Books by Markku Reunanen
Instructor -This licentiate thesis deals with a worldwide community of hobbyists called the demos... more Instructor -This licentiate thesis deals with a worldwide community of hobbyists called the demoscene. The activities of the community in question revolve around real-time multimedia demonstrations known as demos. The historical frame of the study spans from the late 1970s, and the advent of affordable home computers, up to 2009. So far little academic research has been conducted on the topic and the number of other publications is almost equally low. The work done by other researchers is discussed and additional connections are made to other related fields of study such as computer history and media research.
Papers by Markku Reunanen
ABSTRACT Collaborative design activity can provide creative design solutions as well as be a sour... more ABSTRACT Collaborative design activity can provide creative design solutions as well as be a source of enrichment for all participants. Nevertheless, instantiating collaboration among team members coming from different disciplines and with diverse levels of expertise can ...
EGVE'05: Proceedings …, 2005
In this paper we present Näprä, a novel tracking device suitable for fine motor interaction. The ... more In this paper we present Näprä, a novel tracking device suitable for fine motor interaction. The motivation for building the device was the need to track users' fingertips in an immersive free-hand drawing environment. Such tracking offers significant benefits for ...
This article deals with the emergence of the retrogaming phenomenon in Finland starting from the ... more This article deals with the emergence of the retrogaming phenomenon in Finland starting from the 1980s. On the one hand, retrogaming can be considered as the practice of playing and collecting aging hardware and games, and on the other hand, it refers to a wider cultural phenomenon comprising, for example, commercial products, artistic activities, research, museums and online discussions. Using major Finnish computer hobbyist and game magazines as our primary source material, we trace the origins of game-related nostalgia, historicization, and retro hobbyism. We argue that the last thirty years can be divided into three periods: initial game nostalgia and historicization, the emergence of retrogaming, and the mainstream commodification of retro. The influential role of prominent journalists in the historicization of video games and general spreading of retro awareness is evident in the developments, as well as the perceived generation gaps between older and younger hobbyists. Based on the findings, retro and nostalgia appear as moving targets, when machines, games and characters go through a life cycle from their prime time to oblivion and, eventually, comeback and canonization into shared cultural icons.
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 2014
WiderScreen 1–2/2015, Apr 29, 2015
The Western theme in computer and video games remains a little studied topic, despite the competi... more The Western theme in computer and video games remains a little studied topic, despite the competitive nature and visibility of Western-themed entertainment, rodeo, fairground games and the game-like qualities of popularized Western stories. On the one hand the Western appears as a game genre in itself, with activities ranging from pistol shooting to horseback riding, but on the other hand it is a broader audiovisual thematic that can be pasted onto diverse kinds of games. Western-themed arcade games first appeared in the 1970s and, since then, the Wild West has been represented numerous times in video and computer games. The main focus in this article is to examine how Western themes were utilized and replicated in video games and how the reduction of these themes were often played to the extreme – in other words, how the West was remediated across different media.
WiderScreen 1–2/2015, Apr 29, 2015
Luomme tässä katsauksessa kokonaiskuvaa suomalaisesta Villin lännen musiikista 1920-luvulta näihi... more Luomme tässä katsauksessa kokonaiskuvaa suomalaisesta Villin lännen musiikista 1920-luvulta näihin päiviin saakka. Vaikka lännenelokuvan, -kirjallisuuden ja -sarjakuvien suosio onkin vuosien saatossa vaihdellut, eivät kappaleet rajoitu mihinkään tiettyyn ajanjaksoon, vaan niitä on tehty jokseenkin tasaisesti jo lähes sadan vuoden ajan. Useat kymmenet taiteilijat ovat hyödyntäneet western-tematiikkaa eri tavoin oman aikansa asenteiden, muodin ja soveliaisuussääntöjen puitteissa. Nostamme videoiden kautta esiin tyypillisiä, mielenkiintoisia sekä kummallisiakin esimerkkejä siitä, millaisia kuvauksia ja tulkintoja Amerikan pioneeriajasta on täällä tehty. Katsaus on osa meneillään olevaa tutkimusta suomalaisesta lännenmusiikista.
This article examines “crack intros,” short animated audiovisual presentations that reside at the... more This article examines “crack intros,” short animated audiovisual presentations that reside at the crossroads of software piracy, creativity, and communication. Since the beginning of the home computer era in the late 1970s, users have copied and shared software with one another. Informal swapping between friends quickly evolved into organized piracy, known as the “warez scene,” which operated across borders. Starting in the early 1980s, pirated games were often accompanied by screens where groups boasted their accomplishments and sent messages to others. The screens soon turned into flashy intros that contained animated logos, moving text, and music. In this article, we describe crack intros from three different perspectives: first, through their history; second, by treating them as creative artifacts; and, finally, by considering them as a communication medium. The three perspectives offer a novel peek into the practices of early software piracy and its little-known creative aspects.
Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, Feb 2015
This article deals with the design and implementation of an immersive installation where users co... more This article deals with the design and implementation of an immersive installation where users could gesturally navigate around the wreck of Vrouw Maria, a Dutch merchant ship that sank near the Finnish coast in 1771 and was rediscovered in 1999. The installation was built for the Maritime Museum in Kotka, Finland, and is part of the preservation efforts of the wreck, which still remains underwater. In addition to the cultural heritage aspect, the project was an experiment in holistic user-centered design, where several design methods, such as scenarios, role playing and informance, storyboards, and prototyping, were employed throughout the process in order to envision the final product as well as assess their utility in the scope of immersive installations. The approach we have taken and documented here can be used as a starting point for similar projects where archaeological sites are reconstructed virtually and presented, for example, in a museum setting.
