“Drown Your Troubles in Coffee”: Place, Heterotopia, and Immersion in the Coffee Talk Series
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/2391-8551.11.03Keywords:
place, space, heterotopia, immersion, cozy games, bed, textual analysis, 'Coffee Talk'Abstract
This article contributes to the growing body of research on space, place, and immersion in video games and offers an analysis of placeness in Coffee Talk (Toge Productions, 2020) and Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (Toge Productions, 2023). Building on the work of Michel Foucault (1967/2008), this article begins by analyzing the coffee shop of this series as a heterotopia that allows the game characters and the player to find a form of comfort. Then, it examines the series in light of theories of immersion and pays particular attention to the place where the author played the two games – his bed – and also describes it as a heterotopia. This paper shows the usefulness of Foucault’s concept of heterotopia to understand placeness and coziness in video games, and the relevance of taking into account the physical space of play when we conduct a textual analysis.
References
Agnew, J.A. (1987). Place and politics: The geographical mediation of state and society. Allen & Unwin.
Google Scholar
Ahmed, S. (2006). Queer phenomenology: Orientations, objects, others. Duke University Press.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822388074
Andiloro, A. (2022). “This must be the place”: Understanding video game placeness through atmosphere and the refrain. In Dark Souls. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 14(2), 207–223. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw_00058_1
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw_00058_1
Arsenault, D. & Picard, M. (2008). Le jeu vidéo entre dépendance et plaisir immersive : les trois formes d’immersion vidéoludique [Video game between dependency and immersive pleasure: The three forms of immersion]. Acte de colloque d’Homo Ludens. Le jeu vidéo : un phénomène social massivement pratiqué. https://ludicine.ca/sites/ludicine.ca/files/arsenault,-picard---le-jeu-video-entre-dependance-et-plaisir-immersif_0.pdf
Google Scholar
Barr, M. & Copeland-Stewart, A. (2022). Playing video games during the COVID-19 pandemic and effects on players’ well-being. Games and Culture, 17(1), 122–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211017036
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211017036
Bolzoni, E. (2013). Heterotopic cafés and urban resistance: A reading of the nostalgic Parisian cityscapes of Modiano and Debord. 1616: Anuario de Literatura Comparada, 3, 139–152.
Google Scholar
Breger, C. (2008). Digital digs, or Lara Croft replaying Indiana Jones: Archaeological tropes and “colonial loops” in new media narrative. Aether: The Journal of Media Geography, 11, 41–60.
Google Scholar
Brown, E. & Cairns, P. (2004). A grounded investigation of game immersion. CHI 2004, 1297–1300. https://doi.org/10.1145/985921.986048
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/985921.986048
Calleja, G. (2011). In-game: From immersion to incorporation. MIT Press.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8429.001.0001
Code, B. (2017, March 8). Slouching toward relevant video games. GamesIndustry.biz. Online: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/slouching-toward-relevant-videogames Coffee Talk. (n.d.). Steam. Online: https://store.steampowered.com/app/914800/Coffee_Talk/ (accessed on November 13, 2023).
Google Scholar
Coffee Talk episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly. (n.d.). Steam. Online: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1663220/Coffee_Talk_Episode_2_Hibiscus__Butterfly/ (accessed on November 13, 2023).
Google Scholar
Cresswell, T. (2015). Place: An introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Google Scholar
Domsch, S. (2019). Space and narrative in computer games. In: E. Aarseth & S. Günzel (Eds.), Ludotopia: Spaces, places and territories in computer games (pp. 103–123). transcript Verlag.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839447307-006
Dungan, A. (2020, May 3). Nonviolent verbs and why video games need more of them. Thoughtful Play. Online: https://pages.stolaf.edu/thoughtfulplay/nonviolent-verbs-and-why-video-games-need-more-of-them/ (accessed on December 26, 2023).
Google Scholar
Flynn, B. (2003). Geography of the digital hearth. Information, Communication & Society, 6(4), 551–576. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118032000163259
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118032000163259
Foucault, M. (2008). Of other spaces (L. De Cauter & M. Dehaene, Trans.). In: L. De Cauter & M. Dehaene (Eds.), Heterotopia and the city: Public space in a postcivil society (pp. 13–30). Routledge. (Original work published 1967).
Google Scholar
Goetz, C. (2012). Tether and accretions: Fantasy as form in videogames. Games and Culture, 7(6), 419–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412012466288
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412012466288
Gold, J. (2008, March 12). La Mill: The latest buzz. LA Weekly. Online: https://www.laweekly.com/la-mill-the-latest-buzz/ (accessed on December 26, 2023).
Google Scholar
Harvey, A. (2015). Gender, age, and digital games in the domestic context. Routledge.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315757377
Hetherington, K. (1997). The badlands of modernity: Heterotopia and social ordering. Routledge.
Google Scholar
Hjorth, L. & Richardson, I. (2020). Ambient play. MIT Press.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12422.001.0001
Homo Ludens. (2023). Usages et appropriations du jeu vidéo Animal Crossing: New Horizons en contexte de pandémie [Use and appropriation of the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the pandemic context]. Kinephanos. Revue d’études des médias et de culture populaire, 9(1), 37–75. https://www.kinephanos.ca/ojs/index.php/revue/article/view/usages
Google Scholar
Huizinga, J. (1949). Homo ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. (Original work published 1938).
