THE CONFUSING QUEST OF VIDEOGAME CLASSIFICATION
A PLATFORM ANALYSIS OF MOBYGAMES’ VIDEOGAME CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
Master Thesis New Media & Digital Culture Student: Max Otten (3995216) Supervisors: Dr. Jasper van Vught, Dr. René Glas Word Count: 10312 Citation Style: Chicago
Abstract Videogame preservation and therefore videogame documentation have been getting increased attention over the past few years. Mobygames, a database dedicated to collecting and presenting information about videogames has become an active and well-known player in this area. Mobygames’ platform and navigational structure is heavily reliant on a classification system with the ability to filter games based on their genre. Clarke et al. have shown how classification systems are used to make sense of the medium that is classified, by imposing characteristics upon the medium that are familiar to the user. Classifications within media usually consist of genres, which are often socially constructed. Genres and genre ideals are made up of intertextual characteristics related to the medium and differ per individual or group. Classification systems on databases such as Mobygames are shaped by the structure of the database, its technological design, the knowledge production by users and the active governance on the platform. In this thesis, I researched Mobygames’ classification system based on a platform analysis method coined by José van Dijck. My analysis shows that videogame classification on Mobygames frames videogames as messy, as the classification system itself is also messy and sometimes very difficult to understand and use. Ideas about the classification system and thus the games on the platform are shaped by a pre-defined genre glossary that is used throughout the website. Because of the ways in which Mobygames is structured, such as the technological design, the user activity and the governing policies, the ideas of the pre-defined genres are strengthened within these individual games. Games are put together in too broad or too specific categories. Games are therefore sometimes overgeneralized or oversimplified and based purely on their supposed genre. Furthermore, some games lose their visibility on the platform due to their niche character. Concluding, classifying games is a difficult exercise and the platform’s features contribute to continuing to perceive videogames as messy and comprehensive media products.
Keywords: videogames, Mobygames, videogame genres, videogame classification, platform politics, knowledge production, platform governance
2 Table of Contents
1. Abstract 2
2. Introduction 4
3. Theoretical Framework 5 Videogame Genre and Classification 5 Platforms & Databases 7
4. Method 9 Platform Analysis 9 Corpus selection & research structure 12
5. Analysis 12 Genre in the Eye of the Beholder 12 Technological Videogame Categorization 14 Governing Videogame Categorization 15
6. Conclusion & discussion 17
7. Bibliography 19
8. Appendix: platform analysis of Mobygames 21
3 Introduction In 2014, excavators came across a stunning discovery of 700.000 unsold Atari videogames, most famously including (allegedly) the worst videogame of all time, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.1 The dump site, long rumoured to be an urban legend, was found and dug up as part of a documentary on Atari.2 In the end, only about 1300 cartridges were discovered by the excavators. Some were used for curation and some others were sold off at an auction to build a museum on the memorable videogame history site. This story of the 700.000 buried videogames and the efforts of the excavators to recover them is an intriguing story, but also an important symbol. The effort, the time, the money that went into the recovery of these digital artefacts shows us that there is a need in this world to preserve videogames and their virtual worlds. To preserve these new mediums that have become such a pervasive part of our society. Cultural institutions such as universities, museums and libraries have begun to collect, display and archive videogames.3 The Dutch Sound and Vision institute has, for example, begun to form its policy surrounding the preservation of digital artefacts.4
In ‘Before It’s Too Late’, the apt named paper by Henry Lowood et al. on videogame preservation, the scholars argue that videogames have become a pervasive digital medium throughout our society and are in dire need of protection.5 Preserving games has become a challenge over the last couple of years as different from film, videogames are not recorded just on a disk or a tape. They are not just images but rather are series of computerised code, processes and protocols that may be used to manipulate the imagery that is seen in a playful manner.6 Videogames are often pieces of software that are hardware-dependant, which makes them difficult to preserve.7 The different forms of video game preservation that Lowood proposes are doable but take up lots of time.8 One of the most doable and least time-consuming preservation methods is the documentation technique. This method focuses on collecting information about videogames in the form of physical boxes, texts, video’s, credits, titles, game manuals and metadata and is not focused on archiving the game itself. This is much easier and less time-consuming than, for example, emulating and migrating all individual games. Besides cultural institutions such as the Dutch Sound and Vision Institute, individual efforts to preserve games have increased over the last couple of years. One of those efforts, shaped in the form of an online database, is Mobygames. Mobygames’ mission statement is the following:
“Mobygames is the working name of an extremely ambitious project: To meticulously catalogue all relevant information - credits, screenshots, formats, and release info - about electronic games (computer, console, and arcade) on a game-by-game basis, and then offer up that information through flexible queries and "data mining". In layman's terms, it's a huge game database.”9
As the statement reads, it is Mobygames’ intention to store all videogame information. When thinking about the documentation and storing of videogame information, more specifically about the collecting and processing of videogame information in a database, several questions arise about the classification system on the website. The classification system plays a big role in how certain games are collected and stored but also in how they are displayed. Mobygames intends to offer up all relevant videogame information in the form of a database, available to navigate and to retrieve information from in the form of queries. Classification systems, such as the use of genre to tag games, can impact the navigational routes used by different people. For example, the use of genres in databases such as Mobygames shapes the way in which users, researchers, government workers or journalists retrieve information from that site. Classification systems can shape the ways in which games are viewed and stored. Some games might fall outside of the scope of predefined
1 Andrew Reinhard, “Excavating Atari: Where the Media was the Archaeology,” Journal of Contemporary Archaeology 2, no. 1. (2015): 86-87. 2 Atari: Game Over, directed by Zak Penn, Fuel Entertainment USA, 2014, Netflix. 3 Devin Monnens, Andrew Armstrong et al., “Before It's Too Late: A Digital Game Preservation White Paper,” American Journal of Play. (2009): 139. 4 Jesse de Vos, “Preserving Interactives: Preserving Audio-Visual Materials in a Post-Broadcasting Paradigm,” VU University. (2016): 7. 5 Ibid., 140. 6 Nicolas Esposito, “A short and simple definition of what a videogame is”, DIGRA Conference. (2005): 2. 7 Jerome P. McDonough, Robert Olendorf et al., “Preserving Virtual Worlds Final Report”. (2010): 13. 8 Ibid. 9 Blue Flame Labs, “Design Goals and Manifesto,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/info/faq1#a1 (accessed July 12 2019).
4 categories; some games might be grouped together with games that aren’t similar at all (for some people). For example, Clarke et al. found in their article that both Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario Bros. were classified as action games while perhaps most people would not put them together in the same category.10 The classification system on a database not only changes the ways in which we traverse a database like Mobygames but also shapes our perspective on games and frames that perspective.
Mobygames makes it feel like it is an objective website focused purely on archiving and documenting video game information. However, the database itself and its technology, users, content, governance and ownership shapes the ways in which documentation here takes place. It is shaped by thought up rules (such as an expansive glossary for game genres), opaque governing (not being able to dissect who governs the website and approves changes) and user interaction (discussions about game genres). In this research, I intend to carry out a platform analysis with which I will try to analyse the ways in which all technical and social forces on the website shape the classification system of games on Mobygames. I will start of by delving deeply into theory on videogame genres and videogame classification systems through literature of Clearwater and Clarke et al., explaining how social constructions shape genres and therefore change our perceptions of videogames. I will also highlight the importance of classification systems for databases and the ways in which classification systems shape videogame perception. I will furthermore explain how I believe that a database like Mobygames can be analysed as a platform and how user interaction and platform governance impact the ways in which games on the platform are perceived. I will use José van Dijck’s platform analysis method in which she discerns six categories (technology, content, users/usage, business models, governance and ownership) to fully dissect a platform. This will give me the tools to answer the following research question:
How does Mobygames’ classification system frame videogames?
