Tom Apperley
@t0mm7.bsky.social
Senior Research Fellow @CoEGameCult | Docent in Media Studies @utu.fi | Secretary of DiGRA | #dnd #gamecultures #gender #misogyny #platforms #playboy #porn #righttoplay #ukgamescene (he/his).
Darshana Jayemanne and my 2012 article "Game Studies Material Turn" from Westminster Papers In Communication just hit 200 citations on google scholar
www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/1...
#gamestudies
www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/1...
#gamestudies
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Darshana Jayemanne and my 2012 article "Game Studies Material Turn" from Westminster Papers In Communication just hit 200 citations on google scholar
www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/1...
#gamestudies
www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/1...
#gamestudies
Tiresome "liberal" Bill Maher licks chocolate off artist Karen Finley in this July '99 feature in Playboy.
November 18, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Tiresome "liberal" Bill Maher licks chocolate off artist Karen Finley in this July '99 feature in Playboy.
💡Sidetalking reveals how technological “failure” exposes the fragile negotiations between design intent, user practice, and cultural meaning. What counts as "Innovation" or "failure" depends on negotiations over time between designers, organizations, and publics.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
💡Sidetalking reveals how technological “failure” exposes the fragile negotiations between design intent, user practice, and cultural meaning. What counts as "Innovation" or "failure" depends on negotiations over time between designers, organizations, and publics.
(Quick aside) Nokia is based in Tampere, and local sensibilities dictated that my research on 'booth babes' be presented behind a curtain at the exhibition.
Example below:
Example below:
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
(Quick aside) Nokia is based in Tampere, and local sensibilities dictated that my research on 'booth babes' be presented behind a curtain at the exhibition.
Example below:
Example below:
🇫🇮 In Finland (home of Nokia) , sidetalking became a question of national identity as much as design. Local media balanced confusion with loyalty, reflecting how domestication operates not only in households but within national imaginaries of technological success.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
🇫🇮 In Finland (home of Nokia) , sidetalking became a question of national identity as much as design. Local media balanced confusion with loyalty, reflecting how domestication operates not only in households but within national imaginaries of technological success.
😂 Users made sense of the design through ridicule and parody—posting memes of bananas, alarm clocks, and consoles.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
😂 Users made sense of the design through ridicule and parody—posting memes of bananas, alarm clocks, and consoles.
🗣️ Widely ridiculed as a technological misstep. Our analysis of contemporary Finnish media indicates that this stemmed from a lack of communication. Nokia never explained sidetalking’s purpose; without a story, consumers filled the gap with ridicule.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
🗣️ Widely ridiculed as a technological misstep. Our analysis of contemporary Finnish media indicates that this stemmed from a lack of communication. Nokia never explained sidetalking’s purpose; without a story, consumers filled the gap with ridicule.
🏗️ Marketers wanted the sideways hold for distinctiveness and branding, overriding practicalities and problems engineers anticipated, revealing how internal hierarchies within organizations can shape technology.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
🏗️ Marketers wanted the sideways hold for distinctiveness and branding, overriding practicalities and problems engineers anticipated, revealing how internal hierarchies within organizations can shape technology.
🎮 Sidetalking symbolized the ambition for Nokia to shift from phones to a “convergent multimedia” paradigm, where phones were both media devices and symbols of youth 'cool' identity. Nokia’s first big attempt to redefine the mobile as a multimedia device.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
🎮 Sidetalking symbolized the ambition for Nokia to shift from phones to a “convergent multimedia” paradigm, where phones were both media devices and symbols of youth 'cool' identity. Nokia’s first big attempt to redefine the mobile as a multimedia device.
📱 Sidetalking was a deliberate design choice, not an accident.
Our archival/curatorial research demonstrates that Nokia engineered sidetalking to appeal to, and embody a playful, youth-oriented identity.
Our archival/curatorial research demonstrates that Nokia engineered sidetalking to appeal to, and embody a playful, youth-oriented identity.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
📱 Sidetalking was a deliberate design choice, not an accident.
Our archival/curatorial research demonstrates that Nokia engineered sidetalking to appeal to, and embody a playful, youth-oriented identity.
Our archival/curatorial research demonstrates that Nokia engineered sidetalking to appeal to, and embody a playful, youth-oriented identity.
