{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:39:18Z","timestamp":1777646358081,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2010,5,7]],"date-time":"2010-05-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1273190400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2010,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article looks at a genre of games that most frequently appears on the Nintendo DS and discusses how they use multiple techniques drawn from several different sources to gain popularity. The desert island simulation blends a series of familiar game genres with those of popular television, specifically serial television, to produce a genre that deliberately appeals to non-traditional users (although this definition relies more on preconceptions than actuality, as games continue to develop in scope). This article examines the techniques that these games use, including the shrewd marketing tools of the DS, the ways in which the games borrow from existing games genres, how they draw the player into a narrative web through a reconstruction of player agency, and the linkage with serial television. By specifically examining The Sims 2 Castaway (S2C, 2007), this article discusses how the changing of ludic objectives during these games influences player expectation and how this is increasingly reflected in other texts such as long-haul television series. These developments indicate not only an evolving canon within games but argue for their growing influence elsewhere in cultural production.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412010361953","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,5,7]],"date-time":"2010-05-07T20:55:28Z","timestamp":1273265728000},"page":"278-297","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Lost on a Desert Island: The Sims 2 Castaway as Convergence Text"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Esther","family":"MacCallum-Stewart","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Chichester and SMARTlab, University of East London, UK,"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2010,5,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"atypb1","volume-title":"Lost. ABC: Bad Robot Productions","author":"Abrams","year":"2004"},{"key":"atypb2","volume-title":"Animal crossing, wild world","author":"Amazon Review.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb3","volume-title":"S\/Z","author":"Barthes, R.","year":"1970"},{"key":"atypb4","unstructured":"Consalvo, M. ( 2006). From Dollhouse to Metaverse: What happened when The Sims Went Online. In Smith & Williams (Eds.), The player\u2019s realm (pp. 203-222). New York: McFarlane."},{"key":"atypb5","volume-title":"Walkthrough for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis","author":"Dax \u2018Bushy\u2019.","year":"2001"},{"key":"atypb6","volume-title":"IGN \u2018The Sims 2: Castaway: Less Panic, More Fashion Design","author":"Devries, Jack.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb7","volume-title":"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy","author":"Infocom","year":"1984"},{"key":"atypb8","volume-title":"Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide","author":"Jenkins, H.","year":"2006"},{"key":"atypb9","volume-title":"Review of The Sims 2: Castaway DS\u2019. Jolt","author":"Jolt.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb10","unstructured":"Juul, J. ( 2007). Without a goal: On open and expressive games. In B. Atkins & T. Kryzwinska (Eds.), Videogame, player, text (pp. 191-203). Manchester University Press."},{"key":"atypb11","volume-title":"Proceedings of the Fifth International Digital Arts and Culture Conference","author":"Klastrup, L."},{"key":"atypb12","volume-title":"What is S\/Z? In Cyberspace, hypertext and critical theory","author":"Lancini, M.","year":"1999"},{"key":"atypb13","volume-title":"In praise of the grind. Terranova","author":"Lawley, L.","year":"2006"},{"key":"atypb14","author":"Lickley, P.","year":"2007","journal-title":"AceGamez"},{"key":"atypb15","volume-title":"Illusory agency in Vampire: The masquerade","author":"MacCallum-Stewart, E.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb16","volume-title":"Financial Results Briefing for the Six-Month Period Ending September 2007","author":"Nintendo.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5418.001.0001"},{"key":"atypb18","author":"Vowell, S.","year":"2000","journal-title":"Salon"}],"container-title":["Games and Culture"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1555412010361953","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1555412010361953","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T06:35:00Z","timestamp":1777444500000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1555412010361953"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2010,5,7]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2010,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1555412010361953"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1555412010361953","relation":{},"ISSN":["1555-4120","1555-4139"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1555-4120","type":"print"},{"value":"1555-4139","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2010,5,7]]}}}