ETC Press is excited to announce the release of the first issue of the eleventh volume of Well Played, a special issue on Ethics, edited by José P. Zagal.
https://press.etc.cmu.edu/index.php/product/well-played-vol-11-no-1/
In this special issue we explore a third sense of well played from the perspective of ethics and videogames and what it means to “play well”, or for a game to have been “well played.” From successfully cheating, to winning at all costs, to playing casually, to being a good sport, playing well can seem to have different connotations. Considering an ethical sense of well played highlights issues about players and their values and who they are, or aspire to be as people.
The games we choose to “play well” could be seen to reflect on our character and integrity. For instance, could you be a bad person for playing ultra-violent videogames well, or should you be celebrated for your skills and abilities to lie and deceive your opponents in a game of Poker? This third sense of well played, encourages us to think about the contexts and virtues of trying to play well.
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The Well Played Journal is a forum for in-depth close readings of video games that parse out the various meanings to be found in the experience of playing a game. It is a reviewed journal with CfPs for submissions that will be released on a regular basis with high-quality essays
Contributors are encouraged to analyze sequences in a game in detail in order to illustrate and interpret how the various components of a game can come together to create a fulfilling playing experience unique to this medium. Through contributors, the journal will provide a variety of perspectives on the value of games.
The goal of the journal is to continue developing and defining a literacy of games as well as a sense of their value as an experience. Video games are a complex medium that merits careful interpretation and insightful analysis. By inviting contributors to look closely at video games and the experience of playing them, we hope to expand the discussion, and show how games are well played in a variety of ways.
The Well Played Journal has been receiving enough quality submissions to be published biannually. We have organized our editorial board so that there are Editors (Ira Fay, Clara Fernández-Vara, Jane Pinckard and John Sharp) help set up a blind peer review process. Our goal is to publish great essays. There won't be a subscription, although as with all ETC Press publications, all issues will be available for download for free, and we'll offer print versions for sale through Lulu.com.
For more information, and to purchase or download a copy, visit:
http://press.etc.cmu.edu/wellplayed
The ETC Press is an academic and open-source publishing imprint that distributes its work in print, electronic and digital form. Inviting readers to contribute to and create versions of each publication, ETC Press fosters a community of collaborative authorship and dialogue across media. ETC Press represents an experiment and an evolution in publishing, bridging virtual and physical media to redefine the future of publication.
All submissions and questions should be sent to:
drew ( at ) andrew ( dot ) cmu ( dot ) edu
For formatting guidelines, see:
http://press.etc.cmu.edu/files/WellPlayed-Guidelines-New.doc.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/etcwellplayed
ISSN 2164-344X (Print)
ISSN 2164-3458 (Online)