All Outputs (25)

The esports experience economy: a multiple case study of esports events, peripherals and fashion (2024)
Journal Article

Purpose - To examine the cultural and economic circumstances that shape esports consumer agency through case studies of 'experiential consumption' (Miles, 2021).

Design/methodology/approach - A multiple case study approach (Stake, 2006) is deploy... Read More about The esports experience economy: a multiple case study of esports events, peripherals and fashion.

Just Fun and Games? A Sociological Consideration of Fun in Video Games (2024)
Journal Article
Crawford, G., & Brock, T. (2024). Just Fun and Games? A Sociological Consideration of Fun in Video Games. Games and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241254876

The concept of “fun” is widely used within the game design and game studies literature, and is frequently highlighted as a key component of good game design, as well as a key factor in why people play games. However, it is a term rarely unpacked, and... Read More about Just Fun and Games? A Sociological Consideration of Fun in Video Games.

Towards a digital football studies : current trends and future directions for football cultures research in the post-Covid-19 moment (2021)
Journal Article

As the digital revolution continues apace, emergent technologies and means of communication have presented new challenges and opportunities for the field of football studies. In turn, researchers active across the social sciences and beyond have resp... Read More about Towards a digital football studies : current trends and future directions for football cultures research in the post-Covid-19 moment.

‘All avatars aren’t we’: football and the experience of football-themed digital content during a global pandemic (2021)
Journal Article

This paper explores the contemporary nature of association football consumption. In particular, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic reveals the contemporary and particular nature of the relationship between football and its supporters, which is incre... Read More about ‘All avatars aren’t we’: football and the experience of football-themed digital content during a global pandemic.

Urban poachers : cosplay, playful cultures, and the appropriation of urban space (2018)
Journal Article
Crawford, G., & Hancock, D. (2018). Urban poachers : cosplay, playful cultures, and the appropriation of urban space. Journal of Fandom Studies, 6(3), 301-318. https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs.6.3.301_1

This article considers cosplayers’ use and transformation of urban space. Cosplay provides an important subcultural embodiment of contemporary popular culture, through which we can learn a great deal about contemporary forms of fandom, participatory... Read More about Urban poachers : cosplay, playful cultures, and the appropriation of urban space.

A feel for the game : exploring gaming 'experience' through the case of sports-themed video games (2018)
Journal Article

Video gaming is often understood and narrated as an 'experience', and we would suggest that this is particularly notable with sports-themed video games. However, we would argue that how the game experience is curated and consumed, and how this relate... Read More about A feel for the game : exploring gaming 'experience' through the case of sports-themed video games.

British digital game studies (2018)
Journal Article
Crawford, G., MacCallum-Stewart, E., & Ruffino, P. (2018). British digital game studies. ToDiGRA (Online), 3(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.26503/todigra.v3i3.76

This paper provides a short and potted recent history of digital games research in Great Britain. We begin this story in 2001. Though a substantial amount of research and writing on digital games was taking in Britain since at least the 1980s, for us... Read More about British digital game studies.

Video games and agency in contemporary society (2018)
Journal Article

In recent years, the idea of player control, or agency, has become central and explicit in certain video games and genres, affecting many debates concerning the study or definitions of video games. In spite of this, the notion of agency in video game... Read More about Video games and agency in contemporary society.

The material role of digital media in connecting with, within, and beyond museums (2016)
Journal Article

The connective potentials of digital media have been positioned as a key part of a contemporary museum visitor experience. Using a sociology of translation, we construct a network of visitor experiences using data from a digital media engagement proj... Read More about The material role of digital media in connecting with, within, and beyond museums.

Branded app implementation at the London symphony orchestra (2016)
Journal Article

This paper considers the key findings of a yearlong collaborative research project focusing on the London Symphony Orchestra’s development, implementation and testing of a branded smartphone app. This app was designed to primarily sell discounted tic... Read More about Branded app implementation at the London symphony orchestra.

Is it in the Game? Reconsidering play spaces, game definitions, theming and sports videogames (2015)
Journal Article

From the very first days of digital gaming, sport-themed videogames have been a constant and ever-popular presence. However, compared with many other genres of games, sports-themed videogames have remained relatively under-research. Using the case of... Read More about Is it in the Game? Reconsidering play spaces, game definitions, theming and sports videogames.