Theoretical Framework 1. Videogame genres and classification methods The classification of genres for videogames is a widely-used tool that assists people in a variety of ways.11 Clarke et al. state that the purpose of genre classification includes the taxonomic ideals of grouping videogames based on identifiable characteristics.12 It is when works are classified as part of a set or based on mutually exclusive characteristics that they can be easily located and retrieved for use. This grouping also allows audiences over time to know how to respond to certain works as they know the group but not the individual work. For example, many people may describe romance, science fiction and fantasy genres based on the common characteristics of the theme, the plot and the emotions.13 For film, genre labels consist of patterns, forms and styles used by creators but also of genres thought up by audiences. For music, work is identified by elements as style, form and reactors, who listens to it, how it produced and what the music is communicating.14 As genres form expectations over time, we learn to associate actions and reactions with the genre categories themselves, rather than the individual works.15 As I have stated, there are multiple purposes of media categorization and they are dependent on the end-user and the social context. Therefore, as stated in my introduction, I would argue that the use of genres and classification systems in databases such as Mobygames shapes the way in which users, researchers, government workers or journalists retrieve information from that site but also how they perceive the works listed on that site. Even without an interest in a certain genre or style for example, people can still understand the work through their familiarity with the labelling. Many people use genre labels for videogames to categorize, distinguish and form expectations based on certain genres. So what are videogame specific genres and how do different genres frame our perception of videogames?
With the emergence of new, digital media such as videogames, traditional genre classifications and boundaries are challenged as the very nature of videogames is so different from the nature of other media forms.
10 Rachel Clarke, Jin Lee and Neils Clark, “Why Video Game Genres Fail,” Games and Culture 12, no. 5. (2015): 446. 11 Ibid., 446. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid., 477. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid.
5 Videogames pose challenges for description, representation and organization as they are so multifaceted.16 They are interactive media objects that include textual, visual and auditory information as well as metadata elements (titles, credits).17 In game studies, genre itself is a widely-discussed and a challenging topic. Genre theory and the discussions around it have given shape to lots of scholarly arguments. It is important to understand how we speak about genre because it makes us understand how genre shapes videogames perception. There are many ways to look at a videogame from a genre perspective. As videogames are different from film in both their ability to convey representation and interactivity, most scholars argue that different genres and classification methods must be used than in film.18 Some scholars, like Apperley argue that game scholars must focus on the nonrepresentational, the interactive features of videogames over the representational, visual ones.19 This focus, or this perspective rather, can be seen as framing videogames as products of technology. It is the system of rules, with which the players interact, that shapes our understanding of the media product.
Other scholars, like Clearwater feel that all elements in a game such as gameplay, story, rules, themes are tethered to form the larger experience of each game.20 This is related to the idea that videogames are products of culture, and that they require intertextual connections with other objects to be understood. Furthermore interesting to highlight in regard to this debate over products of technology versus products of culture is Ian Bogost’s 2009 DIGRA keynote in which he addresses these debates.21 Most importantly, Ian Bogost refers to videogames as a mess: “Videogames are a mess. A mess we don’t need to keep trying to clean up, if it were even possible to do so.”22 We cannot simply put videogames in the frame of one of these sides or try to filter down what a videogame is based on just one system. Videogames are messy, and difficult to comprehend. And therefore, videogame classification is inherently messy and difficult to correctly convey.
So, within videogame studies, there are different perspectives on what video genres can and should be. Even more interesting though is Clearwater who in his same article states that genre as a classification method is a social construction.23 We cannot separate the external perceptions of genre (as they are not inherent to games but rather social constructions) from the actual game itself as the genre aids the user. Even though lots of things can be said about the what a genre is, I believe it is more important to focus on how genres are formed and what genres do. As mentioned before, the classification of works based on genres is used to group works. Past academics have tried to come up with classification schemes in order try and categorize works such as Crawford in 1984 making the distinction only between skill-and-action games and strategy games, Wolf in 2002 establishing 43 categories based on their interactive nature. I would argue that trying to fit 43 videogame genres into one classification system might make things even more unclear as it would not be very fit for easily locating and retrieving works. Classification systems should not be about trying to fit all games in as many comprehensive topics as possible, as it is counter-intuitive to what a classification system is and how it works. According to Vargas-Iglesias a consistent genre theory should not pursue formal classification schemes but rather explain a comprehension of its subject as a rhetorical and essentially semiotic social construct.24 Which is why I aim to delve deeper in to the understanding of videogame genres as social constructs. Different groups use classification systems for different reasons. Scholars have different ideas about the classification of games than for example gamers, parents, collectors, industry professionals, librarians, educators or journalists. Gamers are always looking for new and interesting games to play, are interested in games that are similar to their preferences. Collectors might be more interested in the history of a certain game and the rarity of it while an educator might be interested in games they can highlight to explain
16 Jin Lee, Rachel Clarke and Stephanie Rosse, “A Qualitative Investigation of Users’ Discovery, Access, and Organization of Video Games as Information Objects,” Journal of Information Science 42, no. 6. (2016): 833. 17 Ibid. 18 Thomas Apperley, "Genre and Game Studies: Toward a critical approach to video game genres," Simulation & Gaming 37, no. 1. (2006): 3. 19 Ibid. 20 David Clearwater, "What Defines Video Game Genre? Thinking about genre study after the great divide." Loading..., no 5.8. (2011): 33. 21 Ian Bogost, “Videogames are a Mess,” Bogost.com. http://bogost.com/writing/videogames_are_a_mess/. (accessed on July 22, 2019). 22 Ibid. 23 Clearwater, “What defines Video Game Genre”, 33. 24 Juan Vargas-Iglesias, “Making Sense of Genre: The Logic of Video Game Genre Organization,” Games and Culture. (2018): 2.
6 certain mechanics to their students. Different social and cultural groups deal with genres and games in different games based on different goals and motivations. And not only do they use genre classification in different ways, but they also interact and influence one another.25
Therefore, it can be difficult to see how one (or several) classification systems can be coined without realizing the impact of the user on the classification systems. More simply put, genres aren’t just ‘out there’ in the world but they are social constructions in the minds of authors, publishers, designers, marketers, fans and academics. Genres are conceptual models or tools.26 We establish videogame genres and classification on intertextual connections rather than textual characteristics, which says more about the categorizer than the games themselves. Or, as Clearwater puts it:
“The use of genre is to recognize that the field of human expressions exhibits certain patterns, tendencies, and trajectories and that these patterns, tendencies and trajectories may relate to the medium, aesthetics, ideology, economics, current events, history, education and other aspects of human interaction and behaviour.”27
Genres are dependent on human interpretation and intertextual connections and can therefore only be understood in the context of these interpretations and intertextual connections. We must recognize that genre is part of a human’s expressions and therefore cannot solely exist ‘out there’ in the world. The act of videogame classification is not an end in itself but forms the framework with which we can better understand the use of genres and the classification of the individual title as part of a genre and the larger social environment in which that title resides.28 The genre and/or classification systems can equally tell us something about not only the individual title but also the ideology of the system and the impact of the ideology on the perception of a game. According to Huber, the purpose of looking at genre and classification is not a project of taxonomy but rather to discuss how the game as a text generates meaning in reception/interaction and to ground it within a broader field of cultural practice.29
To conclude, I believe that analysing Mobygames’ classification systems can tell us something about the perception of videogames on the platform. In Clarke et al’s article for example, they find that on Mobygames, Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto are classified as “action” games, meaning that users will yield both in their search results when looking for action games while fans would unlikely classify both in the same way.30 So here we find a difference between generally accepted classification labels for two games and one of the biggest game databases in the world. Is there a reason for this? Is their classification ideology based on certain mechanics, certain characteristics that we must understand? Or is the classification as messy as Bogost describes videogames to be? The difference here is important to highlight as it tells us something about how these two games are viewed by this particular platform and by the users that contribute to the database. In this research, I am interested in the ways in which all techno-cultural and socio-economic elements of the Mobygames database shape the classification systems. As mentioned before, why are Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto classified within the same category and what does that tell us about the ways in which people view games on this platform? To analyse the platform, I will dedicate some time in this research to discuss the characteristics of a platform below.
