VFF: Visualizing Digital Seriality: Correlating Code and Community in the Super Mario Modding Scene

This presentation considers how tools and methods of digital humanities ¿ including "distant reading" and visualization techniques ¿ can shed light on serialization processes in digital games and gaming communities. The vibrant "modding" scene that has arisen around the classic Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. (1985) serves as a case study. Automated "reading" techniques allow us to survey a large collection of fan-based game modifications, while visualization software such as Tableau and Palladio help to bridge the gap between code and community, revealing otherwise invisible connections and patterns of seriality.