Picture of Olli

Olli Sotamaa

Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow
Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media
33014 University of Tampere

tel. +358 50 420 1472
email. olli.sotamaa(at)uta.fi
rm. 4078A, Pinni A Building

** I finally defended my PhD in April 2009. The dissertation titled The Player's Game: Towards Understanding Player Production Among Computer Game Cultures is available online. The book is available via Granum. **

Upcoming Appearances (Hope to see you there!)

Games Convention Online Conference, Leipzig, Germany, Jul 31 - Aug 1
DiGRA 2009: Breaking New Ground, Brunel University, West London, UK, Sep 1-4
Future and Reality of Gaming (F.R.O.G.) 2009, Vienna, Austria, Sep 25-27
MindTrek 2009, Tampere, Finland, Sep 30 - Oct 2
ManseDanse 2009, Tampere, Finland, Oct 5-11.

 

Short CV and List of Publications

Education

2009, Ph.D., Media Culture, University of Tampere
2001, MA, Comparative literature, University of Tampere
1993, Matriculation Certificate, Senior High School of Kaarila, Tampere

Professional affiliation

2008 -, Senior Assistant, Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media
2006 - 2008, Researcher, Media Culture, University of Tampere
2006, Visiting Researcher, Center of Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen
2003 - 2007, Ph.D. Candidate, Doctoral School of Changing Communication (status place)
2004 - 2005, Senior Assistant (acting), Hypermedia Laboratory, University of Tampere
2002 - 2003, Senior Assistant, Hypermedia Laboratory, University of Tampere
1999 - 2001, Research Fellow, Hypermedia Laboratory, University of Tampere

Personal Grants

2008, Publishing Grant, City of Tampere
2007, University of Tampere, travel grant
2007, Finnish Cultural Foundation Grant (6 months)
2006, University of Tampere, travel grant
2005, Nordforsk Mobility Grant (6 months)
2005, Finnish Cultural Foundation Grant (12 months)
2003, University of Tampere Research Grant (4 months)

Research Appointments and Funded Projects

2008 - 2010, Project Manager, Games as Services
2004 - 2005, Project Manager, Design and Research Environment for Lottery Games of the Future
2003 - 2004, Researcher, Morphome - Control and Awareness in a Proactive Home Environment
2002, Project Manager, Future Interactive Television
2001 - 2002, Researcher, Key Usability and Ethical issues in the NAVI Programme
2000, Project Manager, PENA - Gambling games in Digital Media

Memberships

Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA)
Finnish Center for New Media Culture (m-cult)
Finnish Network of Cultural Studies

Teaching

Over 300 hours of undergraduate and graduate courses on following subjects: computer game cultures, new media user cultures, design research fundamentals, history of new media, digital popular culture, virtual communities, designing and scriptwriting hypermedia.

At the moment my annual teaching load in the University of Tampere consists of 2-3 full courses mostly in the graduate level. In addition to this I have given lectures and taught courses in the following insitutions: IT University of Copenhagen (DK), Luleå University of Technology (Skellefteå Campus, SWE), University of Art and Design in Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä, University of Turku (Pori Unit).

Selected Publications

On Digital Games and Game Cultures

Sotamaa, Olli, "When The Game is Not Enough: Motivations and Practices among Computer Game Modding Culture ", Games and Culture. (forthcoming in 2010)

Sotamaa, Olli, "Achievement Unlocked: Rethinking Gaming Capital", Proceedings of The Future and Reality of Gaming Conference, 2009. (forthcoming) [SLIDESHARE]

Stenros, Jaakko & Sotamaa, Olli, "Commoditization of Helping Players Play: Rise of the Service Paradigm", DiGRA 2009 Conference Proceedings. (forthcoming)

Sotamaa, Olli, "Case Study: Botfighters" in Montola, Stenros & Waern (eds.) Pervasive Games: Theory and Design. Morgan Kaufmann, 2009.

Sotamaa Olli, "Mods and Consoles: The End of Modding as We Know It?" in Sara Mosberg Iversen (ed.) Proceedings of The [Player] Conference. Copenhagen: IT University of Copenhagen, 2008, 439-440

Sotamaa, Olli, "Let Me Take You to The Movies(TM): Productive Players, Commodification, and Transformative Play", Convergence, 13:4 (October 2007), 383-401.

Sotamaa, Olli, "Perceptions of Player in Game Design Literature" in Baba (ed.) DIGRA 2007 Conference Proceedings. University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 456-465.

Sotamaa, Olli, " On modder labour, commodification of play, and mod competitions", First Monday, 12:9 (September 2007).

Sotamaa, Olli, "Creative User-centred Design Practices: Lessons from Game Cultures" in Haddon et al. (eds.) Everyday Innovators: Researching The Role of Users in Shapring ICTs. Springer Verlag, London, 2005, 104-116.

Sotamaa, Olli et al. "The Role of Players in Game Design: A Methodological Perspective" in Proceedings of the 6th DAC Conference (1.-3.12.2005). IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2005, 34-42.

