Abstract
From Tetris and Angry Birds to location-based services multi-player games like Ingress, what constitutes mobile gaming has changed dramatically. In these various modalities and affordances, there is a multiplicity of engagement, distraction, and embodiment that cannot be encompassed by the outdated notion of ‘casual’ play. Mobile games are often described as casual—a label that camouflages the different modes of engagement, labor, and embodiment. In this chapter two key concepts informing contemporary mobile gaming are discussed. A site-specific mobile game (keitai mizu [mobile water]) made for a Tokyo post 3/11 tsunami and Fukushima disaster is presented to illustrate the concepts. Keitai mizu renders players into investigators by uncovering the natural water streams under the urban cartographies.
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© 2014 Marsha Berry and Max Schleser
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Hjorth, L. (2014). Co-present and Ambient Play: A Case Study of Mobile Gaming. In: Berry, M., Schleser, M. (eds) Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137469816_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137469816_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50315-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-46981-6
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