Professor James Newman

Personal statement

James Newman, PhD is Research Professor and Senior University Teaching Fellow in the Design School. Over the past 20 years, he has written widely on aspects of videogames, players and fans, game sound and music, and media histories and has spoken across the world at events for academics, policy-makers, game developers and players.

His books on videogames and gaming cultures include 'Videogames'; 'Playing with Videogames'; and 'Best Before: Videogames, Supersession and Obsolescence' (for Routledge); and '100 Videogames' and 'Teaching Videogames' (for BFI Publishing). In 2018, James co-authored 'A History of Videogames' (Carlton Books) which is the first volume to explore the collections of the National Videogame Museum where James works as an academic advisor. James is also an External Affiliate in Public and Applied Humanities at the University of Arizona.

James’ work has been supported by numerous international funders including the ESRC, The Wellcome Trust, the EPSRC, the AHRC (Creative Economies and Knowledge Exchange), HEFCE, the Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation, the Japan Foundation, Sasakawa Foundation, the Strong National Museum of Play, the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. He is an international adviser on numerous programmes and networks on videogame studies, history and preservation and has been awarded sabbaticals (for example to Stanford University) and Fellowships (for example ICHEG/Strong National Museum of Play) to develop this work internationally.

As outputs of British Academy/Leverhulme and ESRC-funded projects, James has co-authored two white papers on videogame history and preservation and is a co-founder of the Videogame Heritage Society which is the first Subject Specialist Network (SSN) dedicated to digital media.

James is a regular contributor to public-facing articles on videogames and has been interviewed many times in print, online and broadcast media on his work including Radio 4, BBC4 TV, The Guardian, Independent, The New Statesman, as well as the specialist gaming press, for example Edge, Games TM, The Escapist, Gamasutra, Wireframe, Eurogamer.

In addition to his work on games and gameplay, James’ current research focuses on the design and uses of analogue and digital synthesizers, drum machines and electronic musical instruments. He is currently contracted for a book exploring the histories, impact and influences of the Roland ‘x0x’ instruments (including the TR-808, TR-909, TB-303).

James is also Series Editor for the Routledge Histories of Electronic Musical Instruments book series that focuses on the design, uses, affordances and afterlives of key synthesizers, drum machines and effects. James also collects and performs with electronic musical instruments.

Academic qualifications

• BA (Hons)
• PhD.

Professional memberships

• EFGAMP (European Federation of Games Archives and Museum Projects)
• Society for the Study of Sound and Music in Games (SSSMG)
• Game Preservation Network
• Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA)
• Videogame Heritage Society
• FHEA (Fellow of the Higher Education Academy)
• MeCCSA (Media Communication and Cultural Studies Association)
• IGDA Game Preservation Special Interest Group.

External examiners

• Postgraduate programmes in Digital Games Theory and Design, Brunel University (2017-2021)
• Undergraduate programmes in Animation, Arts and Product Design subject area, Southampton Solent University (2013-2017)
• Undergraduate programmes in Media, Journalism and Cultural Studies at Staffordshire University (October 2003 - September 2007)
• External Advisor for the review of undergraduate Media provision at Trinity and All Saints College (University of Leeds, March 2005).

Other external roles

• History of Games Steering Group (European representative)
• Advisory Board for IMLS-funded Game Metadata and Citation Project (GAMECIP)
• UCSC/Stanford; Board member International Digital Game Preservation Practitioners group (led by RCGS)
• Strong National Museum of Play World Video Game Hall of Fame Selection Committee
• Co-Founder ‘The Game Sound Archive’ in collaboration with the British Library and ‘Videogame Heritage Society' Subject Specialist Network (SSN)
• AHRC Peer Review College member
• Reviewer for DiGRA and Nordic DiGRA games conference (various tracks)
• Co-investigator AHRC-funded Creative Economies Knowledge Exchange Project (oral histories and archives project): 2012.
• Co-founder of The National Videogame Archive (DCMS-funded UK national collection of videogames and gaming culture). Collaboration with National Media Museum and Science Museum.
• Steering group, programming and production for GameCity festival (2006-present)
• Review book proposals and manuscripts on aspects of digital media for international academic publishers including Routledge, Sage, BFI Publishing, MIT Press and University of Chicago Press
• International Editorial Board of Game Studies: the International Journal of Computer Game Studies
• Commissioned by The Wellcome Trust to produce a literature review on game studies and a strategy document on videogames as part of the Trusts Broadcast Strategy for public engagement (2010)
• Provided consultancy services for a number of different organisations including Eidos on their Championship Manager series of football simulation games (2005-06)
• Consultancy for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Flamingo research and JCPR on the European launch strategy for PlayStation 2 and the Mental Wealth campaign (2000-2001)
• Strategic consultancy for Screenplay games conference and festival (Broadway Arts Cinema, Nottingham. 2005-6)
• Research funding reviewer for the Veni programme (Government-sponsored Innovational Research Incentives Scheme 2004. Netherlands)
• Curriculum consultancy for Nottingham Trent University. Designing undergraduate videogames provision for the Creative Media Studies programme (2006-7)
• Staff development on videogames in learning and teaching, Nottingham Trent University (2006)
• Consultancy for Nottingham Creative Partnerships on videogames education programmes (2007).

Teaching specialism

Current teaching includes:

• videogame studies
• digital media histories
• media fandom
• media preservation.