Frans Mäyrä

Tampere University | UTA · Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences

Games are powerful tools that must be played with care

Pelien ja demonisuuden historia on monimuotoinen ja jännitteinen. Erityisesti 1980-luvulla peleihin liitettiin uskonnollissävytteisiä uhkakuvia, mutta erilaisista kohuista riippumatta demonit ja demonologinen kuvasto ovat sitkeästi säilyttäneet asemansa osana pelikulttuuria. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan pelien demonikuvaston historiaa ja analys...

This special issue of Games and Culture aims to engage in dialogue between different traditions of doing games research and to stimulate reflective responses about the overall state of the field.

Are shaggy seats which make cute noises playful or disruptive in a conference setting? This article pushes the limits of game scholars’ lusory attitude by breaching an academic seminar with a playful experiment. Five MurMur Moderator seats, interactive and interruptive furniture prototypes, were set up at a game research seminar where they were use...

Pokémon GO is a location-based augmented reality mobile game based on the Pokémon franchise. After the game was launched globally in July 2016, it quickly became the most successful mobile game in both popularity and revenue generation at the time, and the first location-based augmented reality game to reach a mainstream status. We explore the game...

Digital games as transmedia works of art - Games as social environments - The aesthetics of play - Digital games in pedagogy - Cineludic aesthetics - Ethics in games - these were some of the important and fascinating topics addressed during the international research conference "Clash of Realities" in 2015 and 2016 by more than a hundred internatio...

With chapters on social media, videogames and human-machine communication, Dialogue across Media provides a comprehensive overview of the role of dialogue in contemporary media. Drawing on the expertise of scholars and practitioners from multiple fields and disciplines, including screenwriters, literary critics, linguists and new media theorists, e...

In this article, a playful intervention called “There Are No Rules” (TANR) is analyzed on three levels: interactions, play 􀁅􀁈􀁋􀁄􀁙􀁌􀁒􀁕􀁖􀀏􀀃􀁄􀁑􀁇􀀃􀁓􀁏􀁄􀁜􀀃􀁈􀁓􀁌􀁖􀁒􀁇􀁈􀁖􀀑􀀃􀀬􀁑􀀃􀁗􀁋􀁈􀀃􀁆􀁒􀁘􀁕􀁖􀁈􀀃􀁒􀁉􀀃􀃥􀁙􀁈􀀃􀁐􀁒􀁑􀁗􀁋􀁖􀀏􀀃􀁖􀁗􀁘􀁇􀁈􀁑􀁗􀁖􀀃 and staff of University of Tampere engaged with an art installation placed in OASIS, a group work area that also functions as a living lab. The experiment per...

Some of the future’s most important product innovations will be made at the borderline of physical and immaterial realities. New technologies enable development where immaterial products become materialized in novel ways, while material products and environment will be augmented with digital services. In this evolution immaterial, digital services...

Digital games have become a popular form of media entertainment. However, it remains unclear whether a canon of accepted knowledge and research practices has emerged that may define an independent field of research. The present study is a collaborative effort to analyze the outlines of digital games research (DGR) through a survey among the members...

A research experiment to facilitate playful interaction and community learning within an academic organization of about 170 employees was conducted. A 2-player card game including 61 'staff character cards' and 39 question cards was implemented to be played by the relatively new community. The game period, including supporting events, ran for 5 wee...

This essay is a history of video games in Finland, and it contains a description of the Finnish video game industry and how it has grown. Descriptions of video game companies and individual video games are also given. The essay explains how the Finnish video game industry has grown and what it is like today.

Thirty-nine essays explore the vast diversity of video game history and culture across all the world's continents. Video games have become a global industry, and their history spans dozens of national industries where foreign imports compete with domestic productions, legitimate industry contends with piracy, and national identity faces the global...

