Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies最新文献

Cybermania ’94: Game awards before the game awards 《Cybermania’94》：在游戏奖之前的游戏奖

2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2025-12-29 DOI: 10.1177/13548565251410683

Andrei Zanescu

{"title":"Cybermania ’94: Game awards before the game awards","authors":"Andrei Zanescu","doi":"10.1177/13548565251410683","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565251410683","url":null,"abstract":"As videogame awards shows garner increasing viewership numbers while seeking to canonize a version of the games industry, much of the early years of these ventures remain understudied. In particular, The Game Awards (2014–2024) and the D.I.C.E. Awards (1998–2024) have an antecedent program produced by the first incarnation of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS): Cybermania ’94. Set up by entertainment lawyer Andrew S. Zucker, through the founding of the AIAS, Cybermania sought out to tie games to older media industries, by way of the Emmys and Oscars. This paper argues that Zucker’s vision of legitimacy for videogames was rooted in classical Hollywood, which provides both a shape for the show, and a mechanism for transferring cultural capital from actors, directors and musicians towards videogame producers, programmers and hackers. Further, Cybermania provides a contradictory and messy look at the early years of game awards jockeying, where different bodies fought each other for screen time, as well as the disparaging and celebratory attitudes of hosts and presenters. Through thick description, and unit analysis, the purpose of this piece is to consolidate information about this first awards show, from its early inception to its staging, to its immediate reception, and finally to its long-tail effects. Although Cybermania may appear as a kitsch affair, its stated impact both by AIAS members today, and TGA producer Geoff Keighley, belie deeper links between Hollywood studios and the nascent game industry of the early 90s. Recontextualizing the show will allow scholars to ground future analyses of game awards shows in their originating event, for better or for worse.","PeriodicalId":47242,"journal":{"name":"Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147916961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Late 1990s subscription-based online videogame film adaptations 90年代末基于订阅的在线视频游戏改编电影

2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2025-12-11 DOI: 10.1177/13548565251404975

Simon Hewitt

{"title":"Late 1990s subscription-based online videogame film adaptations","authors":"Simon Hewitt","doi":"10.1177/13548565251404975","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565251404975","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores an important moment in late 1990s US film and videogame industrial convergence. It does so through a Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) of the contemporaneous industrial paratexts surrounding three film-to-subscription-based online videogame adaptations, Aliens Online (1998), Godzilla Online (1998), and Independence Day Online (2000). It asks why these adaptations failed critically and commercially despite the critical praise and evident consumer demand at the time for videogame adaptations of major films like GoldenEye 007 (1997), and subscription-based online games like Ultima Online (1997). Moreover, it asks what these failures tell us about US videogame and cinematic convergence in the late 1990s. In seeking answers to these questions, this article intervenes into Thomas Leitch’s discussions of ‘adaptation strategies’, as well as Jason Mittell’s ideas around ‘unbalanced’ transmedia. It uses these interventions to demonstrate why it is vital to consider the industrial contexts necessitating each adaptation. The RTA reveals that these include the impact of new videogame distribution models, the threat posed by competitors, and the massive profit potential of subscription-based online gaming. This article ultimately demonstrates that in productions of transmedia products like these games, multiple stakeholders can operate in hierarchical corporate structures with differing levels of power to impact their production, which I refer to as their ‘authorial agency’. It is therefore vital also to consider the ‘primary’ strategy driving each adaptation. This article’s central argument is that to fully understand the failure of these adaptations, we should recognise how ‘promotion’ was the primary adaptation strategy that most impacted each game’s production and therefore undermined their quality. This has substantial implications for how we think about our contemporary media ecology in which the US videogame industry is now more profitable and potentially exerts greater authorial agency than its conglomerate partner, US cinema.","PeriodicalId":47242,"journal":{"name":"Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147889852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The techno-cultural imaginaries of virtual reality in China: A historical perspective 中国虚拟现实的技术文化想象：一个历史视角

2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2025-09-01 DOI: 10.1177/13548565251376258

Yu Shan

{"title":"The techno-cultural imaginaries of virtual reality in China: A historical perspective","authors":"Yu Shan","doi":"10.1177/13548565251376258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565251376258","url":null,"abstract":"The recent re-emergence of virtual reality (VR) and metaverse has captivated global mainstream media, emerging as a significant cultural phenomenon. However, empirical research focusing specifically on the practices within China’s VR industry, a global leader in the VR market, is noticeably scarce. This paper aims to bridge this gap, exploring how VR, initially a technological innovation from the United States, has been integral to shaping the digital landscape in China, particularly following its conceptual localization by Qian Xuesen under the term “ lingjing .” This study examines VR-related history in China and the perceptions of Chinese VR practitioners on the development of VR in both the US and China via the framework of techno-cultural imaginaries. Drawing on interviews with virtual reality practitioners ( n = 48), this study observes that Chinese VR practitioners see that VR’s early evolution in the US was tied to a western techno-utopianism, advocating a decentralized, interconnected digital society. In contrast, China’s engagement with VR signifies a divergent path, one that embodies a strategy relying on an ambivalent latecomer advantage to bridge the technological gap with global leaders. Within this context, this paper unpacks the complex nature of technological innovation in modern China indicating that the technological innovation in China is not only a tool for progress but also a flag serving to revive traditional Chinese culture and, more importantly, to bolster specific political ideologies. This contrast illustrates the alternative trajectory of China’s VR industry, which, while initially inspired by the US, is progressively carving out its distinct future.","PeriodicalId":47242,"journal":{"name":"Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies","volume":"31 6","pages":"2046-2066"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147887292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Managing the visibility of dissent: Stigma, social media, and family relationships among Azerbaijani activists 管理异议的能见度：阿塞拜疆活动家的耻辱感、社交媒体和家庭关系

