A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Mechanic/Aesthetic Videogame Genres: Adventure and Adventure
Authors: Veli-Matti Karhulahti
Editors: Lugmayr Artur, Franssila Heljä, Safran Christian, Hammouda Imed
Conference name: Proceedings of the 15th International Mindtrek Conference
Publication year: 2011
Book title : Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conferenece: Envisioning Future Media Environments
Article number: 9
First page : 71
Last page: 74
Number of pages: 4
ISBN: 978-1-4503-0816-8
The paper positions videogame genre theory within the larger context of genre studies. This will be done by applying Rick Altman’s semantic/syntactic genre theory to videogames in the manner of Aki Järvinen’s earlier contribution. The primary difference to Järvinen’s model will be the emphasized aesthetic perspective—here represented by Altman—which will be the second defining concept next to game mechanics in understanding videogame genres through simplified dual categories. In this way, the paper establishes a combined mechanic/aesthetic approach unique to videogame genre classification. The recurring example will be the adventure game genre, which can be considered the videogame genre closest to Altman’s medium, film.