Rudolf Inderst (*1978) enjoys video games since 1985. He received a master’s degree in political science, American cultural studies as well as contemporary and recent history from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich and holds two PhDs in game studies. Your are welcome to follow him on Twitter: @benflavor
„Here comes a new challenger” Will Video Game Essays be the New Champion of Game Critic?
FROG 2020 – Short Talk
In the recent past, various authors have examined the change of tone within games journalism. There seems to be not only a broader portfolio of topics which is covered by representatives of an elder, sometimes described as ‘classic’ games press (meant here: former and current print game magazines and their online outlets), but the medium itself is getting more and more attention beyond the circles of a tech-savy and service-oriented trade as well as specialized press: General press, especially editors of literary and arts sections started to treat digital games as objects / artefacts of cultural and public interest. Video and computer games have become newsworthy – not only because as an industry, video games keep generating billions and billions in revenue or the familiar and well-known ‘admonisher’ discourses about gaming violence as well as gaming addiction. Digital games are getting more editorial space because journalists increasingly understand them as complex, pop-cultural products that bring forth contrasts, tensions and paradox situations that can be read as meta-medial and political comments. My talk will argue that video game essays today are a part of media criticsm. Broadly translated the findings indicate that these essays are an heterogeneous expression and manifestation of artistic ambition, journalistic curiosity as well as academic receptiveness. The present findings suggest that video game essayists who provide clips with a higher production value use the mechanisms of crowd funding platforms as well as revenue income from display, overlag, and video ads in order to support their channel
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