Appeals of Video Games in Game Reviews: The Differences Between Long- and Short-form Reviews
Nordlund, Pekka (2023)
2023
Master's Programme in Game Studies
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-11-14
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310238973
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310238973
Tiivistelmä
This thesis study examines the key differences between long- and short-form written video game reviews, and how the reviews cater to the proposed information needs of their readers. The study designs and conducts a qualitative content analysis, applying the theoretical framework of “appeals” of video games identified by Lee et al. (2017), and further complemented by Cho (2019), adding to the body of research on video game reviews and recommendation and advisory services from the perspective of their audiences.
The study examines thirty written video game reviews from two Finnish magazines: the Finnish Defence Force reservists’ magazine Reserviläinen, and a Finnish game culture magazine Pelit. Fifteen individual short-form reviews were selected from Reserviläinen, and their long-form counterparts from Pelit. The study is informed by the contextual differences between the publications, considering their contents through both the concepts of the implied reader (Iser, 1974) and the implied player (Smith, 2006). The emphasis of the analysis is on examining the material found only in either of the reviews, addressing their key differences.
The analysis suggests that the short-form reviews address multiple appeals of video games, and consider the reviewed titles rather holistically, while also addressing both the implied reader and the implied player, offering concise value statements regarding the reviewed titles. Furthermore, the study suggests that the content found only in the long-form reviews rather provides a more comprehensive exploration of the similar aspects found in the short-form reviews. In addition, the longer format affords to address more of the appeals, more personally, and more interconnectedly. The study proposes that the appeals emerge relating to three dimensions: the more subjective personal experience, the game world and narrative, and the games’ contextual situatedness within the game cultures and the game industry, relating to other media and highlighting the cross-media appeals of video games. In addition, this study suggests that the games’ accessibility could be considered as an additional, and meaningful appeal and could be applied by the recommendation and advisory services as an additional access point for video games, while also being valuable to consider in game development.
The study examines thirty written video game reviews from two Finnish magazines: the Finnish Defence Force reservists’ magazine Reserviläinen, and a Finnish game culture magazine Pelit. Fifteen individual short-form reviews were selected from Reserviläinen, and their long-form counterparts from Pelit. The study is informed by the contextual differences between the publications, considering their contents through both the concepts of the implied reader (Iser, 1974) and the implied player (Smith, 2006). The emphasis of the analysis is on examining the material found only in either of the reviews, addressing their key differences.
The analysis suggests that the short-form reviews address multiple appeals of video games, and consider the reviewed titles rather holistically, while also addressing both the implied reader and the implied player, offering concise value statements regarding the reviewed titles. Furthermore, the study suggests that the content found only in the long-form reviews rather provides a more comprehensive exploration of the similar aspects found in the short-form reviews. In addition, the longer format affords to address more of the appeals, more personally, and more interconnectedly. The study proposes that the appeals emerge relating to three dimensions: the more subjective personal experience, the game world and narrative, and the games’ contextual situatedness within the game cultures and the game industry, relating to other media and highlighting the cross-media appeals of video games. In addition, this study suggests that the games’ accessibility could be considered as an additional, and meaningful appeal and could be applied by the recommendation and advisory services as an additional access point for video games, while also being valuable to consider in game development.