The Game Studies Watchlist newsletter, curated by Prof. Dr. Rudolf Inderst, is published weekly on GamesMarkt. This week's topics include an analysis of game awards, offering insight into the power structures that shape the medium, as well as several new contributions to Game Studies.
AHOI there, game studies operators!
Game awards are of particular interest to Game Studies because they reveal how cultural value and legitimacy are negotiated within the gaming industry and its surrounding communities. Much like film festivals or literary prizes, they function as rituals of recognition that help define what is considered innovative, artistic, or culturally significant in games. In his latest essay, hotcyder takes a massive swing at the Game Awards (of course, I am only talking about stats, figures, ... and stuff!).
"Are there “Oscar Bait” Video Games? I analysed a decade of The Game Awards to uncover the surprising trends behind which games win, and what it tells us about the next big thing."
Studying these award practices offers insight into the power structures and taste hierarchies that shape the medium: Who gets to decide what counts as “good” design, meaningful storytelling, or technical excellence? Moreover, game awards highlight the intersections between industry marketing, fan engagement, and critical discourse, showing how aesthetic and commercial considerations intertwine. As such, they are not merely celebratory events but key sites where the identity and boundaries of gaming culture are continually produced and contested.
Game Researcher and Scholar Tobias Unterhuber has put foward a new contribution to our beloved field: Spoil the Game, Shatter the World: Spoilers in Games and Play. Good news: It's OA and you can find this well-written piece right here.
I also would like to share a book excerpt of The Game Needs to Change: Towards Sustainable Game Design with you. It is edited by Patrick Prax, Clayton Whittle, and Trevin York and will be published on November 17, 2025 by CRC press.
Volume 25, issue 3 of gamestudies.org features an article of Taylore Nicole Woodhouse called Feeding the Iron Pimps: The Golden Age of Arcades in Black America and I especially love this statement: "In this article, I contribute to the diversification of video game studies by writing a new history of video arcades." In 2008, Austrian youngsters would have answered with a loud and clear "Bäm, Oida!" (please do check out the term "Krocha").
... finally a huge shout out to my fantastic co-author Sarah Marie Wegmann (representing Game Design @ IU International University to the fullest!). Our article in the current issue of Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds examines the analog horror web video series Super Mario 64: Classified as a reinterpretation of the influential N64 title Super Mario 64.
Cheers and stay healthy,
Rudolf
