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From Princess to Protagonist: Redesigning the Video Game Superhero

Vanessa Hemovich

in Gender and the Superhero Narrative

The rise of global communication and the pervasive nature of mass media entertainment has led to stark increases in the popularization of video games. With increases in popularity, socio-cultural ... More

The rise of global communication and the pervasive nature of mass media entertainment has led to stark increases in the popularization of video games. With increases in popularity, socio-cultural representations of video gamers are also changing, particularly as more women take up game controllers and consoles to play. This rise in diversification of player demographics has, in part, spearheaded an upheaval of vocal reactions across the gaming community concerning the resounding lack of positive portrayals of female game characters and persistent criticisms of profound misogyny in the video games industry. This chapter interrogates the changes in characters and fandom amid the controversy of #gamergate.Less

From Custer’s Revenge and Mario to Fable and Fallout: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Digital Games

Adrienne Shaw

in Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture

This chapter argues that much of the research on media representation has focused on static notions of identity and that game studies often focuses on gamers, rather than game play more generally. ... More

This chapter argues that much of the research on media representation has focused on static notions of identity and that game studies often focuses on gamers, rather than game play more generally. One of my key arguments in this book is that the discourse about representation (from industry and academic points of view) is what needs to be transformed, not just the representation of particular groups in game texts.Less

Classifying Game Music

William Gibbons

in Unlimited Replays: Video Games and Classical Music

This final chapter considers the ways in which video game music has rapidly entered the concert repertoire, and what that change might mean for how listeners, critics, and musicians understand ... More

This final chapter considers the ways in which video game music has rapidly entered the concert repertoire, and what that change might mean for how listeners, critics, and musicians understand classical music. In the wake of successful long-running concert tours such as Video Games Live (which pairs local orchestras with a traveling multimedia show) and Final Symphony, many financially strapped orchestras have embraced game music as a way of reaching out to millennial audiences, much to the chagrin of some traditionally minded audience members. Moreover, some groups have begun to advocate for reclassifying game music as classical, thus breaking down persistent barriers between high and low arts.Less

He Could Be a Bunny Rabbit for All I Care!: How We Connect with Characters and Avatars

Adrienne Shaw

in Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture

Studies of identification in video games often conflate interactivity with identification. In this chapter I argue that in addition to the ludic, narrative, embodied, and social aspects of video ... More

Studies of identification in video games often conflate interactivity with identification. In this chapter I argue that in addition to the ludic, narrative, embodied, and social aspects of video games, researchers must also consider that different types of relationships between players and characters/avatars are made available in different types of game texts.Less

Clichés versus Women: Moving beyond Sexy Sidekicks and Damsels in Distress

Adrienne Shaw

in Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture

By unpacking how representation comes to matter to audiences in the 21st century U.S. media environment, this book articulates a new understanding of the stakes in representation debates.

Conclusion: A Future Free of Dickwolves

Adrienne Shaw

in Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture

In this conclusion, I examine several recent attempts by the video game industry to revisit its past work on representation and generate new, more equitable models. I show how this industry project ... More

In this conclusion, I examine several recent attempts by the video game industry to revisit its past work on representation and generate new, more equitable models. I show how this industry project still has a very long way to go and needs much more integration of academic and activist critiques to be effective. Further, it requires more nuanced attention to the ways pleasure and play shape audiences’ relationships to games, which can ultimately provide a key insight into how video games and media more broadly offer models for what is and might be socially and politically possible.Less

Does Anyone Really Identify with Lara Croft?: Unpacking Identification in Video Games

Adrienne Shaw

in Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture

Here I demonstrate that although people may identify with characters because they identify as members of a specific group, that is not the only way they form connections with texts. I reject the ... More

Here I demonstrate that although people may identify with characters because they identify as members of a specific group, that is not the only way they form connections with texts. I reject the common assumption that players want and need to identify with on-screen characters, showing how this approach trivializes the ways people identify with media characters.Less

When and Why Representation Matters to Players: Realism versus Escapism

Adrienne Shaw

in Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture

By contrasting diversity with pluralism (the industry’s currently favored form of representation), this chapter shows how the current market logic governing the games industry reproduces social ... More

By contrasting diversity with pluralism (the industry’s currently favored form of representation), this chapter shows how the current market logic governing the games industry reproduces social violences. I argue that video games and other media need to offer a diverse view of the world, not simply a pluralistic and targeted version of representation.Less