HACS
(Historical-Analytical Comparative System) has been designed by scholars at
Université de Montréal over the last ten years. It integrates multiple tools
through which we can visualize the
evolution of videogame culture and perform comparative studies between ten partnering regions (North American
/ Turtle island, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Iran, Japan, Poland, United
Kingdom, Czechia). The project’s
end goal is to provide a better understanding of the videogame experience and
its evolution over time through systematic analysis of two types of traces: the gameplay experience of 2000 videogames (selected by diverse
expert committees within each of the partnering regions) and the promotional discourse framing tens of
thousands of games. We get acquainted with many games only through this
promotional contact, and thus it could be said that marketing departments
influence our historical imagination to a large extent. This new
version of HACS takes notice of recent change in videogame historiography: the
impulse for decolonizing archives,
the legitimization of “minor” histories
and the necessity to trace back the rich
diversity of people and practices that has contributed to the edification of
the medium. By 2026, the project will make visible all this richness thanks to
the collaboration of selection committees formed with diversity in mind.
Results from data encoding will appear in real time on our public interface
over this period (more information about the committees: HACS project) HACS guide: generally speaking, navigation on the interface occurs through progressive trimming of
results: each of your selection (of genre, region, concept, etc.) combine in
order to reach more specific results. Instructions
and definitionsare integrated directly within the interface. You can also
select the level of complexity through a menu on the right of the interface.
HACS
operates from a relatively limited conceptual
framework which doesn’t claim to represent all the complexity of videogame
culture. It is but a mere selection seeking to facilitate learning and
manipulation of the interface and results analysis. All this conceptual work
has been improved over the years following the publication of many scholarly
papers. Feedback from the academic community allowed us to make the system
evolve beyond its initial scope and limitations. A few concepts and categories
have been adjusted consequently. The HACS team would like to send warm regards
to everyone who provided criticism and suggestions to make our tools better.
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