2. Platforms & databases: navigation, users, governance To understand how videogame classification systems on the Mobygames platform shape our perception of videogames, we must first understand how platforms (and databases) work at the intersection of technology, users, content and governance. I will first explain the underlying structure of Mobygames by elaborating on databases and the rise of the collaborative platform. After that, I will highlight the apparent layer which we need to understand to analyse Mobygames’ classification system in relation to the overall platform.
25 Clearwater, “What defines video game genre”, 38. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid., 39. 28 Ibid. 29 William Huber, “Ka as shomin-geki: Problematizing videogame studies,” In Copier, Level Up, Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Conference. (2003): 449-450.
7 In computer science, a database is defined as a “structure collection of data.”31 Data is stored in a database which is organised for fast search and retrieval and is, simply put, a collection of items.32 Looking at Mobygames, which houses videogames information structured as data on their website for fast search and collection, it matches those criteria. The users on the platforms can perform certain actions such as searching, navigating and viewing content.33 Open databases such as Mobygames additionally allows the user to help add and update certain data. They may interact with the database. According to Lev Manovich, the database can be viewed as a new symbolic form of the computer age, symbolising the new ways in which we experience ourselves and our world.34 The open nature of the web means that databases are never complete and are constantly creating new pathways towards each other. Seeing how the organization of videogames is created by the intertextual interactions that audiences have with the medium, we can see how the database shapes a classification system. As it is the plane upon which the content (games) are stored, the database’s technology is not separate from its content and usage. It is furthermore important to understand here that Lev Manovich views symbolic databases like Mobygames as new narrative forms. The user of a database, like the reader of a book, is traversing the database. Following links between its records and therefore engaging with an interactive narrative.35 The classification system on the Mobygames platform plays a role in the traversal through the website. Whether Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto are both classified as action videogames impacts this user’s database narrative as the expectations of the user regarding genre changes the ways in which they use the database.
I would argue that besides being a database, we can also see that Mobygames incorporates elements from a collaborative platform by allowing users to communicate, cooperate, debate and provide content to the platform. The database is the underlying technological infrastructure that structures and stores the collection of items (the games) for search and retrieval but the platform is the interface which users use to collaborate to help the platform grow. 36 The two are not separate from each other. The databases’ structure, architecture, (meta)data interacts with the collaborative platform and vice versa. The platform itself, which uses that database’s architecture, allows the user to navigate the database. Over the past years, we have seen the transformation from a web space as a network to it becoming a platform. Anne Helmond defines this transformation as ‘platformization’ as it highlights the rise of the platform as the dominant infrastructural and economic model of the social web.37 The platformization also relates to the increased accessibility of websites by enabling software interfaces which increases interaction.38 It is important to understand that the platform, the database, like mentioned before, is only significant if it is perceived a collaboration between multiple elements such as the users, the technology, the owners and the content.
As mentioned before, a platform is dependent on multiple elements that come together such as the interaction between technology, content and users. Mobygames as a database must be understood as a dynamic platform, where all play a role in shaping the classification system. The users on websites like Mobygames are mostly responsible for the knowledge production on the platform and therefore the data included and excluded in the database. The way in which they work on the site is based on the formatted space of participation within which they operate. Formatted spaces of participation are defined by the interaction between technology (the platform itself) and the way in which it is used. This means that there are several economic, technological, social and cultural forces that impact and shape the way a certain platform is used: “Particularly in cross-media and in digital setups, such as Big Brother and YouTube, these spaces are co- created and shaped by the recurrent and thus routinized practices of users.”39 Not only the technology, the affordances of the platform impact the usage, but the users, their implicit practices of the platform shape way in which the platform works and how the format is changed. Their additions to the platform (and thus the
31 Lev Manovich, "Database as Symbolic Form," Database Aesthetics. (1999): 81. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 Ibid., 87. 36 Ibid., 86. 37 Anne Helmond, "The Platformization of the Web: Making Web Data Platform Ready," Social Media + Society 1, no. 2. (2015): 1. 38 Ibid. 39 Eggo Müller, “Formatted Spaces of Participation,” Digital Material: Tracing New Media in Everyday Life and Technology. (2009): 59.
8 database) can mostly be described as knowledge production work.40 Knowledge production relates to all the actions a user can do: adding videogames, updating genres, uploading screenshots. Basically, all the work that takes place on a platform. Without users and their knowledge production, the platform would not exist, games would not be added and classification would not take place. However, knowledge production is highly influenced by a user’s personal outlook, which might shape their use of the classification system. Clearwater for example mentioned the difference in genre definitions per group (users, academics, journalists).41 The changing opinions and observations of the website’s different users might shape the organization efforts of the website. Their discussions might form different classification methods than for example journalists or academics would use. The narrative of the user is highly impacted by the fan practices on the platform and its impact on the database’s content. One would perhaps argue that Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto do belong in the same category but it is the combination of all elements that guide users in coming to a decision.
However, there are multiple elements and not just knowledge production that shape the classification system. For example, all rules, policies and standards guide and shape knowledge production by their authoritative power. According to Gillespie, almost all platforms by now have taken it upon themselves to form rules and regulations about how to use the platform and how to act on it.42 Not only does this apply to users’ behaviour but also to posted content, for example. What is allowed on the platform and what is not? Mobygames has an elaborate f.a.q. section answering all the users’ questions regarding the website’s aims and goals and they also have standards page on which they explain the rules regarding what content is allowed to be posted and what not.43 Platforms, like Mobygames are not just defined places by themselves but get defined by the ‘format’ of the website. The format is not per se decided by the platform’s creators but exists of a combination of social, economical, technological and cultural factors, in which fan practices and platform governance play a huge role. Seeing how genre classification systems are framed by the audience that uses it, it becomes clear that we can understand the platforms’ classification efforts as being part of the dynamic workings between the users and the governance of the platform itself. It is through a combination of forces that we can start to understand the ways in which platform governance shapes videogame classification.
The important thing to take away from this chapter is that we cannot simply view Mobygames as a collection of items or simply a database but rather as a plane, in constant flux, shaped by techno-cultural and socio- economic forces divided by two different layers.44 There is an underlying layer of database architecture, which shapes the navigational features and has implications for the interface and therefore the usage of the platform. The observable, or apparent layer is shaped not only by the usage and the knowledge production on the platform but also by the governing of rules and the policies present on the platform. Both layers require our understanding for a further platform analysis of Mobygames’ platform. In my next chapter I will discuss José van Dijck’s platform analysis model and her six analysis elements. I will explain how I will use this model to analyse the classification of videogames on Mobygames.
Method The aim of this research is to analyse the classification system of videogames on the Mobygames platform and to understand in which ways the platform shapes this. My research will be based on a platform analysis, which is based on the method of José van Dijck. I will explain this method below.