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-09-18 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241284939

Katy E Pearce

引用次数: 0

Producing intimacy in virtual reality 在虚拟现实中制造亲密感

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-09-14 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241283437

Ragan Glover

引用次数: 0

From permissive to resistive tactics: How audience members engage with and make sense of datafied journalism 从放任策略到抵制策略：受众如何参与和理解数据化新闻报道

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-09-10 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241283434

Liisa Ovaska

引用次数: 0

Digital placemaking and its discontents: Exploring practices, power relations, and socio-spatial dynamics in Salzburg’s ‘Andräviertel’ 数字场所营造及其不满：探索萨尔茨堡 "Andräviertel "的实践、权力关系和社会空间动态

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-08-30 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241274749

Helena Atteneder, Christine Lohmeier

{"title":"Digital placemaking and its discontents: Exploring practices, power relations, and socio-spatial dynamics in Salzburg’s ‘Andräviertel’","authors":"Helena Atteneder, Christine Lohmeier","doi":"10.1177/13548565241274749","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565241274749","url":null,"abstract":"Recent research on digital placemaking shows that digital media, especially those that have a direct or indirect spatial reference, can alter belonging and attachment to space and place and can thus create a spatial identity. Emerging digital practices evolve the practice of placemaking and refer to space as a nexus of experiences, online and physical components. This is created by people perceiving urban space differently through digital media and appropriating it according to media affordances and their needs and preferences. At the same time, digital placemaking is not necessarily community-driven, nor does it always lead to an increased quality of life for all people equally, but rather encompasses changing power relations and can even reinforce existing inequalities. Using the example of the ‘Andräviertel’ neighbourhood in Salzburg, Austria, we explore which practices of digital placemaking can be identified, and how and by whom these practices are used purposefully and consciously to shape the neighbourhood and its identity. Employing a multi-method approach that includes semi-structured interviews, a hashtag analysis and the examination of digital platforms, three levels of practices were identified (reflecting upon one’s own practices, representations of the practices, judgements about the practices of others). The results show that there is a conscious and deliberate demarcation of the Andräviertel from other neighbourhoods in the city. Furthermore, we found resistance to excessive digital practices with a clear preference for face-to-face networks.","PeriodicalId":47242,"journal":{"name":"Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142220262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

No Cap: ASCAP and the fragmentation of music publishing 没有上限ASCAP 与音乐出版业的分化

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-08-30 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241280827

Ediz Ozelkan, Emmanuel Billias

引用次数: 0

(In)visibilising diversity on national streaming platforms in France and Norway: A quantitative and qualitative visual analysis of thumbnails (法国和挪威国家流媒体平台多样性的（不）可视化：对缩略图的定量和定性视觉分析

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-08-28 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241270712

Maud Ceuterick, Marine Malet

{"title":"(In)visibilising diversity on national streaming platforms in France and Norway: A quantitative and qualitative visual analysis of thumbnails","authors":"Maud Ceuterick, Marine Malet","doi":"10.1177/13548565241270712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565241270712","url":null,"abstract":"In the film and television industry, many social movements as #MeToo, #BuryYourGay or #BlackLivesMatter have highlighted the necessity of better representations of marginalised communities on and off screen. As diversity and inclusion have become major issues in contemporary societies, video-on-demand (VOD) platforms have publicly committed to diversify representation in the films and series they produce and distribute. This article investigates how streaming platforms with different commercial or public interests and in different national contexts understand and promote diversity and inclusion through the analysis of paratext. Focussing on the visual analysis of thumbnails, we compare the French and Norwegian national public platforms (France TV and NRK TV) with the most popular commercial national platforms in each country (Canal + Series in France and Viaplay in Norway). The visibility and invisibility of gender, race, sexuality and (dis)ability on TV series’ thumbnails reveal certain national and platforms’ social, cultural and political values. By using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods including interviews conducted with industry professionals, we aim to highlight the impact of streaming platforms’ promotional practices on the (in)visibility of diversity.","PeriodicalId":47242,"journal":{"name":"Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142220076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Who pays the piper delivers the data: Audience measurement and programming in the crowdfunded radio 谁付费谁提供数据：众筹广播中的受众测量和节目制作

IF 2.8 2区文学

Convergence-The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies Pub Date : 2024-08-26 DOI: 10.1177/13548565241278901

Patryk Galuszka, Piotr Chmielewski

引用次数: 0