Počítačové hry jako nová média
Videogames as New Media

Summary/Abstract: The paper offers a short introduction to game studies as seen from the media studies perspective. It also tries to find the ways in which media studies can contribute to the research on computer and video games. First, two formal approaches to games are introducted - one describes games as systems of rules, the other as a specific kind of text - a cybertext. Then we ponder the question whether games can be considered a medium. It is colcluded that in same respects it can but in others it turns out that the traditional view of media brings up difficulties, because games are both medium as activity. In the following chapters, an overview of the existing research into computer games is presented, starting with production and genre conventions. It is stated that media studies could apply critical political economy of media to analyze the ongoing changes in the game industry and their effects on content. The chapters dedicated to the content trace the development of the computer game aesthetics and the "ludic elements" - which can be motivated by the mechanics of game itself, by the technological limitations and by mimesis, i. e. by mimicking real-life facts and processes. A discussion of ideology, simulation and entertainment follows. It is colncluded that simulation, like news, can never be entirely objective. In comparison to other media, however, games allow a different level of user participation and often allow the user to modify the content. In the final chapters, we focus on the audience (including Czech specifics), first to dispel some of the myths surrounding the topic, then to investigate the gaming culture and the methods of assessing videogame use. We find that there has been surprisingly very little research done into the actual gaming experience and that this is where media studies (or cultural studies) could contribute with their approaches to audience research.

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