As I write my final blog, I reflect on how it’s been a memorable semester with you all. Although we’re going through unprecedented times, and things didn’t end the way we envisioned I still enjoyed being a part of DMS 448. Learning from each and every one of you was a valuable experience. As we continue to put the finishing touches into our creative game projects, I’ve took some brief time to reflect on the journey of my project. Indulging in livestreams for my project about NBA 2k20’s Mycareer mode made me feel like I was commentating my own NBA career. The Mycareer mode is a personalized detailed narrative tied to every user’s player who pursues a career in the NBA. As a draft pick to the Boston Celtics I experienced the journey from the business, marketing, and playing perspective of an NBA athlete. I commentated on the relationship between my character and his agent as they convey the pressures of off-court endorsements that came with financial responsibility. This financial responsibility made me realize the pressures that NBA players have to deal with due to decisive off-court decisions worth millions and billions of dollars.

            According to Emma Witkowski and James Manning “In 2011, the National Basketball League (NBA) entered a lockout. Over 149 days, league representatives, owners and the player union negotiated new terms for the collective bargaining agreement, during which time players filed antitrust lawsuits and took their personal brands and expert play to other international leagues. Beyond collective organization, many (but not all) players showed they were able to buffer the short-term pay loss, and NBA stars (mostly mature players with widespread sporting capital) stepped in to represent their profession. Jointly, the players exposed what forms of player provision were in place within a 70-year-old media sports industry not necessarily designed for their collective care or welfare (Staudohar, 2012). The lockout revealed that playing power and player rights, beyond fair revenue distribution, were buoyed by well-established sociotechnical infrastructures; from international athletic visas, recent histories of other sports player union practices, to player distributed professional sports knowledge networks” (Manning & Witkowski). With that being said, it’s quite evident the colossal impact that NBA players possess in games. Because they’re the catalyst of NBA game products it’s essential to recognize and acknowledge the leverage that players have in potential revenue deals. I remember anticipating the end of the lockout in 2011 due to the lack of top tier basketball available. With that being the case, many people all across the basketball world didn’t know if there would even be a 2k video game available. Amidst all the uncertainty that came with the game 2ksports still managed to be creative and released NBA 2k12 with a narrative that revolved around old school all-time NBA players. Overall, it’s essential to acknowledge that without NBA players there can never be an NBA game.

Works Cited:

1. Witkowski, E., & Manning, J. (2019). Player power: Networked careers in esports and high-performance game livestreaming practices. Convergence, 25(5–6), 953–969.

As I started to read more about game studies I started to notice how it plays the same role of media that rap music and the news does. These forms of media are heavy impactful on the masses. As I mentioned before the same way that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ can influence their consumer’s perspectives is the exact way rap music can with identical context. One example where both forms of media narrates history is the Los Angeles riots. Many different opinions were developed throughout these incidents, and the depictions of this content effect how history portrays cultural backgrounds. Gerald Voorhees article explores the impact of different media depictions of American culture turmoil.

Voorhees mentions in his article, “Monsters, Nazis, and Tangos”, that “What they found is that concern about novel media forms is a historical constant, a phenomenon attributed to uncertainty regarding the potential of technologies that “embody the possibility that accustomed orders are in jeopardy” (Marvin 1988, 8). And while these studies point to concerns about how media technologies reconfigure communication processes, a similar set of issues arises regarding innovations in the communication norms that constitute genres. For instance, Springhall’s (1998) work on moral panics examines public fears manifest in response to a variety of media forms: the penny dreadful, gangster film, horror comic, and rap music. Notably, it is not the book, the film, the comic, or the record—in other words, not the technology of the medium—but the genre and its conventional contents” (Voorhees). Voorhees’ take on this matter conveys the impact rap music has as a form of media the same way a blockbuster movie does. Depending on the time and place of history music can have the same impact on millions of people just like war propaganda. Furthermore, the impact of the rap song “Fuck da Police” by music group N.W.A(Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy E, Yella, & Dr. Dre) was revolutionary in the minority communities in Los Angeles. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s tensions grew between police and minorities. The N.W.A’s song narrates the police brutality and racial profiling that black men had to endure all over the city. This led to public outrage and riots that resulted in a state of emergency. Their usage of rap as media influenced their listeners so much that even law enforcement began to blame the lyrics of the song on the increase of violence towards police officers. Tensions grew and police were trusted less by the black communities in Los Angeles & nationwide.

