Blog of Abstracts

Štěpán Šanda is a PhD student in the Media and Communication Studies program at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. In his dissertation thesis, he focuses on Czech landscape representation in Czech games. In 2022 he was part of a research team on European media transparency EurOMo.

Such a disaster: Apocalypse in Eastern European Landscapes

FROG 2024 – Talk

One can come across both Czech and Polish versions of the meme where a state representative sits on a train and inspects the surrounding poor conditions. However, the caption says that they are still in Czechia (or Poland). The two images point to a general (self-)perception of Eastern Europe as a neglected region whose identity since the 1990s has been based on “catching up with the West”, a process that entailed an attempt to implement its imagined features such as the unregulated market as a defining social principle (Buden, 2013). But what if the West starts to resemble the post-communist region in desolation? And does the Eastern European apocalypse look different? Pérez-Latorre (2019) has identified several hopeful motifs in post-apocalyptic games, but he also mentions the Czech zombie survival game DayZ (2013) and its rather dystopian prospects. Moreover, the game’s terrain is modelled after a Czech structurally disadvantaged region. The game builds on the experience of an ongoing apocalypse, focuses on everyday surviving apocalypse and thus highlights “the precarious position that humans face in a thanato-political reality in which no institutional security guarantees the players’ status” (Schmeink, 2016, p. 74). This absence is embodied in a landscape full of dilapidated houses. Conversely, some titles with Western post-apocalyptic setting include the theme of renewal – the flourishing of a non-human and post-human world, such as mutant organisms in the Fallout series (1997-2018), or the return to a pristine state of nature, as in The Last of Us (2013), where one can also observe intersections with environmental fiction (Green, 2015. Is the world of Eastern European games such as the DayZ (2013), S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007) or Metro 2033 (2010) different? The setting, and landscape especially, are crucial in apocalyptic fiction interpretation because a “wider renegotiation of social orders, fragmented and disintegrated urban and rural spaces work as a means to comment critically on contemporary social formations” (Walter, 2019, p. 134). By close reading of Eastern European post-apocalyptic games, I will identify how Eastern European semi-peripheral environments show the end of the world and how it relates to the idealized West.

References:

Buden, B. (2013). Konec postkomunismu: Od společnosti bez naděje k naději bez společnosti. Rybka.
Green, A. M. (2015). The Reconstruction of Morality and the Evolution of Naturalism in The Last of Us. Games and Culture 11(7-8), p. 745-763. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412015579489.
Pérez-Latorre, O. (2019). Post-apocalyptic Games, Heroism and the Great Recession. Game Studies 19(3). https://gamestudies.org/1903/articles/perezlatorre.
Schmeink, L. (2016). “Scavenge, Slay, Survive”: The Zombie Apocalypse, Exploration, and Lived Experience in DayZ. Science Fiction Studies 43(1), p. 67-84. https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.43.1.0067.
Walter, M. (2019). Landscapes of loss: the semantics of empty spaces in contemporary post-apocalyptic fiction. In: Campbell, C. J., Giovine, A., Keating, J. (Eds.). Empty Spaces: Perspectives on Emptiness in Modern History. University of London Press.

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Pascal Marc Wagner (*1993) is a cognitive and cultural linguist (M.A.), English and law scholar (B.A.). and legal scholar (B.A.). On his website languageatplay.de and as an author and editor of game studies books, most recently ‘#GameStudies: 20 Jahre Forschungsfantasie’ published by Büchner-Verlag, he conducts research at the interface of linguistics and video games. He works as an editor for GamesMarkt the B2B magazine for the German and European gaming industry.

Linguistics of the Post-Apocalypse – Atomic Semiotics and its Application in Fallout 3, New Vegas, 4 and 76

FROG 2024 – Talk

In 1981, a group of linguists, anthropologists, nuclear physicists, science fiction authors and behavioural scientists called the Human Interference Tast Force (HITF) met in the USA to take precautions in the event that the Cold War escalated under the lead of semiotician Thomas Sebeok. The brief: to work out a way to forever prevent people from entering nuclear-contaminated sites, even if these future generations don’t understand any current language.

