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Cited by 11Digital Games and Mediascientometrics and bibliometrics researchEducational Games and Gamification

Describing the Game Studies Canon: A Game Citation Analysis

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Frome, Jonathan, Martin, Paul·2019·DiGRA Digital Library
DOI 10.26503/dl.v2019i1.1112
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Abstract

This article analyzes how game studies scholars cite videogames in their research. A content analysis of over 580 articles from the field’s two main journals is used to identify the currently-invisible canon of most-frequently cited games in game scholarship. We show that the canon is far more varied than previously suggested and demonstrate ways that it has changed over time. The article's research implications include explicating different functions of game citation as well as providing an empirical basis for identifying under-researched games. Our findings also identify the games with which familiarity is most important to understand existing research. Finally, we propose ways the game studies canon can help address pedagogical, technological, and legal obstacles to the development of game studies as a discipline.

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  • Game Studies is often siloed in echo chambers, myopic in approaches, objects of study, and selection of topics.

    “we are often siloed in echo chambers: myopic in our approaches, in our objects of study, and in our selection of topics respectively.”

    From The Game Studies Crisis: What Are the Rules of Play? (2021) · cites this paper as Frome and Martin 2019

    The Discussion (page unavailable) finds that some games and genres receive disproportionate attention and that sports videogames are rarely the primary focus of articles. This supports concern about a narrow selection of objects of study, but it does not establish that game studies is generally siloed or myopic in its approaches and topics; the Discussion also reports a recent broadening in the range of games studied. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

  • The Game Studies Crisis: What Are the Rules of Play?

    Ouellette, M., & Conway, S. (2021) · Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture · doi:10.7557/23.6360 · Cited by 4 · see citing works

    “For as much as Game Studies touts interdisciplinarity, as folks such as Deterding (2017), Frome and Martin (2019), and Harviainen et al. (2018) have found in their reviews of the field, we are often siloed in echo chambers: myopic in our approaches, in our objects of study, and in our selection of…”
    Background

Authors
Frome, J., & Martin, P.
Affiliations
Lingnan University (HK)
ORCID
Frome, Jonathan
Venue
DiGRA Digital Library
Publisher
Digitial Games Research Association DiGRA
Published
2019-01-01
ISSN
2342-9666
DOI
10.26503/dl.v2019i1.1112
OpenAlex
W2979944174
Cited by
11
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
FWCI
4.28
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Digital Games Research Association Conference
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
Keywords
citation analysis, canon formation, disciplinary development

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