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PN 141 Digital War, Digital Analysis? The Benefits and Challenges of a Digital Humanities Approach for Analyzing War Representations
in Gameplay Videos
S. de Smale1
1 Utrecht University, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands
The aim of this paper is to explore the potential of using digital tools for humanities-informed game research. Digital war games are software-based
products, which provide scholars the opportunity to study a variety of semiotic elements that relate to contemporary war representation. Through inter‑
action, players become skilled at learning to decode signs to navigate through the game, interpreting elements in the audiovisual field and responding
to specific challenges in the game (Huber, 2010). Drawing from research in human-computer-interaction (e.g. Gibson, 1977; 1986) and scholars such as
Michel de Certeau (1984), the author examines the design strategy of the game in comparison to the navigational tactics of the player in the game This
War of Mine (11 Bit Studios, 2014). To achieve this, the study triangulates material semiotic analysis with digital methods by examining gameplay video
data. The data used are gameplay recordings from the author and gameplay videos published on Youtube. Using techniques such as video image processing
to study gameplay data (Bovik, 2005), the study enables a thorough analysis of the representational elements of the game and how they function within
the game’s architecture. As such, it can provide new ways to answer the following questions: what kind of (visual) semiotic elements can be identified in
the gameplay data? What type of play does the game afford? In what ways do they combine to frame contemporary armed conflicts? And how do players
engage with the sign-systems to make sense of the game? Interesting points for discussions are the ethical considerations of data collection and a reflection
on the role of the researcher in gathering and interpreting data. References Bovik (A.C.), ed. Handbook of Image and Video Processing. San Diego, Academic
Press, 2005. de Certeau (M.) The Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1984. Gibson (J.J.). The Ecological Approach To Visual
Perception, Psychology Press, Boston, 1986. Gibson (J.J.). "The concept of affordances." In: Shaw (R.) & Bransford (J.) eds. Perceiving, Acting, and Knowing:
Toward an Ecological Psychology. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, 1977, pp. 62–82. Huber (W.H.) "Catch and Release: Ludological Dynamics in Fatal
Frame II: Crimson Butterfly." In: Loading... Journal of the Canadian Gaming Studies Organization 4 (2010), 6, in: <
loading/article/viewArticle/91 >, consulted on 28.02.2016.