An orchestral audience : classical music and continued patterns of distinction (2014)
Journal Article

This paper considers the key findings of a yearlong collaborative research project focusing on the audience of the London Symphony Orchestra and their introduction of a new mobile telephone (‘app’) ticketing system. A mixed-method approach was employ... Read More about An orchestral audience : classical music and continued patterns of distinction.

Is there an app for that? A case study of the potentials and limitations of the participatory turn and networked publics for classical music audience engagement (2014)
Journal Article
Crawford, G., Gosling, V., Bagnall, G., & Light, B. (2014). Is there an app for that? A case study of the potentials and limitations of the participatory turn and networked publics for classical music audience engagement. Information, Communication and Society, 17(9), 1072-1085. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2013.877953

The participatory turn, fuelled by discourses and rhetoric regarding social media, and in the
aftermath of the dot.com crash of the early 2000s, enrols to some extent an idea of being
able to deploy networks to achieve institutional aims. The arts... Read More about Is there an app for that? A case study of the potentials and limitations of the participatory turn and networked publics for classical music audience engagement.

Game scenes: theorizing digital game audiences (2011)
Journal Article
Crawford, G., & Gosling, V. (2011). Game scenes: theorizing digital game audiences. Games and Culture, 6(2), 135-154. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412010364979

This article develops and expands on earlier work of the authors, which posits the idea of considering gamers as a (media) audience—enabling parallels to be drawn
with wider literatures and debates on audience research and media fan cultures. In par... Read More about Game scenes: theorizing digital game audiences.

More than a game: sports-themed video games & player narratives (2009)
Journal Article
Crawford, G., & Gosling, V. (2009). More than a game: sports-themed video games & player narratives. Sociology of Sport Journal, 26(1), 50-66

This paper considers of the social importance of sports-themed video games, and more specifically, discusses their use and role in the construction of gaming and wider social narratives. Here, building upon our own and wider sociological and video ga... Read More about More than a game: sports-themed video games & player narratives.

‘It’s in the game’: sport fans, film and digital gaming (2008)
Journal Article
Crawford, G. (2008). ‘It’s in the game’: sport fans, film and digital gaming. Sport in Society, 11(2/3), 130-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430430701823380

This essay compares the relative successes of sport-related films and sport-related digital games. Where sport-related films are relatively infrequent and even rarer successful when compared with other genres of film, sport-related games are a massiv... Read More about ‘It’s in the game’: sport fans, film and digital gaming.

The cult of champ man: the culture and pleasures of championship manager/football manager gamers (2006)
Journal Article
Crawford, G. (2006). The cult of champ man: the culture and pleasures of championship manager/football manager gamers. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180600858721

This paper considers the popularity and social significance of the gaming series Championship Manager/Football Manager. Sport-related games continue to be one of the most popular forms of digital gaming, and the series has proved to be one of the mos... Read More about The cult of champ man: the culture and pleasures of championship manager/football manager gamers.

Digital gaming, sport and gender (2005)
Journal Article
Crawford, G. (2005). Digital gaming, sport and gender. Leisure Studies, 24(3), 259-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/0261436042000290317

This paper has developed out of ongoing research into the associated patterns of sport and digital gaming interests and participation. Specifically here this paper presents the major findings of a questionnaire based survey distributed to undergradu... Read More about Digital gaming, sport and gender.

Toys for boys? The continued marginalization and participation of women as digital gamers (2005)
Journal Article

This paper develops out of ongoing research into the location and use of digital gaming in practices of everyday life. Specifically this paper draws on a questionnaire based survey of just under four hundred undergraduate students and twenty-three f... Read More about Toys for boys? The continued marginalization and participation of women as digital gamers.

‘Cheering on the boys’: female sport fans and physical education (2005)
Journal Article
Gosling, V., & Crawford, G. (2005). ‘Cheering on the boys’: female sport fans and physical education

This paper considers the location of women as fans and followers of sport and the consequences of this for the teaching of Physical Education (PE). It argues that even though many women continue to be marginalised within sport fan communities, their... Read More about ‘Cheering on the boys’: female sport fans and physical education.