Etnomusikologian vuosikirja 2014, Dec 19, 2014
Pelitutkimuksen vuosikirja 2014, Dec 10, 2014
Histories of the Finnish game industry have most often placed the birth of the trade at the begin... more Histories of the Finnish game industry have most often placed the birth of the trade at the beginning of the 1980s, when the first games were published for the Commodore VIC-20 and 64. Indeed, the first wave of releases coincides with the “micro fever” era, but according to the most recent findings, the first commercial computer game was Chesmac by Raimo Suonio, published in the spring of 1979. This review deals with the history of Chesmac, its rediscovery and the ongoing preservation efforts.
Hacking Europe, 2014
The chapter deals with the domestication of technology from a hobbyist viewpoint. The authors dis... more The chapter deals with the domestication of technology from a hobbyist viewpoint. The authors discuss how a specific hobbyist group, the demoscene, adopted home computers over the past few decades. The demoscene—or just the scene, as its members called it—represents a European, technically-oriented, and creative community that has existed since the mid-1980s. Based on written primary sources from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, the authors highlight various aspects of the complex process of the computer’s adoption. They argue that the demoscene did not accept personal computers without criticism, even though members enjoyed strong ties to computers and developed high-level skills. The main themes guiding the analysis are the concept of a “scene,” referring to thematically-focused communities of technology users and the concept of a “script,” denoting the perceived possibilities for the use of new technology.
Tekniikan Waiheita, Jan 2014
The so-called 4k intros are real-time audiovisual presentations that fit in four kilobytes. They ... more The so-called 4k intros are real-time audiovisual presentations that fit in four kilobytes. They have mostly been created by the demoscene, a technically-oriented community that emerged in the mid-1980s. In this article I study the history and cultural importance of 4k intros as a marginal form of digital art.
Numerous authors ranging from hobbyists to researchers have tried to explain the roots of the dem... more Numerous authors ranging from hobbyists to researchers have tried to explain the roots of the demoscene in their texts. Most often such histories have been brief and almost identical to each other: first appeared crackers with their crack intros, which then evolved into the demoscene during the late 1980s. In this article, I shall reiterate the canonical story and offer new perspectives to the events that led to the purported separation of the two communities. I approach the topic by looking at it from three different angles: first by dissecting the canonical story, then through the recollections of early hobbyists, and finally by comparing the two to the discussions found in contemporary texts. Based on the findings, the divergence between the two scenes was the outcome of a number of parallel developments, and was neither as clearcut nor rapid as often portrayed.
Maailmanlaajuiseen menestykseen nousseet, miljoonia tuottaneet hittipelit ovat nostaneet suomalai... more Maailmanlaajuiseen menestykseen nousseet, miljoonia tuottaneet hittipelit ovat nostaneet suomalaisen peliteollisuuden näkyviin valtamediassa. 2000-luvun menestystarinoiden takana on kuitenkin lähes kolmekymmentä vuotta kotimaisten kaupallisten pelien historiaa, jota tunnetaan huomattavasti heikommin. Tämän tutkimuksen lähtökohta on Videogames. -sivustolle kerätty materiaali, jota tarkastelemme sekä laadullisesta että määrällisestä näkökulmasta. Lähestymme teemoja esimerkkien ja tunnuslukujen kautta, jotta lukijalle hahmottuvat sekä suomalaisen peliteollisuuden monimuotoisuus että alan merkittävimmät historialliset muutokset vuosina 1984-2012. Käsiteltävistä tunnusluvuista keskeisimmät ovat vuosittaisten pelijulkaisujen määrä sekä pelien jakautuminen eri laitealustoille ja lajityyppeihin. Ohessa teemme havaintoja pelien arkistoinnin haasteista sekä peliluettelojen hyödyntämisestä tutkimuksessa.
Markku Reunanen Lehtori Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu, median laitos. Tu... more Markku Reunanen Lehtori Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu, median laitos. Turun yliopiston digitaalisen kulttuurin jatko-opiskelija 4k-introt ovat neljän kilotavun tiedostotilaan ahdettuja reaaliaikaisia audiovisuaalisia esityksiä, joita on tehty etenkin 1980-luvun puolivälissä syntyneen demokulttuurin eli demoskenen piirissä. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan 4k-introjen historiaa ja kulttuurista merkittävyyttä marginaalisena tietokonetaiteen muotona.
WiderScreen, Dec 13, 2013
Tero Heikkinen tutkija tero.j.heikkinen[a]aalto.fi Markku Reunanen lehtori markku.reunanen[a]aalt... more Tero Heikkinen tutkija tero.j.heikkinen[a]aalto.fi Markku Reunanen lehtori markku.reunanen[a]aalto.fi Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu 1970-luvulla länsimaissa alkanut karate-, kungfu-ja ninjabuumi tunnetaan parhaiten elokuvista, mutta se ilmeni myös monin muin tavoin: kirjallisuudessa, sarjakuvissa, populaarimusiikissa ja videopeleissä. Tässä artikkelissa selvitetään elokuvien kytköksiä kamppailupelityyppeihin ja niiden kuvastoon. Tutkimuksen keskeinen viitekehys on remediaatio, jota sovellamme eri medioiden välillä tapahtuvien uudelleentulkintojen käsittelyyn. Taustoitamme käsittelyä ensin kamppailuelokuvien ja sitten pelien historian kautta, minkä jälkeen tarkastelemme niiden välistä suhdetta. Artikkeli avaa useita rinnastuksia elokuvien ja tietokonepelien välillä, lähtien suorasta lisensoinnista ja päätyen elokuvien kuvaston sekä narratiivien väljempään lainaamiseen.
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Books by Markku Reunanen
Papers by Markku Reunanen