Mobile games have multiple historical origins reaching back to antique card and board game sets made for travelers, and various mechanical toys. Nintendo's Game & Watch series was an early precursor for handheld video game consoles which represent a different evolutionary path from that of mobile phone games. The mobile phone ecosystem was fragment...

The article discusses the concept of MurMur Moderators, talking playful seats designed to facilitate playful atmosphere and creativity at office environments. The concept of MurMur Moderators consists of five different personalities, grumpy Mur, goofy Mus, mellow Muh, sensitive Mut and shy Mum. The article describes the experiences and reactions to...

Even while digital games have meant a major transformation for the landscape of games and play, it can also be argued that all games are always also physical – or hybrid – by their nature. With traditional board or card games, for example, it is obvious that the tactile quality, materials and design of game boards, cards and playing pieces contribu...

Motivated by the troubling news on decreased exercise amount and increased obesity among children and adolescents, we investigated the possibilities of interactive lighting technology in encouraging children to participate in physical exercise in schools. We have created a story-driven physical exercise game based on light and sound utilizing a rea...

Nordic DiGRA 2012 Conference was held at the University of Tampere on June 6-8, 2012. In this Special Issue of the Transactions of DiGRA journal, we present a selection of the best papers of that conference.

Computer and console gaming has become a major entertainment sector around the globe. Still, the diffusion rates and the general acceptance of gaming vary between countries. There is some anecdotal evidence that there are countries and regions which are more open to technological advancement and gaming in particular. However, until now, researchers...

In this article we examine playful hybrid products located in the intersection of toys and games. By hybrid, we mean games and toys that utilize digital environments to provide added value to tactile, physical or material experiences. The paper aims to create a preliminary model for mapping hybrid dimensions. Our initial analysis paints a picture o...

There has been academic research work directed at games and play for decades, but the field has been somewhat scattered, and around the turn of the millennium the idea of establishing a new discipline, dedicated to the study of games in their own right gained prominence. The conference, journal and other publication activity in games research has e...

We have created story-based exercise games utilizing light and sound to encourage children to participate in physical exercise in schools. Our reasonably priced technological setup provides practical and expressive means for creating immersive and rich experiences to support physical exercise education in schools. Studies conducted in schools showe...

Communication has many functions; from linguistics to social psychology, there is ample evidence that communication fundamentally defines our ways of being, which is the reason changes in communicational practices and technologies are particularly interesting. This article focuses on the recent developments in playful mobile communication, firstly...

Digital games have evolved into diverse forms, and they touch many different areas of life in contemporary society. When approached together with the associated playful and serious behaviors, they profit from several research methodologies. This collection of articles introduces a range of research methodologies and aims to promote interdisciplinar...

Do digital games and play mean the same things for different people? This article presents the results of a 3-year study in which we sought for new ways to approach digital games cultures and playing practices. First, the authors present the research process in brief and emphasize the importance of merging different kinds of methods and materials i...

Due to the popularity of social media networks and the games played on those platforms interest in the so-called social games has piqued. This article looks at those games in the context of general social aspects of game play. By approaching game play as an activity, it is possible to distinguish between different kinds of social interaction: the s...

The sixth volume of the DIGAREC Series holds the contributions to the DIGAREC Keynote-Lectures given at the University of Potsdam in the winter semester 2009/10. With contributions by Mark J.P. Wolf (Concordia University Wisconsin), Espen Aarseth (Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen), Katie Salen (Parsons New School of D...

Computer and console gaming has become a major entertainment sector around the globe. Still, the diffusion rates and the general acceptance of gaming vary between countries. There is some anecdotal evidence that there are countries and regions which are more open to technological advancement and gaming in particular. However, until now, researchers...

This co-authored paper is based on research that originated in 2003 when our team started a series of extensive field studies into the character of gameplay experiences. Originally within the Children as the Actors of Game Cultures research project, our aim was to better understand why particularly young people enjoy playing games, while also askin...