The ideas included images that drew on human biology – such as screaming or melting faces – or the transformation of entire landscapes above repositories into pseudo-religious places of worship that must not be desecrated, concrete-barrelled bulwarks, ‘atomic priesthood’ and many more ideas from the architectural over sociology to bioengineering.

None of the various proposals were ever put into actual practice. What is fascinating, however, is that a considerable amount of the ideas from this discipline can be found in the games of the Fallout series, whether in direct form or satirised.

The talk shows the influence of the discipline on the setting design and the character factions of the Fallout series under development by Bethesda. After a brief cultural history of atomic semiotics, concrete examples from the Fallout games will be affiliated with the HITF’s ideas found in the task force’s declassified military report from 1984: from the atomic priesthood design in the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave and the Children of the Atom to the clever usage of the HITF’s findings in game design to turn deterrence into interest through monumental bulwarks in quest locations of Fallout 3, 4, New Vegas and 76.

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Sonja Gabriel works as a professor for media didactics and media education at the KPH Vienna/Krems, where she is active in the education and training of teachers. Her research focus is on digital game-based learning, gamification and the use of (serious) games for teaching and learning, for teaching values as well as on the pedagogical potential of digital games in school and out-of-school settings. In addition, she participates in national and international projects dealing with topics related to teaching and learning with digital media, generative artificial intelligence, information literacy and game design approaches in education.

Gaming Against Deception: Leveraging Interactive Media to Build Digital Resilience in the Age of Misinformation

FROG 2024 – Talk

In a time in which misinformation spreads enormously fast especially when there are current crises involved (like wars, pandemics or global warming) and thus undermining public trust, the need for effective digital resilience strategies has never been more critical. This contribution explores the use of digital serious games to combat misinformation and foster critical thinking skills which are essential for navigating today’s complex information landscape.

Beginning by having a look at the scope of the misinformation crisis, its impact on public opinion during recent global events, and the concept of digital resilience, the potential of games as educational tools is then discussed, highlighting their advantages in providing engaging, feedback-rich environments that allow for safe experimentation with information evaluation strategies. The potentials and limitations of digital game-based learning in connection with education about fake news in the context of dealing with crises are shown above all in relation to school education.

An analysis of existing games such as for example Bad News, Harmony Square, Cranky Uncle and Go Viral! will demonstrate how game mechanics can be effectively employed to teach media literacy and fact-checking skills. The presentation will also show how games can visually and interactively illustrate the spread of information, both accurate and false, within social networks. By simulating social media environments, these games offer players insight into the dynamics of information dissemination, potentially training them to recognize real-world misinformation tactics.

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Xaver Boxhammer is a PhD student and research assistant at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich (LMU). He holds an M.A. from LMU (English Studies) and a second M.A. from Loughborough University (Contemporary Literature and Culture). His research is situated at the intersection of game studies, rhetoric, narratology, and apocalyptic studies. Xaver’s PhD thesis investigates pre-apocalyptic imagination in contemporary ecogames. Other research interests include queer studies, narrative in historiography, and ergodic literature.

Umurangi Generation, Photographic Framing, and the Rhetoric of Apocalyptic Anticipation in the Contemporary Ecogame

FROG 2024 – Talk

This paper sets out to question how contemporary ecogames in which the apocalypse is linked to questions of ecology function on the level of rhetoric in their depiction of the pre-apocalypse. I argue that the pre-apocalyptic in the sub-genre of “ecogames” (Op de Beke, 2024) presents a rhetorical linkage of the contemporary to potential futures of ecological collapse. Pre-apocalyptic ecogames can lay bare contemporary eco-anxieties while providing a ludic frame within which they can be thought to their logical end. In emphasising the dimension of rhetoric in video games, this paper situates itself in the tradition of Ian Bogost’s “procedural rhetoric” (2010) which highlights the persuasive potential of the interactive process of transmission between digital interface and player. Such procedural rhetoric, I argue, has the potential to shape players’ understanding of the climate crisis, both on the level of factual knowledge and affect. Thereby, this paper argues for the unique rhetoric power of the apocalyptic in the video game in discussions of ecological questions.

