[Commlist] Game Boy Journal CFP

We are excited to announce a new call for Abstracts: “The Game Boy” 
Special Issue of the MultiPlay Journal, the deadline for Abstracts: 29th 
February 2024

/“There is something truly magical about handheld consoles, something 
their fuller featured console cousins have never quite been able to 
match. Perhaps dedicated handheld consoles are satisfying because 
they’re designed, from the chipset up, to be self-sufficient, without 
the distractions of ancillary hardware. They don’t require an additional 
controller, an attached RF or HDMI cable, a CRT or a flatscreen to carry 
you off to your chosen gaming nirvana. They sit in your hands with a 
subtle balance between hardware and software, and like witchcraft, 
convert a mundane bus journey into something transcendental.”/

/(Saltalamacchia, 2022, p.5)/

MultiPlay is launching their new, peer reviewed journal with a special 
issue on the Game Boy. This inaugural issue of our journal will look 
back on the popular handheld console, its legacy, and interrogate the 
cultural impact of its games that can still be felt in today’s games 
industry.

Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989, and already held a significant 
advantage over other companies when it came to handheld devices due to 
the popularity of their Game & Watch series – portable devices that 
allowed gamers to play singular titles. While the Game Boy wasn’t the 
most technically advanced system of its time, it didn’t need to be; it’s 
singular vision of bringing a wealth of portable games to gamers was 
enough to ensure its overwhelming popularity (Parker, 2022, p.11).

Since its launch, more than 118 million units of the Game Boy series of 
consoles have been sold worldwide. Nintendo has continued its focus on 
portable consoles with subsequent hardware like the Nintendo Switch, and 
Nintendo icons Mario and Pikachu have only grown in popularity.

The editors are therefore seeking abstracts to compile a special issue 
of the journal focused on the cultural and technical impact and 
iconography of the Game Boy. Topics that may be considered include, but 
are not limited to:

  * Pokémon’s Game Boy history in action today
  * The evolution of Super Mario
  * Discussions of the technological capabilities, capacity, and
    limitations of the Game Boy
  * Emulation, preservation, and the Game Boy
  * The influence of handheld gaming devices on culture
  * The nostalgia market
  * Refurbishing Game Boys and their place in the present
  * Game Boys as past and present tools for photography
  * The influence of Game Boy on game genres

As MultiPlay is an interdisciplinary games studies network, submissions 
from differing backgrounds and perspectives are encouraged. Abstracts 
should be between 300-500 words, excluding references (which should be 
provided in Harvard format). All abstracts require accompanying author 
biographies of 100 words. Both must be sent in Word or PDF format to 
(networkmultiplay /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(networkmultiplay /at/ gmail.com)> by 29th 
February 2024 with the heading ‘Game Boy’.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be contacted by the end of March 2024 
and invited to submit full paper contributions (in the region of 
6000-8000 words) by 22 July 2024. All articles will be peer reviewed, 
and successful manuscripts will be published as Open Access articles on 
a dedicated journal website in Q4 2024. There are no fees payable for 
publication.

If you have any further questions please email 
(networkmultiplay /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(networkmultiplay /at/ gmail.com)>

Guest editors:

Stephanie Farnsworth (Lecturer in Media and Communications – University 
of Sunderland) , Lisa Meek (PhD Researcher in Games Culture – University 
of Sunderland), Greg Mc Guinness (PhD Candidate at the Institute of 
Education, UCL), and Adam Jerrett (Lecturer in Games Development – 
University of Portsmouth).

References

Parker, L. 2022, A Handheld History: A Celebration of Portable Gaming, 
Saltalamacchia, B. eds., Lost in
Cult: London, p.11

Saltalamacchia, B. 2022, A Handheld History: A Celebration of Portable 
Gaming, Lost in Cult: London, p.5


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