a global approach aimed at offering a broader reflection on the ways in which video games are consumed.
This complex object, which reaches an increasingly wide audience, is varied and all too often “consumed” without the necessary critical distance from the discourse of the video game industry. Faced with this situation, the toy library can, by reappropriating the video game, establish a dialogue with its public (children and parents alike) around this sector whose cultural weight continues to grow.
Given the complexity of the subject and the difficulty of access to this universe for outsiders, dialogue and exchange between toy libraries seems to be the most appropriate approach. The collaborative system of classification and common knowledge presented here can ultimately be seen as a first step towards stimulating exchange between toy libraries on the subject of video games...
The presentation was followed by an hour of lively debate on the subject of video games, and in particular on the different roles they can play in toy libraries, with a wealth of feedback from the floor.
* Méthodologie d’analyse formelle des jeux vidéo > Julian Alvarez et Damien Djaouti (France)
* Construction d’une classification des jeux vidéo > Julian Alvarez (France)
* Système de classification ESAR et Game Classification : quelles similitudes et quelles convergences pour une mise en place dans la ludothèque ? > Josette Hospital et Damien Djaouti (France)
* Vers une approche plus globale de la question de la consommation des jeux vidéo > Josette Hospital et Olivier Rampnoux (France)
* Construction d’une classification des jeux vidéo > Julian Alvarez (France)
* Système de classification ESAR et Game Classification : quelles similitudes et quelles convergences pour une mise en place dans la ludothèque ? > Josette Hospital et Damien Djaouti (France)
* Vers une approche plus globale de la question de la consommation des jeux vidéo > Josette Hospital et Olivier Rampnoux (France)
Keywords : Classification, Videogame, Game library, Deconstruction, Structuralism, Gameplay bricks, Taxonomy, Formal system