Sotamaa, Olli, "'Have Fun Working with Our Product!': Critical Perspectives On Computer Game Mod Competitions" in de Castell et al. (eds.) Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views - World in Play. Vancouver. University of Vancouver, 2005, CD ROM.

Sotamaa, Olli, "Who's Game Is This Anyway? Creative User-centred Design Practices among Gaming Cultures" in Haddon et al. (eds.) The Good, The Bad and The Irrelevant: The User and The Future of Information and Communication Technologies. Conference Proceedings, UIAH, Helsinki, 2003, 257-259.

Sotamaa, Olli, "All The World's A Botfighter Stage: Notes on Location-based Multi-player Gaming" in Frans Mäyrä (ed.) Computer Games and Digital Cultures: Conference Proceeding. Studies in Information Sciences, University of Tampere, 2002, 35-44.

On various subjects

Järvinen, Aki & Sotamaa, Olli, "Monikulttuurinen jalkapallofanius" in Herkman, Hiidenmaa, Kivimäki & Löytty (eds.) Tutkimusten maailma: Suomalaista kulttuurintutkimusta kartoittamassa. Nykykulttuurin tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja 87, Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2006, 284-295.

Soronen, Anne & Sotamaa, Olli, "Adapting a Probes Approach for Exploring Domestic Environments and Practices" in Mäyrä & Koskinen (eds.) The Metamorphosis of Home: Research into the Future of Proactive Technologies in Home Environments. Studies in Information Sciences, University of Tampere, 2005, 43-69.

Soronen, Anne & Sotamaa, Olli, "And my microwave is a fox: Reflecting domestic environments and technologies by means of self-documentation packages" in Sudweeks & Ess (eds.) Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication. Murdoch University, Australia, 2004, 211-225.

Sotamaa, Olli, "Developing audiences: a community-oriented point of view" in Minna Tarkka (ed.) Digital television and the consumer perspective. Nordic council of ministers, 2003.

Sotamaa, Olli & Ikonen, Veikko, "Picturing the Future Personal Navigation Products and Services by Means of Scenarios" in Proceedings of Mobile Data Management Conference 2003. Springer Verlag, New York, 2003, 391-395.

Ermi, Laura & Sotamaa, Olli, "Yksityistä nautintoa ja yhteistä jakamista - Televisionkatsojien odotuksista ja asenteista", Mediumi 3/2002.

Sotamaa, Olli, "Tuotteistetut tanssilattiat: klubielämyksen jäljillä", Mediumi 2/2002.

Sotamaa, Olli, "Käyttökulttuurien tutkimuksesta" in Petri Lankoski (ed.) Henkilökohtaisen navigoinnin käyttöliittymien suunnitteluperiaatteet. Studies in Information Sciences, University of Tampere, 2002.

Sotamaa, Olli, "Avainsana: Teknologia", Mediumi 1/2001.

Selected presentations

"Role of Gamers as Content Producers", Games Convention Online Conference, Leipzig, Germany, Jul 31 - Aug 1, 2009.

"Extending the playful domain of console gaming: LittleBigPlanet, co-creativity and gaming capital", Playful Experiences Seminar, Tampere, April 2 - 3, 2009.

"Console Games and Player-generated Content", Free to Play: User Generated Content in Computer Games, Copenhagen, DK, October 29, 2008. [SLIDESHARE]

"Democratizing the Console Environment?", Internet Research Conference 9.0., Copenhagen, DK, October 16 - 19, 2008.

"Building on Player Creativity: Exploring Game Modifications and Modder Networks", Nordic Game, Malmö, SWE, May 15 - 16, 2007.

"It’s a wrap! - On The Movies, empowerment and commodification of player productivity", Gaming Realities, Athens, Greece, Ovtober 6 - 8, 2006.

"Let me take you to The Movies (TM): Empowerment in the age of commodified play", Media Change and Social Theory, The University of Oxford, UK, October 6 - 8, 2006.

"Who put the mobile in games: historical and cultural perspectives on mobile entertainment", IT University of Copenhagen, DK, April 7, 2006.

“Design Games and Game Design” in Mundane Technologies: The Structures and Practice of Everyday Use, IT University of Copenhagen, DK, June 2 - 4, 2005.

“Modders as Game Fans and Beyond: Case OFP”, Creative Gamers Seminar, University of Tampere, January 11-12, 2005.

“Playing it My Way?: Mapping The Modder Agency”, Internet Research Conference 5.0, University of Sussex, UK, September 19 - 22, 2004.

“Mapping The Contexts of Modder Agency”, Challenges for Research about Online Communities, PhD course, Comwell, Roskilde, DK, May 25 - 26, 2004.

"Computer Game Modding, Intermediality and Participatory Culture", New Media? New Theories? New Methods?, University of Århus, DK, December 1 - 5, 2003.


- updated Aug09 -