In this digital age, it’s often said that every man and his dog has a podcast. This is especially true for games podcasts, with over 14,000 unique podcasts out there vying for your attention.
Unfortunately, despite the immense number of games podcasts, there is a surprising lack of academic study in the field. Who is making these podcasts? Why? Who is listening? What drives attention towards the podcasts? Who is really in control when it comes to profiting from games podcasts?
There are dozens of questions that remain unanswered, despite the growth of the format.
This project aims to rectify that.
Ryan Stanton is a PhD Student at the University of Sydney. A Media and Communications Graduate, he completed his honours thesis working with Dr Mark R Johnson to examine the audiences of Actual Play podcasts – a type of podcast which turns the gameplay of Tabletop Roleplaying Games into serialized narrative adventures. This project – analysing games podcasts – forms the basis of his PhD thesis, which he is once again working under the supervision of Dr Johnson on. He’s a lifelong gaming enthusiast, who grew up playing games on the Super Nintendo gifted to him by his Uncle. Never the less, he is still very bad at games.
Dr Mark R Johnson is a Lecturer in Digital Cultures at the University of Sydney. His work focuses on content creation in and around digital games, particularly Twitch and game live streaming, on which he has published extensively in top-ranked media studies journals such as “Information, Communication and Society”, “Media, Culture and Society”, and “Games and Culture”. This project is an exciting new direction for the study of gaming content creation that both connects to, and builds upon, Mark’s expertise. Like Ryan, Mark has been playing games since the moment his tiny baby hands could manage a controller, and he is also a game developer and regular games blogger, podcaster, and commentator.
Sorry for the prolonged absence of updates. I took some time off over the holidays to spend with the family, and am still getting back into the swing of things. The honest truth is that as a result, there wasn't much new to report. And then there was too much to report so I didn't get a chance to post this blog even after writing it. That's changed now, as I'm once again in full swing with the academic work.
Posted on December 17, 2021 Well, Christmas is almost here and I am excited to be taking a break. I've got flights booked to see the family and am hoping it all goes to plan, so it's likely that today marks the final day of study for the year from me. Of course, I couldn't end the year without giving one last update on where I am. So here it is.
Posted on November 15, 2021 In the last blog post, I concluded by noting that my next steps were to do some further reading on other theories and frameworks that may be suitable for my research. In this post, I want to provide an update on just that. I haven't finished them, but I have done enough that I am starting to get a feel for some of the concepts and where they may fit. So, what have I been reading?
A project like this is only possible with the help of the team, and those passionate about the research. Got any questions, queries or feedback? Are you a gaming podcaster interested in learning more? Drop us a line via the contact form to the right, or email us at the address below
rsta0386@uni.sydney.edu.au