Examining Contemporary Cultural Production

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Casey O'Donnell

Casey O'Donnell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University. His research examines the creative collaborative work of videogame design and development. This research examines the cultural and collaborative dynamics that occur in both professional "AAA" organizations and formal and informal "independent" game development communities. His research has spanned game development companies from the United States to India. His research examines issues of work, production, copyright, as well as third world and postcolonial aspects of the videogame development workplace. Casey is also an active game developer, releasing his first independent game, "Osy," in February of 2011.

Public (Research) Design: Un-friend Stories Apr 8, 2013

An Introduction [Cross Posted at the CASTAC Blog] Ask an anthropologist a question and they’ll tell you a story. In this case, you didn’t ask, but I’m going to tell. During the fall of 2012, I was perusing my Facebook … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #CULTD, Design, Facebook, Friendship, STS, surveillance | 1 Comment

Reflecting on 15 Years of Hell: End User License Agreements and Diablo Jul 11, 2012

In the first Ro15oH post, I introduced the idea that Diablo (taken as a kind of 15-year whole) offers a productive lens through which to think about shifting modes of media practice. While I indexed a conversation over Facebook between … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cultural production, Diablo, eula, Game Design, Games, industry | Comments Off

Reflecting on 15 Years of Hell: Media Practice and Diablo Jun 18, 2012

An Introduction to “Ro15YoH” Diablo III’s release nearly a month ago has garnered a significant amount of attention, interest, ire, parody, … from game players and the enthusiast press. What has been more interesting to me, has been to reflect … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cultural production, Diablo, Game Design, Game Development, Games, industry | 1 Comment

Kick Starting Fans and the Play of Patronage Feb 16, 2012

[Cross Posted on my Personal Blog] It has been a strange couple of days in #GAMEDEV land. For those that haven’t followed Double Fine’s Adventure on KickStarter, now would be a good time to start. The short story is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged co-production, Crowd Funding, cultural production, Double Fine, Fan Culture, fandom, Game Development, KickStarter, participatory culture, Patronage | Comments Off

Cows and Cyborgs: On Academic Irony… Oct 7, 2011

[Cross Posted from my Personal Blog] I’ve clicked a cow. Twice. One Kotaku article and a game designer’s reflections on that article got me to thinking about Ian Bogost’s Cow Clicker, again. I first clicked a cow when I added … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cow Clicker, Games, Serious Games, Social Games | 1 Comment

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