Platform Analysis Van Dijck argues that (social media) platforms offer new sets of challenges and cannot be wholly comprehended by the traditional forms of media analysis where the user-technology is separated from the organizational socioeconomic structure.45 As my research will be related to the collaborative Mobygames platform, I believe that her approach is suited to answer my research question. Van Dijck starts her book of by
40 Olle Sköld, “Documenting Videogame Communities: A Study of Community Production of Information in Social-Media Environments and its Implications for Videogame Preservation,” Diss. Department of ALM. (2018): 63. 41 Clearwater, What defines video game genre, 38. 42 Tarleton Gillespie, "Governance of and by Platforms," Sage forthcoming. (2017): 12. 43 Blue Flame Labs, "F.A.Q," Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/info/faq (accessed June 5, 2019.) Blue Flame Labs, "Mobygames Standards," Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/info/standards. (accessed June 5, 2019) 44 José Van Dijck, The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013), 25. 45 Ibid.
9 explaining how the development of new technologies is inseparable from user practices. In her initial example, she explains how Apple, with iTunes, created a new socioeconomic context in which their products worked. In her chapter ‘Disassembling Platforms, Reassembling Sociality’, she proposes to combine two sets of media theories. The actor-network theory (ANT) and the political economy theory. The ANT theory, coined most famously by Bruno Latour et al, aims to map the relations between people and technology.46 ANT acknowledges the importance of non-human actors alongside human actors which is important to understand the interplay between humans and technology. Where ANT is limited though, is the fact that ANT does not want to make any distinction between technological actors and social agency. Additionally, ANT does not focus on content and form which are significant for platform research.47 Backers of the political economy theory subscribe to the view that organizations are manifestations of the power relationships between companies and individual consumers. Van Dijck notes how the political economy theory complements ANT precisely at the economic-legal juncture but how it is limited in the fact that there is no attention given to the technology itself that plays a role in the sociality of the platform.48 Van Dijck in this chapter, combines these two theories to create her own model where on the one hand she is interested in techno-cultural constructs and on the other hand in socioeconomic ones.49 She sub-categorizes these two aspects into six characteristics with which a platform can be examined.
Technology Technology is by far the broadest element of Van Dijck’s platform analysis, containing 5 sub-categories to analyse. José van Dijck on technology: “it shapes the performance of social acts instead of merely facilitating them”.50 She distinguishes between five categories: (meta)data, algorithm, protocol, interface and default. Data and metadata are coding recourses and can be any type of information for a computer such as text, images, sound or number but also names, gender or dates of birth.51 Metadata is data about data such as tags on videos about that video.52 Computational power of platforms can also be found in algorithms, which are “well-defined instructions for calculating a function, a step-by-step directive for processing or automatic reasoning that orders the machine to produce a certain output from given input”.53 Protocols are the instructions that users are forced to obey in order to engage on the website, such as creating an account.54 The interface can be internal and external. Internal referring to the back-end of the platform, external referring to the front-end, the buttons, scroll bars, icons etc.55 Default finally relates to the interface, and describes the default settings of the platforms that users can usually change.56 These five elements make up the technology of the platform and will allow me to analyse the interaction between the platform as a technology and the classification of videogames. To analyse all sub-elements of the technology element, I will actively participate on the platform by making my own account and navigating through the website. This is important as it is the only way for me to analyse sub-elements such as protocol, interface and default. (Meta)data, algorithms, protocol, the interface and the default all shape the navigational ways in which users of Mobygames use the platforms. I am interested here in the ways in which the technology of the Mobygames platforms gives shape to the classification of videogames.
Users/Usage User agency is a complex, multifaceted concept as users are at the same time producers, recipients and participants of culture.57 Users relates to the kind of users that visit the website and the interaction that they have with each other while usage relates to the actual usage of the website in relation to the technological elements just described. In the context of Mobygames I will look at how the platform is designed to classify and edit game section and how the users of the platform define, edit and classify their favourite videogames. This is closely linked to technology but this aspect focuses more on the actual way in which people interact
46 Van Dijck, The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media, 26. 47 Ibid., 27. 48 Ibid. 49 Ibid., 28. 50 Ibid., 29 51 Ibid., 30. 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid. 54 Ibid., 31. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid., 32. 57 Ibid.,.33.
10 with the platform rather than how the platform is designed to be used. I will look at user participation by looking at forum interactions and by other communication channels that they use. Furthermore, it is important to combine multiple elements such as technology and usage to analyse the intersection of users, technology and videogame classification.
Content For a user, content must be unique and diverse but for an owner, content must be easily producible and manipulated.58 For a platform like Mobygames, it is interesting to highlight the tensions between the moderators (approvers) and the users in this sense as they both have different goals on what is mainly an information-hub. I will look at the relationship between the administrators of the site and the users in relation to content. I will also analyse the ways in which the rules of the platform limit the content possibilities and the impact it has on the classification system on the database. For example, how do the pre-defined genre definitions impact the classification options of users on the website and how do the users use these labels?
Ownership “Each microsystem’s analysis will raise specific questions regarding its ownership status and structure: How did a brand evolve in the market or in the non-profit realm?”59 What are Mobygames’ goals and do they care about their knowledge production? Mobygames is a non-profit organization. What is the structure on the site? Who are the approvers, the top contributors? What are their different goals and in what way does Mobygames being a non-profit platform impact its archiving abilities? What is the relationship between the content on the website and the users that contribute to the platform?
Governance Van Dijck’s states: “To analyse the governance structure of a social media site, one needs to understand how, through what mechanisms, communication and data traffic are managed.”60 What are the rules, policies and restrictions that are put in place by the sites administrators and moderators? How do the rules of the site shape the categorization and classification abilities of users on the website? Here I will mostly look at the standards section and the f.a.q. on the Mobygames platform. These pages have the most information about rules and intended behaviour on the website.
Businessmodels “What holds for governance also pertains to business models: they are mediators in the engineering of culture and everyday life.”61 How do business models get in the way of factual knowledge production and categorization? Are there any business models? And if not, does that perhaps limit the abilities of the website to accurately maintain the videogame database?
These six separate platform elements play a role in the understanding of a platform. Although some elements might be more important to understand a platform than others (which can be understood from looking at the research perspective), all play a role in understanding the platform and gives me the tools to analyse Mobygames. I have combined these elements to form a figure on which I will base my analysis on:
58 Van Dijck, The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media, 34 59 Ibid., 35. 60 Ibid., 38. 61 Ibid., 39.
11
Platform
Techno- Technology Cultural (meta)data algorithm protocol interface default Users/Usage
Content
Socio- Ownership Economical Governance
Businessmodels
Figure 1: platform analysis table
Corpus selection & research structure For my research object, I am not interested in finding correlations between different variables but the aim is rather about qualifying my analytical framework, my theoretical position, and research question.62 I am interested in looking at Mobygames as a platform to see how it shapes the classification system of videogames and will achieve this by examining findings from my preliminary platform analysis. I will start by analysing the platform through a table I comprised of José van Dijck’s sub-elements with which I will try to dissect the platform as thoroughly as possible (see figure 1). This table will be stored in my appendix, which is complementary to my research. The difference between the platform analysis found in my appendix and the analysis chapter in this research paper is that the appendix serves as the preliminary data from which I can set out my argument. My appendix is the straightforward, unfiltered analysis of the platform and my analysis chapter is the in-depth argument about videogame classification on Mobygames. My appendix therefore gives me the right tools to build and sustain my argument. Where needed, I will refer to my appendix to provide better understanding and give more insight into my analysis.
