The findings of Player Barometer 2011 were revealed in DiGRA 2011 conference, and the full research report is now available for download (it is in Finnish, but includes an extended English summary). You can access the report from here:

http://tampub.uta.fi/tulos.php?tiedot=484

There is also a press bulletin in Finnish available from here:

http://www.uta.fi/ajankohtaista/tutkimusuutiset/ilmoitus.html?id=67126

There were several research papers and presentations by CG-Cult researchers in DiGRA 2011 conference, taking place in the Netherlands in 14-17 September 2011:

Saara Toivonen & Olli Sotamaa: Of discs, boxes and cartridges: The material life of digital games

Harald Warmelink & Marko Siitonen: Player Communities in Multiplayer Online Games: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research

Jaakko Suominen: Game Reviews as Tools in the Construction of Game Historical Awareness in Finland

Jaakko Stenros: The Making of Nordic Larp: Documenting a Tradition of Ephemeral Co-Creative Play

Thorsten Quandt, Ruth Festl, Vivian Chen, Raine Koskimaa, Jan Van Looy, Frans Mäyrä & Jaakko Suominen: Panel on International gaming: Comparative survey research on digital gaming

Jaakko Stenros & Annika Waern: Narrative Friction in ARGs: Design Insights from Conspiracy For Good

Garry Grawford and Frans Mäyrä: Keynote Live Book Review, Video Gamers

Frans Mäyrä: Games Are Not Dangerous Enough! (The Ivory Tower that Isn’t: A Game Scholar Rant Session)

The second Nordic DiGRA conference will take place in Tampere, Finland, in June 6-8, 2012. Titled “Global and Local: Games in Culture and Society”, it will bring together researchers, experts and students from various disciplines, all driven to understand better the roles different games, players, game design and industry have in our culture and society. The conference venue will be located at the new Technopolis building, next to the University of Tampere main campus. You can already learn more about activities and attractions of Tampere from address: http://www.gotampere.fi/eng .

The full call for papers will be circulated in September 2011, with submission deadlines set at the beginning of 2012. This event also celebrates the 10th anniversary of game studies conferences in Finland, as introduced by CGDC in June 6, 2002. We hope you will take this opportunity to mark the event already into your calendars – see you all in Tampere next year!

- Nordic DiGRA 2012 organizing team

The consortium had its general meeting again in March 31, looking closely at the ongoing research work in PhD and postdoctoral research projects. Several publications are coming out from the researchers. The Player Barometer 2011 study was agreed upon and the research started. University of Tampere has hired three new research assistants to do player research: Juho Karvinen (who worked also with the Player Barometer 2009), Maria Alaoja and Heikki Tyni. A regular meeting schedule to supervise the research assistants’ work was set up.

The project has published the report of our second nation-wide survey on digital play, the Player Barometer 2010 (Pelaajabarometri 2010). The popularity of Nintendo Wii and its physical sport games was clearly reflected in this year’s study; on the other hand, Guitar Hero and other music games were no longer as popular among the players. Casual games and Facebook games in particular featured in the 2010 study. In addition, this year’s study examined the changes taking place in Finnish money gaming/gambling scene, and the play of educational games. The full raport can be downloaded from here:

https://www.jyu.fi/erillis/agoracenter/julkaisut/kirjat/pelaajabarometri2010

There was a conference planning meeting in February 24th, 2011. The preliminary dates for the Games in Culture and Society themed (also preliminary theme/title) conference are 6-8 of June, 2012. More details and the full call for papers will be made available later.

The Creation of Game Cultures project had two consortium-wide meetings during fall 2010.

• In 14 October 2010 there was discussion and presentations of the annual Yearbook of Gamestudies, with Yearbook 2010 published recently. The Games as Services research report was introduced, as well as results from Facebook research in the affiliated SoPlay project. In addition, the PhD project on online money gaming by Jani Kinnunen was discussed, as well as the Nordic Larp work by Jaakko Stenros (part of his PhD project). There were paper presentations by the project in IR11 conference, including paper and panel on online fantasy gaming by Frans Mäyrä, and about the digital and physical in games by Saara Toivonen and Olli Sotamaa. From University of Turku, the PhD project on sports gaming by Riikka Turtiainen was discussed, as well as several book projects by Pori digital culture team. The PhD project on rhetorics of games by Tero Pasanen was discussed from Jyväskylä University. New affiliated research projects had received Academy of Finland funding: those by professor Jaakko Suominen and professor Raine Koskimaa, as well as by Senior Researcher Olli Sotamaa. The preliminary results from Player Barometer 2010 survey were presented by Eero Kuronen (JY).
• In 25 November 2010, there was an update discussion about the economics of the project, as well as the funding status of individual researchers. There was planning discussion on 2012 conference, and potentials for collaboration on that. The results from Player Barometer 2010 were further discussed (the research report still unfinished). The main part of the meeting were dedicated to research seminar where the work of four researchers were discussed: those by Jani Kinnunen, Riikka Turtiainen, Tero Pasanen, and Jaakko Stenros. The potential of using more research assistants during 2012 was also discussed.

In the Nordic countries, live-action role-playing has developed into a unique and powerful form of expression. Nordic larps range from entertaining flights of fancy to the exploration of the intimate, the collective and the political. This incredible tradition combines influences from theatre and performance art with gamer cultures, in order to push the boundaries of role-playing.

Recently Nordic Larp, a book that documents this incredible scene was published. It does not just cover Finland, but Sweden, Norway and Denmark as well. Nordic Larp presents a critical cross section of this vibrant culture through 30 outstanding larps, combining stories told by designers, players and researchers with over 250 photographs of play and preparations. In addition the book contains two essays that explain the history and rhetorics of Nordic larp, and contextualizes it in relation to theatre, art and games.

The cultural study of games opens to the general audience in two exhibitions where researchers have collaborated with Finnish museums. The first exhibition was Pelaa! in Salo Art Museum, which University of Turku, Pori unit collaborated with. The second exhibition is “Pongista Pleikkaan” in Hämeenlinna Electra museum, which contains texts by University of Tampere games researchers in the exhibition publication. Links:

• Pelaa! http://www.salo.fi/kulttuurijakirjasto/kulttuuripalvelut/taidemuseo/nayttelyt/3167.aspx
• Pongista Pleikkaan: http://www.elektra.fi/pages/pp.html

There was a whole consortium meeting in Tampere at June 9, 2010. Eleven researchers were present, and the ongoing and past work, as well as the future of research was discussed. Future publications will include Player Barometer 2010 study, which continues the first barometer, published in 2009. The Finnish Yearbook of Game Studies 2010 is also well on the way and will appear in the fall. Other outcomes of the work by project researchers include a forthcoming book project of Nordic Larp, and a long list of published articles on different aspects of various game cultures (updated information forthcoming in this site).