In the past, social interaction has been discussed mostly in the context of multiplayer games, ignoring the implicit forms of sociability in single player games. This paper distinguishes between the sociability around the playing of a game and the social play mediated by the game, and looks at single player, two player, multiplayer and massively mu...

The entry of proactive technology into highly sensitive environments, such as the home, produces specific design challenges that are inextricably linked to ethical issues. Two design goals are presented and analysed: proactive solutions have to be both personalized and consistent. These requirements are partially contradictory, and need to be under...

GameSpace was a new kind of a research project: it involved close collaboration between academic researchers and the game industry, and it looked at the methodological issues involved in game creation rather than focusing on a single game product or technology. The project was funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Teke...

Simultaneously lacking some fundamental data about the role of digital games in culture, while being faced with the challenge of games' near global presence, cultural game studies is in need of collaborative research efforts. This article discusses some starting points for cultural and social-psychological study of games and digital play, while inv...

In order to understand what a game is and how to design good games, we need to understand the players as well as the act and the experience of playing. However, the players are not typically very much involved in game design processes, especially in their early stages. To develop and evaluate methods of player research and ways to integrate them in...

As use of Internet from broadband-enabled mobile devices is becoming more common, studying the particular characteristics of mobile usage gains new importance. This paper discusses the role of services like Flickr and Facebook from the perspective of "contextual gaming" – the appropriation of mobile and networked media for playful purposes in a soc...

An Introduction to Game Studies is a core textbook for game studies as an academic discipline, and is the comprehensive guide to the field. It introduces the student to the history and character of games studies as an analytical study of games in culture, and then moves to provide an overview of games as signifying and dynamic cultural constructs....

The experiences game players and other people have around digital games are not limited to the intensive, immersive ways of playing them. Therefore the earlier SCI model of gameplay experiences is not sufficient to cover the full range of game experiences. In this paper a more comprehensive model is presented by describing the multiple contextual l...

In this paper we chart how pervasive games emerge from the intersection of two long-standing cultural trends, the increasing blurring of fact and fiction in media culture, and the movements struggling over public space. During the past few decades a third trend has given a new meaning to media fabrication and street cultures: the rise of ludus in t...

This is a study looking into how digital games are played in Finland. The present report is based on a survey of 805 Finnish respondents, 15-75 years of age, and it serves to provide a first quantitative overview of how different forms of play (traditional as well as digital ones) are organised in contemporary Finnish society on a more general leve...

Based on the results of a 3-year interdisciplinary study, this article presents an approach in which proactive information technology was introduced into homes, and discusses the derived design principles from a human-centered perspective. The application of proactive computing in homes will face particularly sensitive conditions, as familiar and r...

This paper presents the main results of a three-year long field and design study of proactive information technology in the home. This technology uses sensors to track human activities in order to proactively anticipate the direction of human activity. With it, it could be possible to build an environment without buttons and remote controls. Howeve...

Mika Hallila Tutkija katsoo peilin taakse Kristina Malmio: Ett skrattretande (för)fall, Teatralisk metaspråk förströelselitteratur och den bildade klassen i Finland på 1910- och 1920-talen Nina Työlahti Alushameen anatomiasta Kati Launis: Kerrotut naiset. Suomen ensimmäiset naisten kirjoittamat romaanit naiseuden määrittelijöinä Frans Mäyrä Huutoja...

The range of different digital games and the geographical and cultural range of game playing has expanded greatly during their years of adoption. Initially isolated into research laboratories and universities, digital games are currently within the reach of billions of people – in the form of mobile phone games, if not as computer games or video ga...

Game studies entering academia means that games are finally positioned at the heart of a dedicated field of learning. There is a tension however as the need and demand for game studies has faced the opposing, structural forces that slowdown the development. It is hard to ignore the cultural significance of digital games and play, particularly as nu...

There is a need for systematic, research-based and tested game design methodologies that take the needs and preferences of different players into better consideration than the current industry practices. In order to investigate the future of pervasive game playing on mobile devices the University of Tampere Hypermedia Laboratory's research project...