By analysing the platform, I hope to find examples that help me think about my research object and help me answer my research question. This will be an iterative process in which I will select certain cases to highlight my theoretical position and strengthen my claims. Based on the findings of my platform analysis, I will select cases that, according to me, are well-suited to explain my research question. Cases will be related to classification on Mobygames and will consist of individual titles, forum discussions or webpages. All information used in this research will be available to all readers as long as the website is up and running, granted that information on these webpages does not change significantly. I will add footnotes to my analysis that link to specific forum discussions or webpages.
The limitations of this research lie mostly in the enormous scope of the analysis. When analysing a platform, it will always be difficult to cover all elements of the website. Furthermore, some of the analysis, although based on literature, will be my subjective observation and might be seen differently by different people.
Analysis Genre in the Eye of the Beholder We have learned from Clearwater and Huber that genres are not simply ‘out there’ but that they are social constructions.63 Genres are a form of human expression with which they exhibit certain patterns, tendencies and trajectories and relate those to the medium: its aesthetics, ideology, economics, current events and history.64 Thus, genres can be different per group and per person and genre classification changes in the eyes of the beholder. While researching Mobygames and its classification systems, it has become clear to me that
62 Jaako Suonimem, “How to Present the History of Digital Games: Enthusiast, Emancipatory, Genealogical, and Pathological Approaches," Games and Culture, no. 12.6. (2017): 547. 63 Clearwater, What defines video game genre, 38. 64 Huber, Ka as shomin-geki, 2.
12 the genres used cannot just be understood by looking at the glossary and reading all the genre definitions but also by understanding the social implications of the genres used on the platform. Genres on Mobygames are pre-defined by the platform itself and are limited to Action, Adventure, Compilation DLC/Add-on, Educational, Puzzle, Racing/Driving, Role-Playing (RPG)Simulation, Special Edition, Sports and Strategy/Tactics.65
Even though these genres are pre-defined and widely used throughout the platform, users throughout the platform express their (different) opinions in relation to these definitions. There were, for example, several discussions on the Mobygames forums which showed that genre interpretation, despite its extensive glossary, was not clear to all participants. For example, the action/adventure tag was heavily discussed on the forum for the ‘The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ game.66 One user made the case for labelling this game as an action and adventure game while another corrected him by stating that action/adventure games are categorized as action + puzzle solving games.67 By looking at these forum discussions on Mobygames genres and the application of knowledge gathered because of those discussions, we can begin to see the increasing tension between genres as social constructs and genres as pre-defined Mobygames categories.
In the above-mentioned discussion, we see the preliminary confusion of the user that tried to categorize the ‘The Legend of Zelda’ game as an action/adventure game.68 Because what the users feels that the game exhibits and the genre that it belongs to differs from the platform’s classification label. Genres and other classification methods often have, as Clarke et al. have shown, taxonomic ideals.69 We use genres to identify works with similar characteristics and therefore, they can be a very personal thing. Having to conform to different genre standards not only contests your own ideas about genres and the videogames that you know but it also changes your perception of what a certain videogame can or must be.
We have seen in literature and in scholarly discussions about videogame genres that videogames are comprehensive, difficult to understand beasts that struggle to be defined as they incorporate layers of style, mechanics, gameplay, interactivity etcetera. Videogames are a mess, as Bogost stated, and people make sense of differences between genres (and therefore between games) due to intertextual connections that they themselves have with different games. Labeling something an action/adventure game has different connotations from labeling something an action + puzzle-solving game. Perhaps because the former is more widely known and more often used, or perhaps because some do not classify certain game mechanics as puzzle mechanics and hadn’t even given thought about using the genre puzzle-solving.
The problem with Mobygames’ classification system is the necessity for users to understand the different pre- defined genres to contribute accurately to the platform. And because the genres are pre-defined and sometimes difficult to understand, users must actively work on understanding these genres. Users are not constantly comparing different games on the Mobygames platform to each other to understand the arbitrary genre labeling and to understand how to properly categorize games on the platform. Therefore, I believe that there are two different groups on the Mobygames platform that are interesting to highlight in relation to genre and classifying. Namely, the veteran, hardcore Mobygames users, which use the classification ideologies not based on their own intertextual connections but rather use the glossary as a taxonomic guidebook.70 The other group, the passerby’s, who are just regular visitors on the platform, get confused or even alienated by the pre-defined ideas of the platform. The former group has changed their perception of videogame genres and have attributed this according to Mobygames standards rather than personal intertextual connections. Their intertextual connections rely on Mobygames’ glossary and genre standards. The latter has difficulty with understanding Mobygames’ platforms and still relies on their own genre ideals and perceptions.
Pre-defined genres and the inability to contest or fairly discuss these genres shapes not only the perception of videogames in the eye of the beholder (the Mobygames’ user) but also frames individual videogames in a
65 Blue Flame Labs, “Genre Definitions,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/glossary/genres, (accessed June 22, 2019). 66 Mark Picard, ”Genre Correction,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/legend-of-zelda-twilight- princess/forums/dga,2/dgb,8/dgm,178272/(accessed June 26 2019). 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid. 69 Clarke et al, Why Video Game Genres Fail, 466. 70 See appendix, ownership section.
13 particular way. Do all adventure games have to have puzzle-solving mechanics and if they do not incorporate puzzle-solving mechanics, are they not an adventure game? What even is an adventure game and why is it defined by puzzle-solving mechanics in the first place?
It is therefore important to understand that the framing of videogames on the Mobygames platform is dependent on the relationship between the pre-defined classification system and the users on the website that adhere to those Mobygames’ classification systems and all ideals that are part of that. Users discuss videogame genres because they perceive individual videogames in a certain way. They try to understand why some games are not classified in the ways that they would personally classify them. Videogames, through the Mobygames platform, are not perceived just in the eye of the beholder. Rather, they are mediated through the website’s standards and its technology. The veteran group is more dominant on the platform and therefore holds more influence on the platform and its consequent classification system. This will also become more apparent in my Governing Videogame Categorization sub-chapter.
Technological Videogame Categorization The second part of this analysis is related to the technological affordances of the database. On the one hand, the website’s technology, its infrastructure, its interface shapes the user’s experience and therefore shapes their navigation through the games on the platform.71 On the other hand, the website’s technology shapes the ways in which videogame categorization work is carried out by the users on the platform.
The navigation, or rather the traversal through the database is shaped through the website’s interface, which allows and disallows the visitors of the website to access certain things.72 Besides, navigation is mostly shaped through the classification system itself. It is important to highlight the technological nature of the Mobygames website as it is key in understanding the role that genres and other classification labels play in providing the user’s a perspective on videogames on the platform. Furthermore, it also shows how technological implications frame videogames in a certain manner. The website is structured to be navigated through using the search bar at the top of the website.73 Visitors here can simply navigate the site by entering key words and viewing the website’s search results. More interestingly though, is the games tab on the front page of the website. The games tab is designed to operate as an additional search engine, allowing users to navigate the website based on videogame classification input.74 The navigational affordances of the website are therefore primarily steered by the classification efforts of the Mobygames platform, as the user can filter the videogames by selecting or deselecting certain genres, platforms, release years, etcetera. The user is limited however not only by Mobygames’ pre-defined genres, but also by the fact that the games tab itself is very limited in what can and what cannot be searched.75
Broad applicability of genres increases collocation problems as increasing numbers of games are added to the same broad category.76 Clarke et al. argue that when the categories become too broad, they become meaningless. I would argue similarly that when categories and genres become to specific, they become meaningless as well. It becomes too difficult and time-consuming to understand genres and other labels. I have mentioned a discussion on action/adventure games (or adventure + puzzle-solving games rather) in which several users on the website discussed the use of genres and even within that group of veteran users, confusion was present.77 Even more so, this would be the case for other groups of people trying to access and use the website and would shape their experience on the database in relation to individual titles. It would perhaps cause misinformation gathering and information retrieval issues for certain groups of people. We identify works based on similar characteristics and traits which we then summarise these works within genres and other classification labels.78 When we classify games based on too broad or too specific genres, some
71 Manovich, Database as Symbolic Form, 81. 72 See Appendix, technology, interface section 73 Ibid. 74 Ibid. 75 Ibid. 76 Ibid. 77 Mark Picard, ”Genre Correction,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/legend-of-zelda-twilight- princess/forums/dga,2/dgb,8/dgm,178272/(accessed June 26 2019). 78 Clarke et al, Why Video Game Genres Fail, 477.