            In contrast, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’, depiction of this historical time held an impact on me years well after the incident took place. Personally, I noticed the hostile interactions between the African-American main character Carl “C.J” Johnson and the police officers. The narrative of this made me feel like police officers were crooked and infamous. Growing up to be a police officer was a dream of mine until I started to become exposed to this type of media. As a kid I started to think it wasn’t cool to be a police officer anymore, because of how they portrayed in the game. Overall, this conveys the similar impact that video games and rap music possess.

Works Cited:

1. Guns, Grenades, and Grunts : First-Person Shooter Games, edited by Gerald A. Voorhees, et al., Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/buffalo/detail.action?docID=1078336

Prior to registering for DMS 448 I never had the opportunity to indulge in rhetoric or even discussions regarding video games in school. Having the opportunity here at the University at Buffalo’s media studies department makes me extremely grateful and appreciative. Since I was young kid I have always been intrigued by various different aspects of video games. I have always been intrigued by the effect of gaming algorithms, story-telling narratives, and historical factors. To actually notice these same aspects being addressed in game studies helped me understand video games from a broader perspective. Dr. Cody’s lecture style gave me exposure to scholarly excerpts, content, and debates about the games we all know well and love. His discussions throughout lectures actually helped me develop my own opinions about gaming as a media, and the various political aspects that I never paid much attention to before. According to TreaAndrea M. Russworm “In my experience, so many of our students come to video games classes with the expectation that we are going to transcend the discussions about “identity politics” and “political correctness” that are fodder for Internet forums and bifurcated online debates. Our pedagogical approaches to games should absolutely be more rigorous and comprehensive than these types of discussions, but in demonstrating that we are invested in the serious scholarly treatment of games” (Russworm). I admire Russworm’s take regarding this issue, because she reminds me of how Dr. Cody’s course holds the same rigorous agenda when addressing the gender and culture aspects of video games. Whenever we partake in discussions we intertwine our opinions with scholarly evidence that generates our credibility. I agree that it’s quite essential for educational institutions to continue to treat game studies rigorously, because it should be perceived the same way other forms of media does.  

Furthermore, TreaAndrea M. Russworm continues to mention that “while scholarship that is invested in the representation of characters and in overt themes in story and plot are essential to game studies and must continue to flourish, we also know that gamic systems are influenced by things like algorithmic bias and that even the most seemingly abstract digital simulator is both encoded and decoded ideologically” (Russworm). This statement does a great job conveying the reality of video game production. Although the reasoning behind some scholarly game studies is based on characteristics of narrative, it’s essential to notice the root of most game production. Every code and every algorithm is controlled by developers and the individuals behind the scenes at organizations such as Activision, 2ksports, and Rockstar games. We mentioned earlier in the semester the impact of 2k’s Bioshock and the hurtful representation of women that was caused by the coding joke by one of the developers. This made me open my eyes to the potential bias that could’ve been imposed on games all along. It’s also important to emphasize the impact of the biases of game production, because if we’re not careful we can be allowing discriminative actions to occur. When we let things like this blow out of control it can lead to community of problems for various different cultures and genders.

Works Cited:

1. Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Video Games, ed. Jennifer Malkowski and TreaAndrea M. Russworm (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2017), 4

There are a few different ways to categorize different types of gamers. Several different aspects go into what we classify as a casual gamer. These factors are typically based on the individual’s duration of gameplay and the genre of the game. Also, I strongly believe that games are constantly evolving and developers dictate their audience completely.  According to Lina Eklund “The first commercial digital games were adult activities, as arcade games appeared in pubs (Williams 2006). As consoles became available for private use they were then marketed as family entertainment – available to play in the family home. However, after the video game market collapsed in 1983 the industry needed a new approach. When Japanese Nintendo released their Famicom console – the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the West – they aimed their product at children, foremost boys, in order to find a more secure audience. As Krotoski (2005) has shown, before this, the gaming industry aimed games at everyone – men and women, old and young alike. This shift towards young men changed ideas about who the consumers of digital games were, and this strategy in production and marketing still prevails. During the 1980s and early 1990s, digital games were seen as boys’ toys and game developers were/are almost solely men (Haddon 1988) leading to a marginalization of female users. Since then three major waves of social and technological changes can be identified that have impacted on the game audience”. With that being said, Eklund’s excerpt clearly identifies the turning points in gaming history. Production would constantly swap their emphasis from women gamers to men gamers, and occasionally both sometimes. I find that quite flabbergasting, because prior to reading this article I always assumed that it was always about men due to stereotypes.

