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Let Me Take You to The Movies

Productive Players, Commodification and Transformative Play

University of Tampere, Finland, olli.sotamaa{at}uta.fi

/ This article examines the contested issue of player productivity, with a focus on the multifaceted relations between players and the game industry. These relations are explored using the movie studio simulation The Movies (Lionhead Studios, 2005) as a case study. Firstly, through an examination of the game, some of the prevailing game industry's practices, and their relations to the ones applied amongst other creative industries (particularly the film industry) are introduced. Secondly, the game, and especially the accompanying moviemaking editor, is analysed from the perspective of `transformative play'. Further, the reasons behind, and consequences of, allowing the players to make and distribute short movies of their own are contemplated. Finally the article addresses the mechanisms of control and reward that are applied by the corporate actors in relation to The Movies. The article suggests that in the age of commodified play, players face trade-offs all the time. Therefore, the study of rules that has become central in game studies has to be expanded to the `out-game rules' defined by the corporate players.

Key Words: digital games • game industry • player productivity • The Movies • transformative play

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