How many people do you know who have physical problems they attribute to computer use? (I wear wrist braces at night myself, so that my mild carpal-tunnel syndrome doesn't bother me much during the day.) Many of us seem to have the impression that such ...

We examine the role of sound design in designing pervasive mobile games. As a case study, we examine the sound design process and solutions of a working prototype game called The Songs of North. The goal has been a design that allows sounds to be used as a primary information channel facilitating the use of physical movement as a main game mechanic...

The research is focused on developing pervasive and persistent game concepts that are most suitable for contemporary mobile phones. The analysis of the emotional responses of the testplayers in the first play-test and of the game prototype The Songs of North pointed at some key challenges to be met in order to successfully design pervasive mobile g...

This paper presents a gameplay experience model, assesses its potential as a tool for research and presents some directions for future work. The presented model was born from observations among game-playing children and their non-player parents, which directed us to have a closer look at the complex nature of gameplay experience. Our research led i...

Contents: Johdattava polku lasten tietoyhteiskuntaan / Tommi Inkinen Aikuisen työ lapsen silmin / Riikka Kivimäki & Katri Otonkorpi-Lehtoranta Tuoko etätyö työn kotiin? Etätyön mahdollisuuksia ja esteitä / Kirsti Höglund & Riikka Kivimäki Televisio pienten lasten arjessa / Satu Valkonen, Marjo Pennonen & Anja Riitta Lahikainen Pelit, tietokone ja k...

Pervasive games are new type of digital games, which combine game reality and physical reality within the gameplay. This novel game type presents new kinds of research and design challenges. In this paper we describe a location aware mixed reality game called The Songs of North , which was designed to demonstrate possible technical and game design...

This paper reflects on a small user study conducted to learn about diversity of meanings, values and experiences people associate with different kinds of contemporary domestic technology. The general goal was to inform a research project's early stages about challenges when designing novel technology for the sensitive home environment. By adapting...

The entry of proactive technology into highly sensitive environments, such as the home, produces specific design challenges that are inextricably linked to ethical issues. Two design goals are presented and analysed: proactive solutions have to be both personalized and consistent. These requirements are partially contradictory, and need to be under...

Pelit ja viihde ovat nopeimmin laajeneva liiketoimintasektori maailmassa ja lisäksi pelit toimivat suunnannäyttäjinä muun muassa teknisen kehityksen, elämyksellisyyden, käyttöliittymien, käytettävyyden sekä mediasisältöjen ympärille kehittyvien käyttökulttuurien alueilla. Pelien voima ja pelaamisen hallinta oli ensimmäinen osatutkimus Tampereen yli...

The primary aim of this paper is to look into the game related practices and significances of games. This perspective is applied to examining the pleasures derived from different games and to analyse the different strategies developed by children and their families to situate and control game playing. Research was conducted among 10- 12-year-old ch...

CC-DES is a future-orientated research and development project where new forms of communication and interaction in digital entertainment services are analysed. The project carries out user-focused research into communication forms and design solutions encouraging communality and gameplay in digital entertainment products and services. The prestudy...

This chapter focuses on a demonic tradition that features in Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO; Turbine, Midway & Codemasters, 2007–), and certain computer games preceding it. The specific aim in analysis is to discuss how certain demonically marked elements figure in this ludic tradition. The particular imagery and forms of play investigated here ar...

Pelaajabarometri 2009 tarjoaa tietoa erilaisten pelien pelaamisesta Suomessa. Aineiston muodostavat 1169 vastaajan tiedot, jotka oli annettu loppukeväällä 2009 postitettuun lomakekyselyyn. Kyselyyn oli valittu Väestörekisterikeskuksen toteuttamassa otannassa 4000 mannersuomalaista, jotka olivat iältään 10-75-vuotiaita. Tutkimuksen lopullinen vastau...