Furthermore, with the shift to gamers being perceived as males the defining of a gamer changed as well. As games elevated, so did the level of hardcore content as well. With more explicit games gaining popularity, so did the amount of production. As the gaming industry progressed, games such Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto flourished. Personally, I grew from a casual gamer to a hardcore gamer because of the attraction that came with violent games. Eklund states that “The term ‘casual gaming’ came about as digital games as well as users became more diverse and different designations came into use to contrast early digital gaming (hardcore) to what were perceived as new (casual) game types, genres and gamers. Dividing gamers into hardcore and casual is now one of the bases for understanding different types of games/ers both in academia and industry classification (Juul 2010). Casual games tend to have more positive fictions featuring no or cartoonish violence, require little previous knowledge of games, allow players to play in short bursts and practice excessive positive reinforcement of success (ibid.). Casual games are lighter, easier to play and flexible (Kultima 2009). In contrast, hardcore games are seen as heavier, featuring violence and dark themes and taking time to learn”. With that being said, Eklund conveys a certain stigma about hardcore gamers who tend to play these form of games. I’m slightly concerned with the perspective that playing dark themed games correlate with being a hardcore gamer. Casual gamers also indulge in these same genre of games as hardcore gamers which can depend on the popularity during the time of release. I’ve witnessed many casual gamers indulge in the most violent games, due to its availability. So is it really fair to categorize dark gameplay with a certain type of gamer?

Work Cited

Eklund, Lina. “Who are the casual gamers? Gender tropes and tokenism in game culture.” Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The changing gaming landscape. Ed. Tama Leaver and Michele Willson. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. 15–30. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 24 Feb. 2020. .

Growing up as a consistent gamer I always correlated fun with graphics and enhanced narratives. As a huge fan of the WWE Smackdown vs Raw game series I always had the most fun experiences battling my way to WrestleMania. However, it wasn’t until I read about Amanda Philips’ perspective I began to understand the importance of losing as well. I began to realize how the pressure of losing in main event matches made me keep playing the game, because it wasn’t easy. According to Philips “This is particularly important in studying videogames because of the way they historically have been linked to fun and fandom. We think of games as things we do for fun, even when we are making or studying them. Much of the popular discourse around gaming connects them to the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from achievement or overcoming obstacles, even when the point is not fun itself, but more mundane achievements like training. The popularity of gamification attests to the allure of “fun” for educators, advertisers, and gamers alike. But fun is not everything. Bonnie Ruberg (2015) argues that the hegemony of fun in game design and culture flattens the emotional complexity of the gamic experience, and that “no-fun” can be an affective position with radical potential. She points to scholars such as Jesper Juul (2013), who writes about how failure and frustration are also important characteristics of gameplay. In fact, failing is one of the most important parts of a game, since we do it over and over and over again”. Ironically losing in games play as much of a vital role in the creation of video games like fun does. Personally, I enjoy playing Nba 2k20 when I’m working hard to win games. For example, starting off mycareer mode with a point guard that is a 60 overall makes it very difficult to facilitate wins for your team. All of this losing constantly makes winning a much more fulfilling experience.

Even without threat, certain communities aren’t given an equal amount of social justice in the world of game development. Philips continues to convey great detail about how transwomen don’t generate much income from producing, but yet they are still vulnerable to mass harassment. She states that “Anna Anthropy, the radical trans lesbian game designer, encourages everyone to learn how to make games. She advocates for simple tools such as Twine that open up game design to those without the programming skills often thought necessary to make games (Anthropy 2012). She and other transwomen designers, including Merritt Kopas and Mattie Brice, create min – imalistic, short games that subvert AAA expectations, often telling stories or using mechanics that are not marketable in the mainstream. Their games are highly personal, occasionally unpolished, but always evocative and meaningful to play. They do not make much money, often relying on crowdfunding models to support their production. In a tragedy for justice, these transwomen have endured intense harassment for offering alternatives to the AAA industry without being able to support themselves financially”. It’s also important to acknowledge that social justice in video games is not always given to everyone. Although Twine is a tool for freedom and creativity in gaming, members of the LGBT community still aren’t fairly encouraged. Philips excerpt conveys the lack of justice in gaming amongst people who receive a lot of harassment from the gaming community. I find the harassment to be unjust, because it holds certain communities back from enjoying video games with liberation. All gamers should enjoy access to this, because the gaming experience should always be safe no matter what community you are a part of.