In order to substantiate my claims, I provide an analysis of the game Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital, 2020) and its DLC “Macro” (Origame Digital, 2020) in which the player takes on the role of a courier who photographs for the Tauranga Express in a pre-apocalyptic New Zealand. Through analysing how the game’s pre-apocalyptic narrative is interrelated with the central gameplay feature of photography, I point to the potential of the photographic lens as rhetoric tool for framing the pre-apocalypse. I argue that the game’s fail-states and win-states engender an experience in which the function of seeing and unseeing by means of photographic framing becomes paramount to the effect of apocalyptic anticipation. By allowing the player to photograph virtually anything but the actual arbiters of the apocalypse, bluebottle jellyfish, Umurangi Generation highlights the pertinence of questions of discursive inclusion and exclusion in times of crisis by means of photographic framing.

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Dr. Mario Donick has studied German language & literature and history at the University of Rostock. He has a PhD in Communication Studies. He works as independent author and researcher. Books and articles on human computer interaction & society, and digital games.

Apocalypse in “The Old Neighborhood”: Phantasies of longtermism Starfield and other space-themed digital games

FROG 2024 – Talk

In her work “Vita Activa” (1958, German 1967) Hannah Arendt pointed out that Earth is the only place in space that is suitable for sustaining human life without further ado (Arendt 2019, 9). She wrote this after the “Sputnik shock” in 1957, when the first human-made satellite was launched into Earth orbit. Arendt also pointed out that attempts by the sciences to “improve” human beings beyond their natural abilities and characteristics (ibid.) correspond to a “Rebellion des Menschen gegen sein eigenes Dasein” (ibid., 10; “rebellion of man against his own existence”).

Almost 70 years later, private space companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin or Boeing are trying to realize the “dream of space”; biotechnology companies such as Neuralink are striving to develop digital augmentations to enhance human performance. However, the work of SpaceX and Neuralink in particular does not serve science or even just economic purposes, but is tied to an ideology known as “longtermism”. In short, it is about ensuring the longterm survival of humanity, which is always under the danger of existential risks, such as a nuclear war, the climate catastrophe or a (“strong”) AI. Longtermists give a higher priority to the well-being of future human beings, than the currently living ones. Elon Musk follows longtermist views; his activities with SpaceX are ultimately aimed to spread humanity to other planets in order to be protected in the event that life on Earth is no longer possible. Similarily, Neuralink is meant to level the playing field when humanity must deal with a superintelligent AI.

Digital games frequently depict the aforementioned topics. In the contribution proposed here, we will focus on space travel and how a society who survived the end of Earth is shown in Starfield (2023, Bethesda Softworks). In Starfield, Earth has lost its magnetosphere and has become an uninhabitable desert; billions have died in this apocalypse. The few survivors have spread out into space and live in societies that can be classified somewhere between superficially friendly proto-fascism and libertarian Wild West anarchy.

The thesis of the proposed talk is that Starfield and other space themed games are promoting a libertarian longtermist’s dream world, which does fit more the space fantasies of the 20th century than today’s real challenges (such as the climate catastrophe). Although these games may still provoke thinking about existential questions on a personal level, in general they do not realize the potential of science fiction which is to ask and discuss relevant questions for today.

