Miguel Sicart
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 909439 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Miguel Sicart |
| NOMBRES | Miguel |
| APELLIDO | Sicart |
| FIRMA | SICART M |
| AFILIACIONES | IT University of Copenhagen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8356-5394 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 16 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 3 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 16 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2009 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 1 |
The Failure of Play
In this essay, I argue that the ludification of culture should be considered as an overall failure. The effects of (digital) play in culture and society have been largely negative, a fact that game studies and media studies have only partially assumed. While there are many positive aspects to play and games in society, it may be time to rethink the importance we give to the ludic in information societies
Playing Software
The play element at the heart of our interactions with computers—and how it drives the best and the worst manifestations of the information age. Whether we interact with video games or spreadsheets or social media, playing with software shapes every facet of our lives. In Playing Software, Miguel Sicart delves into why we play with computers, how that play shapes culture and society, and the threat posed by malefactors using play to weaponize eve…
The Beautiful Rule
This paper introduces a model for analyzing the aesthetic value of game rules. Drawing on Nguyen's theory of agential aesthetics, this paper argues that the aesthetic value of a rule is related to the ways in which it contains modalities of agency. Using football's (soccer) offside rule as a case study, this article provides a way of thinking about the aesthetics of game rules
Probably not a game
This research explores mediated ritual interactions in the form of pictures taken using a mobile device in tandem with two critical designs: Probably Not and World to GIF. We take our point of departure in Rich Ling’s understanding of mobile interaction as a ritual of social cohesion and social bonding to explore sociotechnical interactions with mobile technology. By means of playful critical interaction design methods, we explore how deviance fr…
Playing Software
Playthings
This article proposes the concept of “plaything” as an instrument to inquire on the ontology and epistemology of the things we play with. Extending Barad’s (2007) onto-epistemology and Ingold’s (2012) concepts of “things” and “objects,” this article intends to provide a theoretical contribution to the materialist turn in game studies (Apperley, T. H., & Jayemane, D. (2012). The main argument of the article is as follows: the ontology of the thing…
Persuasive Gaming in Context
This chapter offers a multifaceted reflection on persuasive gaming divided into three pillars: persuasiveness, design, and validation.The first section on persuasiveness is a critical review of previous and current persuasive gaming theory and analysis.It argues that the contemporary gaming landscape needs to expand theoretically and presents a multidimensional persuasive approach as one way in which this can be done.The following section on the …
Playing software
This article explores how the concept of play as a vision of software that establishes new relations with digital technologies. This article argues that play has a fundamental role in shaping human engagement with software, and the cultural phenomena that derive from that engagement
Play in the Information Age
Reality has always been augmented
This piece provides an explanation to the early success of Pokémon GO. It proposes an argument about how this game exemplifies a computational culture of play. By drawing on philosophy of technology (Floridi, 2013) and game design research (Montola, Stenros, & Waern, 2009), this article argues that the success of Pokémon GO is the result of the development of a play experience and a computational interface for a reality that is already augmented.…
Comunicação nos Videojogos
A história dos videojogos, pela sua génese e dependência tecnológicas, tem sido habitualmente traçada por comparação com a história da informática
Play Matters
Why play is a productive, expressive way of being, a form of understanding, and a fundamental part of our well-being. What do we think about when we think about play? A pastime? Games? Childish activities? The opposite of work? Think again: If we are happy and well rested, we may approach even our daily tasks in a playful way, taking the attitude of play without the activity of play. So what, then, is play? In Play Matters, Miguel Sicart argues t…
Play Matters
What do we think about when we think about play? A pastime? Games? Childish activities? The opposite of work? Think again: If we are happy and well rested, we may approach even our daily tasks in a playful way, taking the attitude of play without the activity of play. So what, then, is play? In Play Matters, Miguel Sicart argues that to play is to be in the world; playing is a form of understanding what surrounds us and a way of engaging with oth…
Beyond Choices
How computer games can be designed to create ethically relevant experiences for players. Today's blockbuster video games—and their never-ending sequels, sagas, and reboots—provide plenty of excitement in high-resolution but for the most part fail to engage a player's moral imagination. In Beyond Choices, Miguel Sicart calls for a new generation of video and computer games that are ethically relevant by design. In the 1970s, mainstream films—inclu…
Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts
"Gamification" is an informal umbrella term for the use of video game elements in non-gaming systems to improve user experience (UX) and user engagement. The recent introduction of 'gamified' applications to large audiences promises new additions to the existing rich and diverse research on the heuristics, design patterns and dynamics of games and the positive UX they provide. However, what is lacking for a next step forward is the integration of…
The Ethics of Computer Games
Why computer games can be ethical, how players use their ethical values in gameplay, and the implications for game design. Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ethics of computer games. Considerations of the morality of computer games seldom go beyond intermittent portrayals of them in the…
Persuasive Gaming in Context
This chapter offers a multifaceted reflection on persuasive gaming divided into three pillars: persuasiveness, design, and validation.The first section on persuasiveness is a critical review of previous and current persuasive gaming theory and analysis.It argues that the contemporary gaming landscape needs to expand theoretically and presents a multidimensional persuasive approach as one way in which this can be done.The following section on the …
