2011/08/01 by Casey O’Donnell · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Computer Science · Engineering · #Digital Games and Media #Cinema and Media Studies #Media and Digital Communication #Convergence (economics) #Production (economics) #Context (archaeology) #Technological convergence #Through-the-lens metering #Ethnography #Digital media #Sociology #Studio #Computer science #Lens (geology) #Engineering #Economics #History #World Wide Web #Telecommunications #Economic growth
paper · doi:10.1177/1354856511405766
openalex publication_date 2011/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This article critically examines the notion of ‘convergence’ as it applies to videogames and videogame development. Drawing on data from more than five years of ethnographic fieldwork amongst ‘AAA’ videogame development studios, the specific case of Spider-Man 3’s development is used as a lens for understanding the complexity of modern media production practice. This case sheds light on our understandings of cross-media development practice and the labor involved in the effect of media ‘flow’ from platform to platform. Actor-Network Theory serves as a guiding analytic framework for understanding how videogame production in this context, given the sheer number of actors, has significant implications for the kinds of cross-media products created and the labor involved in bringing these projects to fruition.