Diode Games: Rediscovering the Bridge between Analog andVideo Gaming through the Elektor Magazine

This proposal defines and analyses a sub-category of electronic games, which we call “diode games,” in order to highlight their role in the genealogy of gaming practices. Our research combines a quantitative and distant approach using keyword counting and topic modeling with close reading analysis of a limited corpus of selected articles from the French-speaking edition of Elektor magazine (1978-1983). We extracted a corpus of 17 electronic games, analysed it, and compared it to the so-called "TV games" published by the same magazine. We argue that “diode games,” by focusing on the visual feedback given to players by light-emitting diodes, invite a re-evaluation of common categories of gaming culture.