More like an Arcade' - The Limitations of Playable Games in Museum Exhibitions

Bibliographic Data

ID4775261
AuthorsPatrick Prax (0000-0001-6597-1738, Uppsala University, corresponding author), Lina Eklund (0000-0002-4801-7704), Björn Sjöblom (0000-0003-0865-225X, Stockholm University)
Year2019
Volume17
Issue3
Pages437-452
Publication date2019-11-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMuseum and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1479-8360 • E-ISSN: 1479-8360
PublisherUniversity of Leicester (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.29311/mas.v17i3.2777
OpenAlexW2991150413
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited10

This study investigated the relationship between playable, interactive games on original hardware and the representation of game culture using the case of the exhibition Game On 2.0, often considered to be the largest exhibition of digital games in the West so far. Our results suggest that play as a way of engaging with games as museum objects has limitations which make it necessary to add other means of contextualization in order to afford critical engagement with digital games as contemporary culture. Play excludes visitors who lack necessary gaming skills as well as many genres of games which need longer or different kinds of interaction than a museum can allow for in the context of an exhibition. Moreover, we show that not all games can be exhibited in the same way and that we need to adapt exhibition strategies to individual game and their properties and contexts

Art · Business · Contextualization · Exhibition · Multimedia · Political science · Visual arts · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Educational Games and Gamification · History · Museums and Cultural Heritage

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access