New #openaccess article in @mobilemediacomm.bsky.social
"Sidetalking: Domesticating Nokia's playful designed identity"
On the Nokia mobile gaming platform: the Nokia NGage, released 2003.
A THREAD.
Download: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
#gamestudies #platformstudies
"Sidetalking: Domesticating Nokia's playful designed identity"
On the Nokia mobile gaming platform: the Nokia NGage, released 2003.
A THREAD.
Download: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
#gamestudies #platformstudies
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
New #openaccess article in @mobilemediacomm.bsky.social
"Sidetalking: Domesticating Nokia's playful designed identity"
On the Nokia mobile gaming platform: the Nokia NGage, released 2003.
A THREAD.
Download: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
#gamestudies #platformstudies
"Sidetalking: Domesticating Nokia's playful designed identity"
On the Nokia mobile gaming platform: the Nokia NGage, released 2003.
A THREAD.
Download: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
#gamestudies #platformstudies
UK Gamescenes Symposium will take place in Tampere/Hybrid on 16th September. Program and details for joining are attached. 1/2
Features work from skypeeps @digdems.bsky.social @nitessine.bsky.social @merilainen.bsky.social @rosgakori.bsky.social @vkankainen.bsky.social
Features work from skypeeps @digdems.bsky.social @nitessine.bsky.social @merilainen.bsky.social @rosgakori.bsky.social @vkankainen.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
UK Gamescenes Symposium will take place in Tampere/Hybrid on 16th September. Program and details for joining are attached. 1/2
Features work from skypeeps @digdems.bsky.social @nitessine.bsky.social @merilainen.bsky.social @rosgakori.bsky.social @vkankainen.bsky.social
Features work from skypeeps @digdems.bsky.social @nitessine.bsky.social @merilainen.bsky.social @rosgakori.bsky.social @vkankainen.bsky.social
If its deliberate, its genius that the Intersecting "Axes of Privilege, Discrimination and Oppression" kinda look like an asshole, if not, a fortuitous coincidence.
August 7, 2025 at 6:23 AM
If its deliberate, its genius that the Intersecting "Axes of Privilege, Discrimination and Oppression" kinda look like an asshole, if not, a fortuitous coincidence.
Elizabeth Loftus was the co-author of "Minds at Play," one of the first scholarly books on video games, was also an expert on 'false-memory syndrome,' and was an expert witness at the trials of Harvey Weinstein and Ghislaine Maxwell:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...
August 2, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Elizabeth Loftus was the co-author of "Minds at Play," one of the first scholarly books on video games, was also an expert on 'false-memory syndrome,' and was an expert witness at the trials of Harvey Weinstein and Ghislaine Maxwell:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...
word (1st paragraph from my 2010 book attached)
July 30, 2025 at 7:43 AM
word (1st paragraph from my 2010 book attached)
Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest, in this image she is at a promotional event where there was a fuckup and the signage read "PH's Jewel Jam" but she got over it :)
#ParisHilton
#ParisHilton
July 30, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest, in this image she is at a promotional event where there was a fuckup and the signage read "PH's Jewel Jam" but she got over it :)
#ParisHilton
#ParisHilton
moar gamecube and a "Vive" (wtf)
July 30, 2025 at 6:53 AM
moar gamecube and a "Vive" (wtf)
She totally carries her Gamecube around
July 30, 2025 at 6:53 AM
She totally carries her Gamecube around
In the 2000s, women and girls were widely recognised as game consumers and a demographic where more consumers could potentially be recruited, given the right marketing. #ParisHilton was one of many influencers/celebrities involved with product placements and guest appearances. A tribute 🎩🙂
July 30, 2025 at 6:53 AM
In the 2000s, women and girls were widely recognised as game consumers and a demographic where more consumers could potentially be recruited, given the right marketing. #ParisHilton was one of many influencers/celebrities involved with product placements and guest appearances. A tribute 🎩🙂
It was an Unearthed Arcana thing, so the tail end of 1E AD&D made it official, and that means it was probably floated in one of GG's Dragon columns in the early 80s.
July 28, 2025 at 4:25 AM
It was an Unearthed Arcana thing, so the tail end of 1E AD&D made it official, and that means it was probably floated in one of GG's Dragon columns in the early 80s.