14 meaning and perspective of the work is lost through overgeneralization or overspecialization. It is either included or excluded in a genre and both can shape expectations about games in certain ways.
The depth of a genre or a classification label is not just based on the label itself and all the pre-conceived, intertextually generated ideas about the label. Rather, it is dependent on the way in which the classification label is used. For example, one user expresses their issues with the fact that the category ’vehicle simulators’ is too broad of a category if a person would be interested in flight simulators for a PlayStation 1 only.79 Flight simulators are situated under the umbrella of the vehicle simulators but the Mobygames platform does not afford users to navigate the platform based on sub-genres.80 Further examples of broad categories can for example be found in Clarke et al.’s text, which questions the fact that Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto are found in the same categories.81 Here we can begin to see issues with framing too, as we use genres to make intertextual connections between different texts. Would someone agree that Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto share similar characteristics? These differences and issues become increasingly clear when looking at technological design of the platform.
The technological constraints lie in the application and the design of the videogame classification firstly but moreover in the navigational structure of the website.82 Because of the limited search and navigation possibilities, the classification system does not work on a broader level. All of the classification options such as genre, perspective, pacing, gameplay, interface and setting do not contribute or are not ingrained within Mobygames’ navigational system.83 Therefore, the individual titles are framed based on all the sub- classification possibilities that Mobygames offers. However, in the end, the navigational affordances of the platform hinder using those sub-classification possibilities to find games. This seems to be counter-intuitive to the idea of their platform, which is to create a database and to gather information about videogames in the most accurate way.
Due to the technological obstacles and its consequences for videogame categorization, games are either overgeneralized by being put in the same category or are very hard to find for being part of a too specific category. Some games are therefore framed by intertextual comparisons with other games when there are none and other games lose visibility due to belonging to a niche category. The problematic consequence of the platform’s structure shapes traversal through the site by either limiting games to small categories and therefore rendering them almost invisible or including certain games within too broad categories which renders the categories useless. The visibility of the website’s content is therefore highly shaped by the interaction between the technology used and the classification present.
Governing Videogame Categorization There are several interesting observations regarding genre labelling when we compare games from same series to each other. Dark Souls is categorized as an RPG game, while Dark Souls II is categorized as an Action and RPG game.84 Assassin’s Creed: Origins is classified as having RPG-elements but its genre is only classified as action. It’s successor, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is however classified as both an action and RPG game.85 What is the difference between a game having RPG-elements and it belonging fully to the RPG genre?
79 Rwolf, “confusing genre names,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,10/dgm,234658/vm,2/, (accessed July 23, 2019). 80 Ibid. 81 “Super Mario Bros,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/super-mario-bros. (accessed July 26, 2019). “Grand Theft Auto,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/grand-theft-auto. (accessed July 26, 2019). 82 See appendix, technology section 83 Indra was here, “Game Browser Genre Search,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,4/dgm,144046/vm,2/ (accessed July 23, 2019) 84 “Dark Souls,” Mobygames.com, https://www.Mobygames.com/game/dark-souls. (accessed July 26, 2019). “Dark Souls II,” Mobygames.com, https://www.Mobygames.com/game/dark-souls-ii. (accessed July 26, 2019). 85 “Assassins Creed: Origins,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/assassins-creed-origins. (accessed July 26, 2019). “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey,” Mobygames,com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/assassins-creed-odyssey. (accessed July 26, 2019).
15 This does not mean that all genre labelling on Mobygames is incorrect, unorganized or unexplainable. For example, Tom Clancy’s The Division and Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 are both classified in the same ways.86 From genre to perspective, pacing, gameplay, interface and setting. When we take a closer look at different games, such as Dark Souls and Dark Souls II and find similarities in gameplay, interface, pacing and setting but find inconsistencies in relation to genre, we must question the validity of the classification system on Mobygames.
These inconsistencies might be explained by the ownership and the governance of the site. There are not enough moderators (approvers) to work on checking all individual titles and correcting genres and other classification possibilities.87 I also believe that users are not actively comparing all games to one another and there are no technological tools that aid the platform in automating genre corrections and checks. And as I discussed in the previous chapters, the amount of possible classification labels also confuses the user of the website as they would have to understand all the (subtle) differences between genre, perspective, pacing, gameplay, interface and setting and all the individual sub-categories to be able to effectively classify videogames. The inclusion and the exclusion of games within certain genres and sub-genres shapes the individual game. We now understand that Tom Clancy’s The Division series is consistent in genre, gameplay, interface and setting but we could also believe that Dark Souls and Dark Souls II are two widely different games from one another and that we would not find both when someone would look for RPG games on the platform.
The website is run by two people, Jeremiah Freyholtz and Simon Carless.88 They are supported by several moderators which they call approvers. Approvers are active contributors with experience in contributing for different platforms such as iOS games or PlayStation games. Videogame contributions and genre corrections are checked by those Mobygames approver volunteers, consisting of a select group of people who are not volunteering all the time.89 This means that genre corrections are not only slowly processed but are also based on a select group of volunteers, adhering to the Mobygames guidelines and carrying out Mobygames guidelines as well as possible. Therefore, the approvers act as the governing body themselves and actively contribute to the genre and classification ideas of the Mobygames platform. The approvers are subjected to the basic standards of the site and furthermore to the specific approver standards.90
Governance on Mobygames in the broadest sense takes place by the active policing of several users, who traverse the forums looking for questions to answer or assumptions to correct. Therefore, part of Mobygames’ database operation comes from assuming that users understand the intentions, the standards and the glossary well enough to go around the platform and help other users. Governing does not only take place on the platform and in the forums, but largely also through the Discord app.91 Here, there are ongoing discussions between users regarding newly added videogame titles, questions about platforms and hardware systems, and of course genre and classification discussions.
The genre and classification system that was revised in 2016 is based on approver discussions, held in the secret approver forum and therefore consist on Mobygames user knowledge production.92 As you can not join the secret approver forum unless you are an approver, it is impossible to find out what is being said there and what is discussed for this research. However, it does become clear that behind the pre-defined glossary terms there is a large inner circle of Mobygames users that all shape the eventually used classification system and its
86 “Tom Clancy’s The Division,” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/tom-clancys-the-division. (accessed July 26, 2019). “Tom Clancy’s The Division 2”, Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/game/tom-clancys-the-division-2. (accessed July 26, 2019). 87 See appendix, governance section 88 See appendix, ownership section. 89 Blue Flame Labs, “E-mail questions answered” Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. (accessed July 21, 2019). 90 See appendix, governance section. 91 Ibid. 92 Sciere, “Revision of the genres”, Mobygames.com. https://www.Mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,3/dgm,226077/. (accessed July 19, 2019).
