Video games, narrative and game studies. Once more, with feeling!

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Óliver Pérez-Latorre
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1192-0262
Marta Fernández Ruiz
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, CITM
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3004-3242

In the current context of debate on the crisis of narrative (Han, 2023) in relation to certain trends in digital culture, we question any hasty conclusion about it and argue in favour of the interest of ludonarrative creativity in contemporary video games as a study object. We do this in relation to the recreation of narrative imaginaries, innovations in design and technology and the emergence of the indie scene, including relatively new genres such as the walking simulator. We also review the value of narrative studies within game studies, highlighting socio-cultural analyses that incorporate contributions of the humanities and literary and film studies, in relation to narrative genres and traditions that are now being replayed in various ways in video games; for example, narratives related to mythology, dystopia, and comedy. Finally, we argue that the narrative perspective can also be an interesting lens for analysing other discourses, beyond the video game itself, including the discourses and narrations of creators, fans, journalists and influencers.

Keywords
Videojuegos, Narrativa, Game studies, Ludonarrativa, Cultura digital

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How to Cite
Pérez-Latorre, Óliver; and Fernández Ruiz, Marta. “Video games, narrative and game studies. Once more, with feeling!”. 2024. Hipertext.net, no. 29, pp. 1-24, doi:10.31009/hipertext.net.2024.i29.01.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

(c) Óliver Pérez-Latorre, Marta Fernández Ruiz, 2024


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Author Biographies

Óliver Pérez-Latorre, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Óliver Pérez Latorre is a senior lecturer in media and game studies at Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain) and a member of the research group MEDIUM. His research focuses on the cultural analysis of video games and contemporary audiovisual fiction, Game Studies, Cultural Studies and Social Semiotics. He has published academic articles on journals such as Games and Culture, Game Studies, Convergence, and Social Semiotics. He has written the books El lenguaje videolúdico (Laertes, 2012) and Imaginarios ludonarrativos: análisis intertextual de juegos, videojuegos y ficción audiovisual (Shangrila, 2023), and co-edited Perspectives on the European Videogame (Amsterdam University Press, 2022).

Marta Fernández Ruiz, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, CITM

Marta Fernández Ruiz is lecturer and coordinator of the Degree in Video Game Design and Development at the Centre de la Imatge i la Tecnologia Multimèdia of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and head of the Game Studies research line of DiCode, Digital Culture and Creative Technologies Research Group. Her lines of research focus on video games and media ecology; the impact of video games in areas beyond entertainment; and new game aesthetics linked to emerging technologies. She has participated in projects related to indie video games, on the one hand, and learning experiences mediated by games, storytelling and virtual environments, on the other. She has published in journals such as Revista de Comunicación, Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, Brumal and Icono 14.

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