de+Freitas.+The+Convergence+of+Gaming+Practices

=De Freitas, Sara, and Mark Griffiths. "The Convergence of Gaming Practices with Other Media Forms."= //Learning: Media and Technology// 33.1 (2008): 11-20. //Curve//. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. .

Nowhere in the current digital technology landscape is the process of 'blurring the lines between media' more apparent than with the uses and applications of gaming practices and technologies. Here the overlaps between new media and media interfaces are becoming significant as games technologies and practices are becoming more pervasive as commonplace social practices. This article reviews literature for evidence of these trends of convergent media forms as a starting point for a wider debate for using games technologies and practices to support learning practices. The article outlines convergences between gaming and cinema, gaming and the Internet, and gaming and emergent technologies and interfaces (e.g. mobile phones and social software). The article aims to foreground major dimensions of convergence in relation to the potential of innovations in educational practice and activities. The article concludes that variant forms of gaming are widespread. But while the converging forms of gaming with other media forms provide potential for supporting educational practices, these new forms still need to be considered in relation to clear pedagogic strategies, supported peer interactions and tutor engagement.

The article gives several examples of the convergence of video games with other forms of media, including cinema, the Internet, and emerging technologies (smart phones, pda's, etc), and discusses the implications of these intersections in a classroom setting. The author suggests that gaming technologies will eventually be a legitimate educational tool, but further research is needed to explore the possible uses for video games in pedagogy.

"...overlaps between new media and media interfaces are becoming significant as games technologies and practices are becoming more pervasive as commonplace social practices."

"Whilst the significant impact of a convergence between the Internet and electronic games was noted as supporting diverse social gaming communities, gaming has also been converging with more traditional media including televisual forms and cinema. When compared with the early development of other similar media, such as film, this is an unusual trend. While these convergences have been widely noted, there has been little academic discussion about what these convergences may mean for education."

"One noteworthy example of convergence between traditional media and games is provided in relation to cinema (see Figure 1). The production of machinima - a portmanteau of machine, cinema and animation involves computer generated imagery (CGI) rendering using 3D realtime, interactive games engines, rather than the expensive 3D animation software used in the industry."

"With machinima, the techniques of film-making (e.g., montage, misé-en-scène, and narrative and scripting), are re-applied in a virtual 3D setting, allowing for huge potential not just in terms of ‘users as producers’ of 3D immersive spaces but also in turn having a direct impact upon traditional methods of film-making, as with films such as Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, which used the Columbine killings in the US as a backdrop for a ‘games-like’ filming of the narrative (Jones, 2007), showing an inter-relationship between media forms."

"The crossover between online games and web 2.0 technologies is another clear trend – with live chat facilities and content generation applications usually embedded into the virtual worlds."


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