My DA so far has revolved around me filming my Mario Kart Wii gameplay and posting short form videos on TikTok. This participatory research into the game media has allowed me to interact with other users and uncover the role nostalgia plays in the longevity of the game. When forming my analytical framework, I emphasised wanting to discover other peoples opinions. Now I understand the importance of uncovering how Mario Kart Wii gameplay relates to my feelings of nostalgia and draw on shared experiences. On twitter, I have been doing polls to the bcm215 hashtag to find out how my classmates respond. As explored in Video Games as Time Machines: Video Game Nostalgia and the Success of Retro Gaming [Wulf, T. et al] “gamers are starting to return to their initial and past experiences with games.”
This comment I recived on my pitch helped me reflect on nostalgia and question what people prefer in their gameplay such as the affordances and constraints of the game mechanics, console, time period it came out. For me, Mario Kart wii was around when I was 10 years old and it was a little after-school escape from reality for me. I also loved improving at the tracks and getting competitive with my brother. This psychoanalysis of my own motivations has helped me pose some questions to ask my audience before the final DA such as, “what time period does the game remind you of?”, “what was your favourite thing about the game then versus now”.
For my final DA submission, I aim to have more gameplay published, posing questions to hopefully get responses in the comments. I also would like to do a final video discussing my findings on the role of nostalgia in the longevity of Mario Kart Wii.
made by madii. 
Hi Madi! First of all, as someone who is also researching the effects of nostalgia in video games, I am very interested to see what conclusions you make through the development of your DA!
Since you are focusing on one game, it might be interesting to do some extra research on the game console and make some connections of nostalgia through the release of the Wii and the types of people who grew up playing it. I like your focus on psychoanalysis, I think that is a great concept to focus on when looking at elements of childhood and nostalgia, although I would have liked to have been presented with a fully fleshed-out analytical framework so I could learn more about the themes and concepts you are looking at!
There is some evidence of background research being conducted, but I thought I’d share some of the sources that have assisted my critical analysis!
“Why Nostalgia For Video Games Is Uniquely Powerful” – this is a popular media source that explores why we keep coming back to the games from our childhood. It’s a really interesting read that also has some great insights on Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario Bro’s.
“Nostalgia Videogames as Playable Game Criticism” – this research paper aims to gain understanding not only the revisitation of nostalgic games, but also the recreation. It demonstrates how these games can be considered “playable explorations of the past”.
In terms of iterations, I think you adapted your project well considering the limitations of the TikTok platform. Short-form videos are also more likely to pop up on someone’s FYP, meaning you will hopefully get some good interactions still, and it is evident the you of content you are making is relevant to the platform through the relevant trending sounds. Initiating conversation through the use of questions and in the comments is also a great idea to promote feedback. Overall, I think you are doing some great work! I just would’ve loved to have seen it all mapped out on a weekly schedule or timetable so I could see what’s coming up next and how you are managing your time! Keep up the good work 🙂
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Hi Madi,
I just have a few suggestions for how you might improve your DA. You said you need 1000 followers on TikTok to do livestreams, however didn’t mention if you still wanted to do this if you are able to. Have you thought about how you might be able to achieve this? I’m doing BCM214 and I’ve found just by posting regularly and using the right hashtags and sounds, you should be able to fairly quickly reach 1000 followers. I would also suggest asking questions either in your tiktok videos or in the captions to generate audience feedback.
You said you want to draw parallels between your experiences and your audiences. This is great, but I would also encourage you to take a post structuralist approach and recognise this everyone will have different experiences, and explore these different experiences and opinions.
You also state that within psychoanalysis you want to look which version of Mario-Kart people prefer and why, through surveys and polls. I think this will be quite difficult for you to achieve as it’s very complex to get inside people’s minds and understand why they like something. As well as this, as you stated, it is so subjective and based off of so many different factors.
I would pair this with secondary research about and their affordances and limitations and the sales of the game to determine which one people liked more, rather than trying to get inside the minds of people and ‘why’ they play as this is very complex and difficult to do.
Here’s some statistics I’ve found about the sales of the different versions of the game
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1091382/mario-kart-unit-sales/
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/250157/mario-kart-a-sales-history/ (this source is older so you’ll need to pair it with newer research)
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/02/mario_kart_8_overtakes_mario_kart_wii_as_best-selling_series_entry
You said you will be gathering data via twitter polls, consider whether this is extensive enough research in order to be able to reach a conclusion. If you still decide you want to do this, I recommend conducting this research but not coming to definitive conclusions as that it going to be very difficult to achieve, and unethical, within the small sample size you will likely be conducting your research about.
Instead, I think you should more focus on secondary research that already exists about your topic specifically, or draw from similar research about childhood nostalgia leading to people liking original versions of media more, for example, and link this back to your game media text, rather than trying to conduct your own primary research.
You’re going to have to be very careful not to make generalisations and assumptions about the audience as a whole, but so far you seem to be doing a good job of this.
Overall, You’ve definitely showed iteration of your work and how you’re sharing it with a public audience, looking forward to seeing your final DA!
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Hey Madi!!
To start I will go over the content you discussed in your video! I found the video itself to be really relaxing and easy to understand and pick up the information you were discussing! Going over your topic definitely brought back nostalgia for me through the game as I played it quite frequently when I was younger! I think you are heading in a good direction for the development you are trying to create. I look forward to seeing your final DA and hearing about your findings.
In regards to the game and the analytic framework that follows, you seem to really be heading to being able to determine your results and findings from the game. Your reflection on your feedback from the pitch was really well taken and adapted into your discussion and the adjustments made (whether these were questions to be asked etc.)
I think overall you have really found yourself in a good position leading into the final product and I thank you for being able to even help me determine or figure out some issues I was having in my own project!
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Hi Madi, you DA looks good! You clearly explained your analytical framework which sounds interesting. You have clearly used the subject content which helps to analyse the content you are creating. It’s good to see how you are going about reflecting nostalgia through your DA and you have made a clear connection with you own personal experiences. You DA beta looks well-presented, and you clearly show that you have come into problems and have overcome said problems which is great. However, just a thought, with the issues of tiktok putting a limit of livestream would it be worth considering livestreaming on another platform, like Instagram or twitch?
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Reblogged this on Game Cultures.
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