16 implementation. As Tarleton Gillespie mentioned, what is eventually allowed and not allowed and how content is posted on the platform all comes down to the format of the platform.93
The ideals of the Mobygames platform, their database and therefore their classification system are captured by their standards, f.a.q. and glossary section but highlighted by their administrative use of volunteer approvers. Users can apply to become an approver when they contribute to the platform. This contribution is based on the rules set by Mobygames and works by gaining points which grants users access to the approver forums. Hereafter, they carry out Mobygames’ governing policies for classifying videogames based on these same rules and policies. Therefore, the genre and classification system is sustained through the infinite cycle of contribution and governing. This can be seen in the several examples I have shown throughout this analysis regarding the ongoing discussions about genres and the technological design. Coming back to the beginning of this chapter, regarding videogame labelling and the differences and similarities between some games, we can start to understand why these differences and similarities exist in the first place. It is important to understand this, as it shows us that videogames are not just framed by pre-defined glossary terms and technological constraints, but that the frames are embedded within the approver culture of Mobygames.
Conclusion & discussion At the beginning of this research, I asked the following question: how does Mobygames’ classification system frame videogames? I have carried out a platform analysis using José van Dijck’s model and have accordingly used the data from that research for my broader analysis.
Mobygames’ classification system is comprehensive, convoluted, broad and specific at the same time. There are a lot of classification labels available, ranging from genre to gameplay, to pacing and more. Mobygames’ goal, which is to catalogue all relevant information about videogames and then offer that information up via a database form, feels counter-intuitive to their classification system. The complex genre and classification system not only hinders accurate information retrieval due to technological hindrances, but also frames videogames in different ways. Mobygames’ platform shows us that videogames are and videogame classification is a mess, and that the structured nature of the database cannot help us get through that mess. Genres (and other classification labels) bring with them certain expectations about what a game is, how it works, where it takes place, who it’s for etc. Because of this and the nature of the database, including or excluding labels completely changes the frame a game receives. When a game is put into a very broad category, the categories’ characteristics will give us less information about a game. And at the same time, when a category is too specific, we might never be able to find the game.
During my analysis, I have found that the genres and other classification systems on Mobygames are based on pre-defined ideas, coined by the owners of the platform and the approvers (top active contributors). Therefore, perception of individual titles and the framing of videogames take place through the pre-conceived ideas that these people lay upon the platform. The individual ideas surrounding genres and the intertextual connections that people themselves have with certain genres play less of a role on the platform as every search query is mediated through these classification labels. Discussions on Mobygames forums and their Discord channel show that correct genre implementation is difficult and that genre definitions are sometimes hard to understand. Perception of individual videogame titles is changed according to the pre-conceived classification system rather than a user’s own ideas.
Furthermore, it is not just the pre-defined genres and classification labels that steer information retrieval on the platform but also the technological design of the platform that affords navigational routes users take. Because the ways in which the browsing section is structured, based on the pre-defined notions of the Mobygames’ classification system, videogames lose visibility or will receive increased visibility and therefore be put in the same category as other games with different characteristics. Games are framed by the programmed classification system that is defined by the website’s standards and glossary system and the nature of the database form gives the illusion of the platform being a structured place of videogame information. Looking closely however, I have found that videogames are indeed a mess and that Mobygames’ videogame database is no exception to the rule. The user interaction, the technological design and governing body are all shaped by the confusing classification system.
93 Gillespie, Governance of and by platforms, 12.
17
We have discussed the fact that genres are social constructs and that genres are not just ‘out there’. Genres are personal and are based on intertextually generated ideas about what a game is. Genre as a social construct can be found on Mobygames but in the larger sense, implemented by the governing body (the veteran community). It is not about individual people that define and perceive genres but rather about the platform and the Mobygames’ community as a whole that uses the genre and classification frame. The social construct therefore is the combination between technology, user interaction, governance. Especially as the revamped classification system is based on both the approvers and the platforms owners’ preconception on what genre is. Videogames on Mobygames’ are both framed as products of culture and products of technology.
To conclude, videogames are framed as messy, inheriting this trait from Mobygames’ often confusing and convoluted classification system. Videogames do not inhibit characteristics based on user perception but rather on pre-defined ideas about what a genre, according to Mobygames, is. The technological design does not aid the individual title but rather in some cases oversimplifies and overgeneralizes videogames. Some games are even rendered nearly invisible within the site’s database and navigational structure due to technological design of the platform. The navigational affordances of the website also feel confusing and messy. The messy frame is created and sustained by its active users (the approvers), who try to adhere to the rules as closely as possible. It is an inner circle of the platform’s owners and the top contributors who in the end decide on the platform’s classification system and therefore on this frame.
At the beginning of this research in my introduction, I briefly discussed the excavation of the 700.000 Atari games and the general preservation efforts that are beginning to take place. We need to do this, to ensure that videogames remain an important pillar within our cultural heritage. As I found how difficult videogame preservation is due to its multifaceted, technological nature, it has dawned on during this research me that nearly everything in relation to videogames, such as preservation, genre, classification, is messy and difficult to understand. The documentation efforts of Mobygames and its hardworking contributors are an extension of that difficulty as it has highlighted even more clearly how messy this subject can be. There is no wrong and there is no right and it is an admirable task of anyone to even dare and work with this difficult yet intriguing medium. Videogames are a mess, Ian Bogost stated once. Mobygames is playing by these rules.
I want to end this research by acknowledging my limitations and pondering further research possibilities. The limitations of this research mainly lie in two areas. First, this research was not able to fully dissect some of the genres and analyse their characteristics. This could help to better understand why some genres are chosen over others for some games and why genre labelling is used for individual games. Second, I found limitations in accessing the approver forums and therefore could not verify some of my assumptions. Lastly, my research was limited in grasping the scope of the database by my inability to use data queries, something that Mobygames encourages. A data-drive research could be carried in which it would be interesting to see how many games fall under how many genre categories. This could highlight and strengthen some of my claims regarding the use of broad genre and classification labelling.
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20 Appendix: platform analysis of Mobygames Platform: Mobygames Techno-Cultural Technology (meta)data: the platform’s website inherently consists of a collection of (meta)data videogames, stored on a database that can be accessed through the algorithm web. The data that is stored on the platform comes mostly in the form protocol of text and images. For example, looking at the game DOOM (1995), I interface see its title, its cover art, the description of the game, the publishers, default the developers, the release date, the platform upon which it was released, the genre, the perspective, the gameplay and the narrative. There are also more screenshots of the game listed, which can be individually viewed. Promo images are also there. The website lists the alternate title for the game, in Japanese for the DOOM example. It lists the critic score, the user score. It lists users’ reviews and critic reviews. There is text about forums, trivia and related websites available. Furthermore, there are individual tabs available for different information. Some data, like credits and screenshots also appear on the home screen of a game, but some, like promo art, covert art, spec sheets, ad blurbs, rating systems and even a buy/trade section. Comparing this to another popular game, Portal 2, I find that the layout of the website and the data available is mostly the same. The Portal 2 page also includes a video, which can be uploaded to the platform. It also includes information about publicity surrounding the game. There is metadata about the contributors of the page. On the bottom of the page we find which people have contributed to the page and how many points they have collected. When selecting images such as promo art or box art, we can see what user uploaded what picture, on which data and on what time. Furthermore, on most of the available tabs to navigate such as credits, release dates, trivia we also find what users contributed what content and on which dates and times.
Algorithm: the website’s home page is the first thing that you see when you land on Mobygames.com. It shows the visitor recently updates games, just added games, new screenshots, new cover art, new reviews, Mobygames news, and a tip of the day. Additionally, there is a Mobygames goal at the top-right corner. There is a featured game on the webpage below that, with information about that game. Accessing the website via different IP addresses, in incognito mode, led me to believe that there is little to not algorithm interference present on the
21 platform. The platform is presented as a database and does not interfere with those ideals. Other pages than the homepage such as the games browsing tab also does not use any sort of algorithmic design. It is based purely on receiving query inputs from users such as filtering by genre, release year etc.