Probably not a game
This research explores mediated ritual interactions in the form of pictures taken using a mobile device in tandem with two critical designs: Probably Not and World to GIF. We take our point of departure in Rich Ling’s understanding of mobile interaction as a ritual of social cohesion and social bonding to explore sociotechnical interactions with mobile technology. By means of playful critical interaction design methods, we explore how deviance fr…
The Ethics of Computer Games
Why computer games can be ethical, how players use their ethical values in gameplay, and the implications for game design. Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ethics of computer games. Considerations of the morality of computer games seldom go beyond intermittent portrayals of them in the…
Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts
"Gamification" is an informal umbrella term for the use of video game elements in non-gaming systems to improve user experience (UX) and user engagement. The recent introduction of 'gamified' applications to large audiences promises new additions to the existing rich and diverse research on the heuristics, design patterns and dynamics of games and the positive UX they provide. However, what is lacking for a next step forward is the integration of…
Beyond Choices
How computer games can be designed to create ethically relevant experiences for players. Today's blockbuster video games—and their never-ending sequels, sagas, and reboots—provide plenty of excitement in high-resolution but for the most part fail to engage a player's moral imagination. In Beyond Choices, Miguel Sicart calls for a new generation of video and computer games that are ethically relevant by design. In the 1970s, mainstream films—inclu…
Play Matters
Why play is a productive, expressive way of being, a form of understanding, and a fundamental part of our well-being. What do we think about when we think about play? A pastime? Games? Childish activities? The opposite of work? Think again: If we are happy and well rested, we may approach even our daily tasks in a playful way, taking the attitude of play without the activity of play. So what, then, is play? In Play Matters, Miguel Sicart argues t…
Play Matters
What do we think about when we think about play? A pastime? Games? Childish activities? The opposite of work? Think again: If we are happy and well rested, we may approach even our daily tasks in a playful way, taking the attitude of play without the activity of play. So what, then, is play? In Play Matters, Miguel Sicart argues that to play is to be in the world; playing is a form of understanding what surrounds us and a way of engaging with oth…
Comunicação nos Videojogos
A história dos videojogos, pela sua génese e dependência tecnológicas, tem sido habitualmente traçada por comparação com a história da informática
Reality has always been augmented
This piece provides an explanation to the early success of Pokémon GO. It proposes an argument about how this game exemplifies a computational culture of play. By drawing on philosophy of technology (Floridi, 2013) and game design research (Montola, Stenros, & Waern, 2009), this article argues that the success of Pokémon GO is the result of the development of a play experience and a computational interface for a reality that is already augmented.…
Play in the Information Age
Playing software
This article explores how the concept of play as a vision of software that establishes new relations with digital technologies. This article argues that play has a fundamental role in shaping human engagement with software, and the cultural phenomena that derive from that engagement
Persuasive Gaming in Context
This chapter offers a multifaceted reflection on persuasive gaming divided into three pillars: persuasiveness, design, and validation.The first section on persuasiveness is a critical review of previous and current persuasive gaming theory and analysis.It argues that the contemporary gaming landscape needs to expand theoretically and presents a multidimensional persuasive approach as one way in which this can be done.The following section on the …
Playthings
This article proposes the concept of “plaything” as an instrument to inquire on the ontology and epistemology of the things we play with. Extending Barad’s (2007) onto-epistemology and Ingold’s (2012) concepts of “things” and “objects,” this article intends to provide a theoretical contribution to the materialist turn in game studies (Apperley, T. H., & Jayemane, D. (2012). The main argument of the article is as follows: the ontology of the thing…
Playing Software
The play element at the heart of our interactions with computers—and how it drives the best and the worst manifestations of the information age. Whether we interact with video games or spreadsheets or social media, playing with software shapes every facet of our lives. In Playing Software, Miguel Sicart delves into why we play with computers, how that play shapes culture and society, and the threat posed by malefactors using play to weaponize eve…
The Beautiful Rule
This paper introduces a model for analyzing the aesthetic value of game rules. Drawing on Nguyen's theory of agential aesthetics, this paper argues that the aesthetic value of a rule is related to the ways in which it contains modalities of agency. Using football's (soccer) offside rule as a case study, this article provides a way of thinking about the aesthetics of game rules
Probably not a game
This research explores mediated ritual interactions in the form of pictures taken using a mobile device in tandem with two critical designs: Probably Not and World to GIF. We take our point of departure in Rich Ling’s understanding of mobile interaction as a ritual of social cohesion and social bonding to explore sociotechnical interactions with mobile technology. By means of playful critical interaction design methods, we explore how deviance fr…
Playing Software
The Failure of Play
In this essay, I argue that the ludification of culture should be considered as an overall failure. The effects of (digital) play in culture and society have been largely negative, a fact that game studies and media studies have only partially assumed. While there are many positive aspects to play and games in society, it may be time to rethink the importance we give to the ludic in information societies
Digital Games and Media (12 obras) · Computer Science (11 obras) · Sociology (7 obras) · Psychology (6 obras) · Epistemology (5 obras) · Human–computer interaction (5 obras) · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction (5 obras) · Philosophy (5 obras) · Digital Media and Philosophy (4 obras) · Political science (4 obras)