Upgrade StorageAdd Video game as a source.
I'm studying 3D graphics for games and it pains me that there is tons of options for movies, books and musik but not a single one built in for video games. It is 2020 now and the video game industry has for several years been the largest entertainment industry in the world, I find it very weird that no option for a video game source exists.
on a side note, we use the Harvard Anglia Ruskin reference system and I would love the option of translating a few things into Swedish there. Such as instead of "and" between two authors it's "och", same for page umbers beng "ss" instead of "pp".
on a side note, we use the Harvard Anglia Ruskin reference system and I would love the option of translating a few things into Swedish there. Such as instead of "and" between two authors it's "och", same for page umbers beng "ss" instead of "pp".
I'll simply paste the excerpt here from Anglia Ruskin on computer program and video games:
""
For a computer program downloaded from the internet, the required elements of a reference are:
Authorship/Organisation, Year. Title of program. (Version). [computer program] Distributor/Publisher. (if available) Available at: [Accessed date]
Adobe Systems Incorporated, 2013. Adobe Air (3.8 beta). [computer program] Adobe Labs. Available at: [Accessed 30 August 2013].
Computer Games
Developer, Year. Title of game (version). [format] Place of publication: publisher.
Rockstar Games, 2018. Red Dead Redemption 2 (special edition). [PS4 game] New York City: Rockstar Games.
""
While quite similar, there are som differences. We could just go over them one by one I suppose. (comparing the video game criteria to the fields of computer program in zotero)
Developer = Company
Year = Date
Title of game = Title
(version) = Version
[format] = System
Place of publication = Place
Publisher = Rights???
While it seems like 6/7 of these fields are translatable it's still a major pain having to do these translations in your head each time, especially as a non native english speaker.
I can see the point of these being similar, but it also feels a bit dated to think that computer software = games. Games exist on dozens of platforms besides a computer and that's not even mentioning boardgames and similar analogue options.
Adding a "Game" category shouldn't be such a stretch in my eyes.
PS. not to mention that even if I fill out these fields in Zotero, it will totally botch my reference list at the end (I assume at least).
In both of them, the rightsholder/company producing it is entered as the author ("Programmer"), the publisher in the "Company" field, and the other fields as you indicate.
I understand that in your area of research, games are a distinct category from other software, but all fields have many distinct categories that wouldn't be useful for the vast majority of users. For example, in my research as a personality psychologist, test manuals are a distinct form of work than either books or reports, but such a distinction is not useful for people outside of my field. So, adding new specific item types has to be done cautiously, and one of the key decision points is whether a new type requires a distinct citation form that existing similar types. That isn't the case here. More nuanced classification of items can be accomplished using the Type/Format/System fields or Zotero Tags. My understanding is that user-created custom item types are planned in the medium term, but no ETA as to when that might be implemented.
I think video games are much better classified as software than as games, though, given the technical component of the project, including, say, platform information.
@adamsmith I also agree that having "computer" in front of "software" is something that should be changed. There is so much software currently that doesn't run on computers (just think smartphones, apps) that just "software" would be a better fit. I kinda disagree that games are "software" even though most of them technically are in a way, but putting them in that category would probbaly do the job.
Another solution would be to add the video game labels (publisher, place of publication) as an option or a drop down box you can chose similar to programmer/contributor.
Thanks for the help guys.
In addition to rapidly gaining cultural influence, as an industry gaming is larger than the film and music industries combined. Game production is also more akin to film production than traditional software - game production often follows a studio model where visual design, sound design, and UX are as important as the programming.
The argument, at least in my understanding, is that video games can be adequately described using existing item types, in particular software. One needs a very good business case for developers to consider adding an extra type with essentially the same properties. The significance of video games is not the issue, I am sure most people agree that they are important and there is a large amount of research on that topic. In my opinion, the issue is to what extent their bibliographic description is different from what is already supported with zero extra cost.
I'm also not sure if 'game' really works as an item type given how different (board)games and videogames are in everything from design to distribution.
And just to re-iterate: inclusion of item types is a complex, drawn-out process that isn't intended to make value judgments on the relative cultural or scholarly importance of a given object, so while I understand that there are underlying frustrations about the acceptance of game studies within 'traditional' disciplines, this is not the place to vent these if you want to have a productive exchange.