ICA Game Studies 2023 Preconference: Games and the (Playful) Future of Communication

Organized by: Christine Tran (University of Toronto); Maxwell Foxman (University of Oregon); Sarah Stang (Brock University); Christopher Young (University of Toronto); Onder Can (University of Oregon)

University of Toronto Mississauga, May 25, 8 AM (Click here for directions)

Welcome to a day-long event with 4 panel sessions, 2 workshops, and 2 creative submissions on display (alongside a selection of rare and unique game titles from the Syd Bolton Collection at UTM Library).

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ica-gsd-preconference-games-and-the-playful-future-of-communication-tickets-609614843407

As a reminder, the conference attendance fee includes breakfast, lunch, reception appetizers, and drinks during breaks. Public transportation tickets will also be provided for free using university shuttle buses from Toronto downtown St. George Campus to the Mississauga Campus.

Conference Overview

8-9 AM Breakfast and Opening Remarks
9-10:30 AM Session 1 – Labour, Toxicity, and Community
10:30-10:45 PM Break
10:45-12:15 PM Session 2 – Platforms, Discourse, and Engagement
12:15-1 PM Lunch
1-2:30 PM Session 3 – Addiction, Gambling, and Government Regulation
2.30-2.45 PM Break
2:45-4:15 PM Session 4 – Representation, Affect, and Persuasion
4:30-6 PM Keynote Roundtable and Reception with Alison Harvey, Felan Parker, Jennifer Whitson, Kelly Boudreau, Yifat Shaik
6-7 PM Heading to downtown Toronto

Detailed Conference Schedule

On display:

Video Essay “Minecraft SMP’s are the Future of Narrative” by Samantha Close
Game “Designing a Socially Assistive Robot for Indigenous Language Reclamation and Revitalization with Integration of Anishinaabemowin Syllabics Bingo” by Mykelle Pacquing
Selection of rare and unique game titles from the Syd Bolton Collection at UTM Library

Workshops:

9-12:15 PM “Playing Speculative Cat’s Cradle: Exploring Twine as a Feminist Collaborative Game-making Space” led by Anna Lee-Popham, Aparajita Bhandari, Sarah York-Bertram, Sarah Chouka, & Laurence Butet-Roch
1-4:15 PM “Master of Puppets: Platformization, Labour, Play, and Dungeons and Dragons’ Open Gaming License” led by Nicole Winchester, Alex Chalk, Iqra Butt, & Katrina Vogan

Panel Session 1 – Labour, Toxicity, and Community

Chair: Christine Tran

Chen Gaohuan “Emotional Entanglement, Neoliberal Feminism, Digital Mobility: A Study of Female Peiwans in Post Socialist China”
Trevor Zaucha “Non-Fungible Tokens and Exploited Digital Labor in the Philippine Context”
Maria Sommers, Pippa Adams, & Ben Scholl “Hate Raiders of the Lost Ark: A Media Genealogy of Hate Raids on Twitch”
Ben Scholl “Teamfight Theatrics: Towards a Performative Conception of Toxicity in Gaming”
Alison Harvey, Stephanie Fisher, & Erika Chung “Communication, Care and Consent: Assessing and Visualizing the Impact of Inclusion in Games Organizing”

Session 2 – Platforms, Discourse, and Engagement

Chair: Maxwell Foxman

Brandon Harris “Game Studies, Content Creators, and the Future of Political Discourse on Social Media”
Andrew J. Wilson “‘It’s just a joke, bro.’: Examining the Memetic Discourses of Far-Right Politics in Game-Adjacent Spaces”
Qianyi Jin, Jiayue Ma, & Min Ge “Gaming Algorithm: How MMO Players Negotiate with Perceived Manipulation from Elo System”
Tong Tong & Jiang Qiaolei “Double Gamification of Low-carbon Lifestyles and Social Interactions: Pro-environmental Communication of Alipay Ant Forest app”
Zicheng Zhu, Renwen Zhang, & Alex Mitchell “When Will I Stop My In-Progress Game?Understanding the Role of Game Accomplishment, Multiple-Goal Pursuits, and Strain in Gameplay Disengagement”

Session 3 – Addiction, Gambling, and Government Regulation

Chair: Christopher Young

Matthew Horrigan “GameSense Does Not Exist: Rogue Alea as Governmentality”
Alexander Ross “Mapping the contingent casino: An institutional analysis of Aristocrat Leisure and DoubleDown Interactive”
Zhuo Nansong “‘China Made’ and ‘Spiritual Opium’: How does the Tension between Nationalist Discourse and Digital Drug Discourse Shape the Chinese Game Industry?”
Wang Qinghua “‘E-probiotics’: Why are left-behind children in rural China addicted to mobile games?”
Alan Bui, Sara Grimes, Darshana Jayemanne, Sith Giddings, & Bronwyn Swerdfager “Is ‘E’ for ‘Everybody’? Child Players, Grown-up Game Ratings, and the Shift Toward Age-Appropriate Design in Canada and the UK”

Session 4 – Representation, Affect, and Persuasion

Chair: Sarah Stang

Kate Fedchun “‘This game made me feel like I could breathe again’: Investigating the affective impact of Queer Games Bundles”
Noel Brett “‘Azeroth As It Was’: Trans Futures at the Beginning of Times”
Juan Llamas-Rodriguez “The Case for ‘Migrant’ Game Studies”
Alexandre Paquet “Tentacular Posthumanism and Survivance in Xenoblade Chronicles 2”
Ruud Jacobs & Marloes Groen “A Game of Persuasion: Influencing Persuasive Game Appraisals Through Presentation Frames and Recommendation Sources”
Shi Tian, Luo Wei, & Wang Zhigang “Research on Serious Game Adaptation of Ancient Chinese Paintings The Skeletons and the Puppet Show Props”
Andrew Bailey “A Devious Archive: The Affective Historicity and Paratextual Folkloristics of Black Book”

Keynote speakers

Join us for an informal roundtable keynote discussion, featuring the following fantastic lineup of renowned game scholars, educators, and practitioners. Our speakers will explore the theme of the pre-conference (“game studies and the playful future of communication”), discuss their own research, and chat about the current state of Canadian game studies. We’ll hold our reception during the keynote roundtable before heading downtown to the Sheraton for the main ICA reception!

Moderator: Christine Tran

Alison Harvey – Associate Professor of Communications at Glendon College, York University. Alison focuses on issues of inclusivity and accessibility in digital culture, with an emphasis on gender and labour in digital games.

Alison’s Google Scholar

Felan Parker – Associate Professor at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. Felan’s research is on media industries and culture, specializing in games, digital media, and film.

Felan’s Twitter

Jennifer A. Whitson – Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology & Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo. Jennifer’s most recent research is in studio studies, social influences on game development processes, labour in creative industries, and governance in online domains.

Jennifer’s Twitter

Kelly Boudreau – Associate Professor in Interactive Media, Theory, & Design at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. With a background in sociology, Kelly’s research is on game studies and social interaction interaction design.

Kelly’s Twitter

Yifat Shaik – Assistant Professor at York University, computational art program. Yifat’s current research is on indie game development of autobiographical work for political activism by subverting dominant data.

Yifat’s Twitter