Moderator: Eugen Pfister (Bern Academy of the Arts)
Ewa Swietlik (C2DH, University of Luxembourg)
Narratives of video game history in amateur museums
Extended abstracts will be added by the time of the event.
Boris Krywicki (Liège Game Lab, University of Liège)
An inescapable period of hindsight? Journalistic investigation as a way of raising awareness of the cultural and historical value of the first video games
This proposal outlines a comparative analysis aiming to explore the relationship between journalistic practices and historical research within the realm of video game studies. Drawing upon scholarly literature and journalistic sources, the study seeks to investigate the influence of temporal distance on investigative endeavors, the quality of historical insights generated, and the extent to which journalistic approaches contribute to the understanding of video games as cultural artifacts. Methodologically, the study will employ text analysis and comprehensive interviews to examine the strengths and limitations of journalistic methods utilized in both early French video game press and contemporary specialized publications.
In recent years, scholarly attention has increasingly turned towards the press (Chollet et al., 2012 ; Sidre, 2014 ; Perron, 2017 ; Blanchet et Montagnon, 2020…), encompassing both general and specialized outlets, as valuable historical resources in the study of video games. This proposal seeks to interrogate the intersection between journalistic practices and historical methodologies within this burgeoning field of inquiry. Specifically, it aims to explore how journalistic approaches influence the understanding and representation of video games as cultural objects eligible for inclusion in art historical discourse.
Existing literature highlights the significance of journalistic sources in documenting the development, proliferation, and cultural significance of video games. However, questions remain regarding the efficacy of journalistic methods in generating historical insights and the extent to which contemporary journalists prioritize the collection of historical data within their reporting.
The proposed study will conduct a comparative analysis of journalistic approaches employed by early French video game press (Tilt, Jeux & Stratégie, L’Ordinateur Individuel) and contemporary specialized publications and books (the section of JV Le Mag called “L”histoire”, books published by Pix’N Love or Third Editions, etc.),. Text analysis, following methodological frameworks outlined by Ringoot’s discourse analysis method (2014) and Kirkpatrick’s corpus selection (2015), will be employed to examine the content of journalistic outputs. Additionally, comprehensive interviews, guided by Kaufmann’s (1999) approach, will be conducted to elucidate the underlying methodologies and editorial decisions shaping journalistic narratives.
Specifically, to ensure specificity in study methodology, the selection of interviewees will focus on individuals with dual expertise in journalism and video game studies, ensuring their relevance to the study’s objectives. Moreover, the examination of temporal distance will entail analyzing historical contexts, technological advancements, and cultural shifts within the video game industry over time. This is mainly feasible for present journalists, as those from the past are sometimes deceased or impossible to locate, but we have notably been able to interview Jacques Harbonn (Tilt) and benefit from interviews with the journalists from Jeux & Stratégie through the work of Vincent Berry (2022).
In terms of concrete results, our research hypothesis concerning these three case studies is as follows: contemporary video game press of its subject would suffice with valorization and celebration of the « intra-video game », (Krywicki, 2022) the video game itself, whereas video game press subsequent to the work would develop a more « peri-video game » perspective, capable of informing us about the creation context, documenting the struggles of development, or its wanderings. We will limit ourselves to three main case studies, analyzed in a cross-sectional manner across the media of the corpus, supplemented by some additional observations. To select these cases, we started from the present looking towards the past, by selecting the themes that stood out the most from the corpus of our doctoral work (in which we analyzed nearly 800 video game press articles published between 1982 and 2019) – the French video game designer Eric Chahi and the Legend of Zelda franchise, for example. We mainly used the « Retro Magazine Search » engine to gather this corpus of articles on these subjects, introducing terms related to the studied works, and for journals we had not yet examined, more general words related to investigative journalism: investigation, portrait, or interview.
Beyond the practical considerations of data collection and analysis, this study will dive deeper into the epistemological issues underlying the comparison of different methods, disciplines, and contexts. We will explore how differing epistemological frameworks inherent in journalism and historical research shape the interpretation and representation of video games as cultural artifacts. Additionally, we will consider how the disciplinary boundaries between journalism and art history influence the construction of knowledge about video games.
This study carries significance for both academic scholarship and journalistic practice within video game studies. By critically examining the interplay between journalistic inquiry and historical research, it aims to deepen understanding of how video games are recognized as cultural artifacts deserving scrutiny within art historical discourse. Furthermore, it seeks to elucidate the strengths and limitations of journalistic methods in documenting and interpreting the historical trajectory of video games.
Through analyzing the impact of temporal distance on investigative approaches, the research contributes to ongoing discussions about portraying and analyzing video games as cultural artifacts. By comparing journalistic methods, the study aims to provide nuanced insights into the evolving recognition of video games within art historical discourse, while also highlighting inherent strengths and limitations in documenting and interpreting their historical trajectory.
References
Berry, Vincent. 2022. « Quand le jeu vidéo était un jeu parmi d’autres : le cas du magazine Jeux et Stratégie (1980-1990). » In Lire les magazines de jeux vidéo, edited by Presses Universitaires de Liège, pp.139-154.
Blanchet, Alexis, and Montagnon, Guillaume. 2020. Une histoire du jeu vidéo en France. Pix’n Love.
Chollet, Antoine, Bourdon, Isabelle, and Rodhain, Florence. 2012. « État de l’art du jeu vidéo : histoires et usages ». Colloque « Congrès de l’Association Information et Management 2012 » (Université Montpellier II). https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00784724/document.
Kaufmann, Jean-Claude. 1999. L’entretien compréhensif. Armand Colin.
Kirkpatrick, Graeme. 2015. The Formation of Gaming Culture. Palgrave MacMillan.
Krywicki, Boris. 2022. « En quête d’enquête. Généalogie et analyse des techniques d’investigation pratiquées par les journalistes spécialisés en jeu vidéo », Thèse de doctorat, Université de Liège.
Perron, Bernard. 2017. « Le Survival Horror : Marquer la culture vidéoludique avec un écran de chargement ». Colloque « Penser (avec) la culture vidéoludique » (Université de Lausanne). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgPS-38a_HA.
Ringoot, Roselyne. 2014. Analyser le discours de presse. Armand Colin.
Rouillon, Pierre-Alexandre. 2017. « Borderland. Le Mortal Kombat fauché de la région parisienne ». CanardPC.com. https://www.canardpc.com/370/mortal-kombat-fauche-de-la-banlieue-parisienne-borderland.
Sidre, Colin. 2014. « L’objet vidéoludique et ses réseaux de distribution (1974-1988) ». Theses.enc.sorbonne.fr. http://theses.enc.sorbonne.fr/2014/sidre.