Protocol: the website is open to visit for anyone, and doesn’t ask the visitor to accept any cookies. There are two trackers on the website (checked with chrome extension Ghostery). To contribute to the platform (add, edit game information), an account had to be created. It is easy to create an account and no extra check for creating an account is necessary. Top contributors and active users can become approvers if they want. To become an approver, they must have collected a certain amount of points by contributing to the platform and then applying at Mobygames to become a contributor. Being a contributor grants extra accessibility options to users such as helping with checking corrections and new contributions by other users. It also grants access to the secret approver forum.
Interface: the front page is made up of several clickable links which direct the visitor to different content (as explained under the data section). There is also a search bar on the top of the page, which users can use to navigate to different games. There are different tabs for games, forums, updates, contributions available. At the bottom of the page the visitor can find some useful information such as contact information, the standards page, the f.a.q. Under the games section, the visitor can browse the website by clicking on platforms listed there, which there are even more of when the visitor clicks on ‘more’. The visitor can also filter by year released, going back to 1987, genre, themes, sports, rating systems and companies. On the right top corner of the page it lists the games that are filtered through the user’s selection. The forum is structured as a classic forum, with several topics and subsequent subtopic upon which users can comment. The individual games are laid out with a front page, including information described in the data section, and several tabs to which the user can navigate to. There are also buttons on the page that aid the user to start contributing to a game, most notably using the ‘contribute’ button.
22 Default: the registered user receives a temporary account password, which he can change. The user can have several personal lists on the website such as a ‘playlist’, a have/want list. The user can change their name and the nickname, there instant messaging information, their location may be added. A home page, an avatar may also be added. As a default, the real name is displayed instead of the nickname. The user can also choose to let others see their email address. The user is included in all Mobygames mailings, and must opt out of those if they do not wish to receive them. Users/Usage The website foundation is based on the participation of users by letting them add and edit information about videogames. Users can contribute by adding new videogames (or different iterations of games) or by letting them add and edit information about videogames such as platforms, genres, credits etc. However, some contributions such as corrections to genre for example, are checked by the approval staff, which means that the platform is not completely open to all sorts of editing which could include grieving (intentionally wrongly changing information, for example). When the contribute button is clicked on a game’s landing page, the user is presented with several options for contribution including corrections, adding platforms, release date info etc. This is the main way in which users can use the website as a participator. They can also participate in forum discussions, for example on games and contributions to games. There are primarily lots of discussions about games and their labelling. for example, I found a forum post from may 17, 2019 stating that the android platform had been added as a category descriptor to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This poster asked the question why this platform was added to the game and received the response that it was added there because of Wii games being available for NVidia shield, an android platform. On 19 June 2019, the game still had the android tag. There didn’t seem to be a standard rule for this kind of organizational tag. For the same game, discussions were held about the genre of the game and whether the game belong in the action/adventure genre or the action/puzzle solving genre. Apparently, Zelda games belong in the latter genre according to the Mobygames genre guidelines. There were multiple users questioning this decision and apparently, many users are constantly debating each other over genres and labelling. To conclude here, the website is used by contributing to individual videogames. These
23 contributions then might be discussed on the forums, which may or may not trigger another user to correct something or to add something themselves. Content The content on the platform is fixed on information about videogames, as has been explained in the data section. the platform’s website inherently consists of a collection of videogames, stored on a database that can be accessed through the web. The data that is stored on the platform comes mostly in the form of text and images. For example, looking at the game DOOM (1995), I see its title, its cover art, the description of the game, the publishers, the developers, the release date, the platform upon which it was released, the genre, the perspective, the gameplay and the narrative. There are also more screenshots of the game listed, which can be individually viewed. Promo images are also there. The website lists the alternate title for the game, in Japanese for the DOOM example. It lists the critic score, the user score. It lists users’ reviews and critic reviews. There is text about forums, trivia and related websites available. Furthermore, there are individual tabs available for different information. Some data, like credits and screenshots also appear on the home screen of a game, but some, like promo art, covert art, spec sheets, ad blurbs, rating systems and even a buy/trade section. Comparing this to another popular game, Portal 2, I find that the layout of the website and the data available is mostly the same. The Portal 2 page also includes a video, which can be uploaded to the platform. It also includes information about publicity surrounding the game.
Action, Adventure, CompilationDLC / Add-on, Educational, Puzzle, Racing / Driving, Role-Playing (RPG)Simulation, Special Edition, Sports, Strategy/Tactics are the genres listed on the games page.
Socio-Economical Ownership The original founding of the site was in 1999. The creator we Jim Leonard, who worked independently on the website for the first 10 years. Other founders include Brian Hirt and David Berk. Rob is a long time Mobygames contributor and site admin. The website was owned by Gamefly up until 2013, when it was acquired by Blue Flame Labs. The website is run by Reed and site admin Simon Carless. Blue Flame Labs is an independent game and website developer, founded by Reed. They are also the owner of Drawception and VGboxArt. All rights to the
24 website belong to Blue Flame Labs. As I explained, the website is owned by Blue Flame Labs but they also use several site administers which help with checking contributions and corrections. However, apart from a small note in the who is behind Mobygames section, I am unable to find information about the administrators on the website.
Furthermore, ownership on the platform is found in the sense of a strong community that communicates with each other not only via the Mobygames forums but also via their unofficial Discord channel. On this channel and on these forums, they discuss contributions, new screenshots, box art etc. Sometimes specific questions are asked about specific games and sometimes it is just regular banter. A sense of ownership is generated through the fact that people are constantly trying to help each other by responding to forum posts or to Discord messages. Also, when other users are confused about certain topics, rules or policies, users come in to explain these to them. Because of the nature of the platform and the ultimate goal of Mobygames, it makes sense for the platform to have such a large following. A community is necessary to sustain their work on the site and the collective feeling of contributing to the platform helps them accelerate their work. Governance The governance on the platform is mostly found in the forms of rules which can be seen in the standards section on the website. These standards are mostly focused on making sure that users understand the information that the site is looking for and the quality of that information. Furthermore, there is a frequently asked questions section which aids visitors and users on the website in explaining the most basic goals and motivations of the website to steer contributing in the right direction. Furthermore, when wanting to contribute to the platform, the website also lists important information and some rules that the user must adhere to when wanting to contribute. There are human approvers that check most corrections. A user can become an approver when he or she has collected enough points (which one can get by contributing to the platform). They can then apply to become an approver. Approvers specialize in certain areas of expertise but most importantly the approvers are divided by different platforms. Approvers check uploads, contributions and genre corrections and base their governance on Mobygames’ approver standards form. This is different
25 from the regular standards form and is specifically created for approvers to be able to do their job efficiently and accurately.
Specifically, for the approvers, there is a secret approver forum within which they communicate about approver business but also about large policy overhaul such as the genre definition overhaul over 2016. It was impossible for me to join this secret approver forum and therefore it is not possible to know what is being said there. It does however show that a part of the website is guarded off from the rest of the contributors. Businessmodels The business model of Mobygames is not very apparent, but they are open to receiving offers for advertisements. During my research of the website, however, I did not see any advertisements. Furthermore, the website benefits from using Patreon, a crowdsourcing donation platform on which users can pay a monthly pay to Mobygames On June 19 2019 they received around 500 dollars per month from their users. The two owners of the platform also have their own independent jobs (according to their websites and Twitter pages) and do not rely on Mobygames as a (primary) source of income.
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