Ermi, et al.
Laura Ermi, Frans MŠyrŠ
frans.mayra@uta.fi
laura.ermi@uta.fi
Power and Control of Games Children as the Actors of Game Cultures
This paper will present the key findings of a new research project exploring the active role of children in relation to digital games and game playing. Relatively often children have been the object of the games related research, but the predominant approach has been one of search for media effects meaning mainly negative effects such as increased aggression caused by game violence.
Children as the Actors of Game Cultures research project is a part of a broader Children and the Information Society research consortium that promotes the active role of the children in the formation of the society. Starting from this same premise, the first subproject of our research, Power and Control of Games, looks into the game related practices and significances of games and game play in the real world contexts and from the viewpoint of the players themselves. We investigate what kinds of games children play and why they like to play them. Believing that particular sources of pleasure could be found to account for the popularity of games recorded in many previous studies, we focus on the explanations derived from children themselves. The primary aims are 1) to examine the pleasure derived from different games and 2) to analyse the different strategies developed by young people and their families to situate and control game playing.
Research is conducted among 10-12-year-old children in Tampere, Finland. Sample of approximately 280 survey questionnaires filled out by children and they parents will provide an overview on the subject and the basis for about 10 thematic interviews. The interviews of the children and their parents, supplemented with some activation methods such as illustrations, will serve as the main research method together with ethnographic field observations at homes. Key results will be available in September, making the Utrecht conference the main publication forum of this social-psychologically and culturally oriented game studies project.
Biographies of Authors
Laura Ermi has worked as a researcher in the Hypermedia Laboratory of the University of Tampere, Finland, since 1999. Her background is in the field of psychology and her previous research has been mainly involved with user experiences in digital environments especially from the viewpoint of emotions. At the moment she is conducting research on childrenâs gaming cultures. The focus of the research is on the significance of digital games in the lives of young people, as well as the gaming experiences and game related practices.
Frans MŠyrŠ, PhD, is a professor at the Hypermedia Laboratory at the University of Tampere, Finland. He has studied the relationship of culture and technology from the early nineties, particularly advocating academic study of games. Professor MŠyrŠ has specialised in the conflicting and heterogeneous elements in culture, and published widely on topics that range from role-playing games to science fiction, fantasy and demonic tradition in cultural history. He is currently teaching and researching the development of new media and digital culture, and is responsible leader of the Experience Design Research Group, where the cultural potentials and processes of significance related to digital games and online interaction are key research areas. He is currently heading or otherwise actively engaged with several research and publication projects. He is also the President of the international Digital Games Research Association, DiGRA. Selected publications: Koneihminen (ed., 1997; The Man-Machine), Demonic Texts and Textual Demons (1999), Johdatus digitaaliseen kulttuuriin (ed., 1999; Introduction to the Digital Culture), Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference Proceedings (ed., 2002).
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