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Tijana Rupcic, PhD Candidate, Central European University, Department of History, Austria After finishing a BA in History at the University of Belgrade, Serbia (2011), I’ve completed my MA in Ancient Greek and Roman History and Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia (2014) and MA in Comparative History at Central European University, Budapest, Hungary (2020) focusing on the History of Technology and Science and History of Yugoslavia. During my MA studies, I’ve completed the specialization in Archives and Evidentiary Practices at OSA Vera and Donald Blinken Archives, Budapest. I hold an Advanced Certificate in Religious and Jewish Studies. I’ve worked as an archivist in the Historical Archives in Kikinda, Serbia (2012-2019), focusing on preserving damaged documents and creating analytical registries. Currently, I am a doctoral candidate at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. My current research interests are history of technology and science, transhumanism, videogames, relationship between technology and religion.

The Great Unraveling: Exploring the idea of environmental collapse and technology in dystopian video games

FROG 2024 – Talk

Video games, formerly a specialized area of the online community, are now a significant industry, surpassing in revenue even the movie and music industries. The fears of catastrophes tied to global warming, change in Earth’s climate, dangerous technologies, and hyper-capitalist landscapes have already found their way into video games. Video games can stretch our imagination, make us confront unresolved problems, and pose new queries, calling for a new ecological utopia.

This talk aims to explore in which ways are the ideas and imaginaries of catastrophic scenarios of mass extinction and disappearance of resources explored in video game media. Post-apocalyptic games are the most popular form of exploring the idea of extinction and catastrophe in dystopian video games. Post-apocalyptic video games use one of four main fictional periods—during the apocalypse, a few years after the catastrophe, centuries after the event (which is the most popular), or an exceptionally far-off period when our civilization has long since vanished—to guide players toward the end of civilization. Nuclear catastrophes, pandemics, robots and artificial intelligence, asteroids, extraterrestrial invasions, and any type of natural calamity are among the factors that will ultimately destroy humanity. Most of these video games have become ingrained in popular culture due to their success.

In the talk, the author relies on a game-immanent approach to study the narrative of Death Stranding (Kojima Productions, 2019), in which the environmental collapse and war for resources are center of the plot. This video game is spawning a new genre that Ruffino labels as “Post-Anthropocene video games: video games that challenge the centrality of mankind, making it increasingly less essential, forcing players to think of their responsibility and impact on the environment.”

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Alexander Hurezeanu is a PhD Candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University in the Communication and Culture Graduate Program and a faculty member in the Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies at Toronto’s George Brown College. His research examines cultural production and representation in video games. Alex is particularly interested in how gameplay experiences produce new opportunities for transcultural communication in Eastern and Western cultural contexts.

Hope after the Bombs: Exploring Transcultural Imaginaries through Classic Fallout Mods from the former Eastern Bloc

FROG 2024 – Talk

The concept of apocalypse is a difficult and often misconstrued one. For future studies scholar W. Warren Wagar, the origins of the eschatological imaginings of apocalypse lie in the religious-historical tradition of prophetic vision and the desire for prophecy, suggesting that apocalypse should be as much about revelation as it should be about visions of a devastated future. As the study of utopia is often associated with visions, dreams, or desires of a better time and place, the study of modern eschatology similarly favours visions that foretell a better tomorrow rather than doom and damn the future. To what extent then, are games about the apocalypse useful to the concept of utopia? How can games about the apocalypse encourage unique cultural contexts through which we may envision novel utopian forms? This paper presentation explores the classic post nuclear role-playing games, Fallout 1 and 2, as unique transcultural experiences from the perspectives of players, designers, and modders from former Eastern Bloc countries. Utilizing Mikhail Epstein’s and Ellen E. Berry’s transcultural interference framework, I argue that Interplay’s Fallout games emphasize “an open system of symbolic alternatives to existing cultures and their established sign systems” (Epstein & Berry 24) as demonstrated by classic Fallout mods, such as Fallout: Nevada, Fallout: Resurrection, Fallout: Sonora, and Olympus 2207. Each of these mods, produced by developers from the former Eastern Bloc, are exemplary transcultural negotiations that seek to transcend Fallout’s predominantly apocalyptic American cultural forms in order to produce utopic transcultural imaginaries.