Google Scholar
Jenkins, H. (2004). Game design as narrative architecture. In: N. Wardrip-Fruin & P. Harrigan (Eds.), First person: New media as story, performance, and game (pp. 118–130). MIT Press.
Google Scholar
King, G. (2000). Spectacular narratives: Hollywood in the age of the blockbuster. Tauris.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755699315
Kömeçoğlu, U. (2005). The publicness and sociabilities of the Ottoman coffeehouse. Javnost – The Public, 12(2), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2005.11008885
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2005.11008885
Mukherjee, S. (2015). The playing fields of Empire: Empire and spatiality in video games. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 7(3), 299–315. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.7.3.299_1
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.7.3.299_1
Murray, J. (2017). Hamlet on the holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace (Rev. ed.). MIT Press. (Original work published 1997).
Google Scholar
Murray, S. (2017). On video games: The visual politics of race, gender and space. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350987401
Nautiyal, J. (2016). Aesthetic and affective experiences in coffee shops: A Deweyan engagement with ordinary affects in ordinary spaces. Education and Culture, 32(2), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.5703/educationculture.32.2.0099
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5703/educationculture.32.2.0099
Nitsche, M. (2008). Video game spaces: Image, play, and structure in 3D worlds. MIT Press.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262141017.001.0001
Nooney, L. (2013). A pedestal, a table, a love letter: Archaeologies of gender in videogame history. Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research, 13(2). https://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/nooney
Google Scholar
O’Brien, R.P., Parra, L.A., & Cederbaum, J.A. (2021). “Trying my best”: Sexual minority adolescents’ self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(6), 1053–1058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.03.013
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.03.013
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The great good place: Cafés, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community. Da Capo Press.
Google Scholar
Robinson, J.A. & Bowman, N.D. (2022). Returning to Azeroth: Nostalgia, sense of place, and social presence in World of Warcraft Classic. Games and Culture, 17(3), 421–444. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211034759
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211034759
Rosenblatt, L.M. (1986). The aesthetic transaction. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 20(4), 122–128. https://doi.org/10.2307/3332615
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3332615
Ruberg, B. (2020). Straight paths through queer walking simulators: Wandering on rails and speedrunning in Gone Home. Games and Culture, 15(6), 632–652. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019826746
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019826746
Ryan, M.-L. (2015). Narrative as virtual reality 2: Revisiting immersion and interactivity in literature and electronic media. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Google Scholar
Short, T.X., Ordon, A., Hurd, D., Howe, C., Forbes, J., Eiserloh, S., Diaz, J., Cook, D., & Meiners, R. (2018, January 24). Cozy games. Lostgarden. Online: https://lostgarden.home.blog/2018/01/24/cozy-games/ (accessed on December 26, 2023).
Google Scholar
Stewart, K. (2007). Ordinary affects. Duke University Press.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822390404
Tobin, S. (2013). Portable play in everyday life: The Nintendo DS. Palgrave Macmillan.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137396594
Totten, C.W. (2014). An architectural approach to level design. Taylor & Francis.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/b17113
Trépanier-Jobin, G. & Couturier, A. (2018). L’immersion fictionnelle au-delà de la narrativité [Fictional immersion beyond narrativity]. Sciences du jeu, 9. https://doi.org/10.4000/sdj.950
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/sdj.950
Tuan, Y.-F. (1977). Space and place: The perspective of experience. University of Minnesota Press.
Google Scholar
Vella, D. (2019). There’s no place like home: Dwelling and being at home in digital games. In: E. Aarseth & S. Günzel (Eds.), Ludotopia: Spaces, places and territories in computer games (pp. 141–165). transcript Verlag.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839447307-008
Waszkiewicz, A. (2022). Delicious pixels: Food in video games. De Gruyter.
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110716603
Waszkiewicz, A. & Bakun, M. (2020). Towards the aesthetics of cozy games. Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, 12(3), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw_00017_1
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw_00017_1
Weston, K. (1997). Families we choose: Lesbians, gays, kinship (Rev. ed.). Columbia University Press. (Original work published 1991).
Google Scholar
Witmer, B.G. & Singer, M.J. (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 7(3), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565686
Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565686
Wolf, M.J.P. (2001). The medium of the videogame. University of Texas Press.
Google Scholar
Yu, E.B. (2023). Lost in a dream: Queering time and space in Yume Nikki. Press Start, 9(1), 21–37. https://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/226/133
Google Scholar
Bandai Namco Studios. (2021). New Pokémon Snap [Nintendo Switch]. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.
Google Scholar
Blizzard Entertainment. (2004). World of Warcraft [PC]. Blizzard Entertainment.
Google Scholar
Blizzard Entertainment. (2019). World of Warcraft Classic [PC]. Blizzard Entertainment.
Google Scholar
FromSoftware. (2009). Dark Souls [PlayStation 3]. Namco Bandai Games.
Google Scholar
Mojang Studios. (2011). Minecraft [PC]. Mojang Studios.
Google Scholar
Nintendo EAD. (2012). Animal Crossing: New Leaf [Nintendo 3DS]. Nintendo.
Google Scholar
npckc. (2021). A YEAR OF SPRINGS [Nintendo Switch]. npckc.
Google Scholar
Re-Logic. (2011). Terraria [PC]. 505 Games.
Google Scholar
Toge Productions. (2020). Coffee Talk [Nintendo Switch]. Toge Productions.
Google Scholar
Toge Productions. (2023). Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly. Toge Productions.
Google Scholar
Witch Beam (2021). Unpacking [PC]. Humble Games.
Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
