Defining academic scholarship in games [Update 1]
The International Game Developers Association's "Culture Clash" column this month takes a look at the boundary between games and scholarship. Academia, and games academia in particular, can be the victim of a lot of stereotyping, but if developers look beyond the tweed-clad perceptions they may find a valuable resource:
"One application of game studies is to help make better games by better understanding the medium. We've already seen it in a few places – think about Microsoft's HCI and usability labcoats working with Bungie on Halo, or behavioral scientists colluding with developers to make next-gen MMOs even more engaging."
Of course, persuading your college professor that studying World of Warcraft is really going to help your tribal ethnography project is a different problem, but we've heard of several college papers that studied games.
[Via Acid for Blood]
[Update 1 - fixed IGDA typo]