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Fiona S. Schönberg is a queer novelist, narrative designer, TV writer and researcher from Germany.
She holds an MA in Media Dramaturgy as well as a BA in Film Studies and English Literature and Culture from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and is currently working on her PhD in Media Studies.
She is an Associate Researcher at Regensburg University’s Digital Area Studies Lab, and her research focuses on immersion in narrative games as well as the narrative and political potentials of game rules.

Man, Man Never Changes – The Limitations of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction in the Fallout Franchise and Beyond

FROG 2024 – Talk

From its inception, the Fallout Franchise has featured a number of narrative elements that can easily be read as downright anti-capitalist. Between the omnipresent themes of automation replacing labour in Fallout 67 and the implications of revelations from the Amazon Prime TV-show, it seems safe to argue that the franchise has fully embraced this line of political expression. Yet, in spite of these fairly overt leanings, the underlying logic of the setting and the underlying procedural rhetoric of the gameplay tell a different story.

Based on Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism and in an update to a previously published article, this presentation uses the Fallout franchise as a springboard to argue that the post-apocalyptic genre, in particular in games, has a deep seated neoliberal slant, one that permeates the assumptions and decisions underlying much of the worldbuilding as well as the game design, and that even the best of narrative intentions are bound to chafe against.

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Laurentius Alvin (he/him, 30 y/o) graduated 2021 from the University of Bonn with a Masters in European and Asian art history. His interests between fine art and video games expands to include postcolonial perspectives. Before starting his volontary work in the State Arts Collection of Dresden he wrote a couple of game studies texts pertaining to games in and around his birth country, Indonesia.

The restaurant at the end of the world: food in postapocalyptic games

FROG 2024 – Talk

Despite being a substantial part of a broad genre of games, food items – both as ingredients and/or in its cooked forms – remained a rather sidestepped theme in game studies, with Agata Waszkiewiczs’ book being one of the few basic repertoire on the theme. However, the book’s focus on coziness means that postapocalyptic games – more often connected to conflict than cozy – remained unstudied. In this CfA I’ll attempt to look into how games with postapocalyptic settings shows multiple food cultures and foodways, whilst parallely asking our real life connection to food and consumption.

The post in postapocalypse is roughly comparable with postcolonial and postsocialism – it denotes a before and after, a point of (unwanted) changes and parallelly attempts of continuity. Whilst cooking practices were continued, they were affected by change in environment and also its past (Fallout series). Some of these settings could also change out relationship towards meat, especially those of the mutated human kind (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. G.A.M.M.A.). Some others asked us what foods and foodways do we keep from and how do we – the universalized humans – remember our past, and how do we react with new ‘foods’ from the universe especially when earth as we know it is no longer there (Starfield). Lastly, as a nod back to Waszkiewicz, I’ll be arguing if food in the end can also be cozy – and what it takes to create this coziness. These are the select questions I’ll be serving this time in the restaurant at the end of the world: food in postapocalyptic games.

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Mary-Ellen is an eccentric and enthusiastic teacher with extensive experience teaching in elementary schools across Texas and Australia, she is a speaker with a passion for creativity and education.

Recently, Mary-Ellen has fused her love of music and experience in education with her passion for games to create a suite of games that support the development of musical skills by augmenting the Elementary School Music experience into the digital space.

When she isn’t teaching or developing games, Mary-Ellen loves spending time with her family exploring the world.

The Power of Unhappy Endings

FROG 2024 – Talk

In the Power of Unhappy Endings, Mary-Ellen Fimbel presents her revolutionary game that bridges the power of a compelling narrative and traditional elementary music concepts to bring to life the meaningful story of a small creature who becomes the sole survivor of an apocalyptic event.

Bonnie’s tragic tale, and companion game, showcase resilience and hope in a way that is approachable for a young audience while providing teachers with an opportunity to encourage active empathy and engagement in musical concepts. In addition to sharing the inspiration behind the story, Mary-Ellen will share the experience of playtesting with children and how the story and reception of the game’s prototype have transformed into the first game of her Music Room Friends learning suite.

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