Work Cited

Phillips, Amanda. “Game Studies for Great Justice.” The Routledge Companion to Media
Studies and Digital Humanities, edited by Jentery Sayers, Routledge, 2018, pp. 117-127.

Throughout our time in class we discussed the different aspects of the first person gameplay of Gone Home. Gone Home is an award winning exploration game that was created by Steve Gaynor. The game went on to be very influential because it included a different form of sexuality while also welcoming players of the LGBT community. Gaynor does this by representing lesbians in a narrative that is exploratory, relatable and mysterious. Merritt Kopas describes the game as “This is a video game. About girls in love. That shouldn’t be exceptional in and of itself, but it is. And because it’s a video game about a big empty house and because it’s a story about girls in love, anyone who has any familiarity with either of those genres is going in expecting the worst to happen. Because seriously, setting a lesbian love story in a creepy old mansion is the perfect confluence of terrible… So you’re moving through the house, and you’re finding these audio journals from your little sister, Sam, telling you all about this girl she’s met named Lonnie and how cool she is. And you’re kind of on edge because the lights are flickering and every once in a while
the house creaks in the storm and you don’t know what’s going to
come first, the beginnings of a lesbian tragedy suicide sequence or
something jumping out at you from a dark corner. And then there’s this scene in a bathroom on the second floor. I’d entered the room from the hallway coming out of Sam’s bedroom, having just read a few ominous-sounding notes from her. In the bathroom you turn on the light and immediately notice that there’s blood in the bathtub, and your heart races because this is a video game and you’re exploring an empty house on a dark and stormy night and nobody is around for some reason and you’re just waiting for it to turn out that, surprise(!), everyone is dead”. Furthermore, conveying the mental environment of an individual who has to be discrete about their sexuality due to family and friends. Although the narrative may come off as cliche, it still possesses relatable factors that many gamers have been through in real life.

Additionally, gamers like Kopas enjoy the possibilities that come with developers creating more games that are in the same genre as Gone Home. Obviously it’s difficult to fulfill the needs of single gamer, but with more LGBT representation in gaming brings hope for more. Narratives will need to be more diverse and relatable to others that seek this type of gaming. For example, Kopas mentions that “But ultimately Gone Home left me hopeful rather than grieving. Hopeful about storytelling and games, and hopeful about my own experiences. Because obviously we can’t go back home, into
our pasts, and change things—like Katie, all we can do is observe, witness, turn things over in our heads until they make a kind of sense that we can work with. But we can write new stories, ones where girls in love don’t die tragic deaths and where big empty houses are scary but ultimately safe and where you can have a teenage girl romance at twenty-five, or thirty-five, or whenever you want to”. Overall, it’s essential to acknowledge the effects of gender-based narrative that can affect the overall gameplay experience for users of the LGBT community.

Works Cited

Kopas, M. (n.d.). On Gone Home.

Souley Coulibaly

Within the history of video games, the diversity amongst narratives became more common as the industry stride towards next-generation products. Even the most masculine games that included violence and explicit content started to include LGBT content. One example is the narrative of Gay Tony in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. According to Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler “the queer authorship practices we examine sit in contrast to a broader gaming culture. Minority gamers face hardships ranging from bullying that targets women and queer people to cooperative online gaming spaces reinforcing sexist narratives. Gaming also becomes a way for players to enact not only masculinity, but also a specific brand of masculinity that is defined by what it is not–queer or feminine. As such, the stereotypical gamer may perceive any moves to introduce queer or feminine elements into gamer culture as a threat to the state of video games. This tension marks a clear divide in gaming culture between a hypermasculine narrative at risk of being displaced and the struggle of minority players to find themselves in games”. Within my own gaming experience online via multiplayer I witnessed firsthand the tension that unmonitored verbal interactions created. When players grew frustrated from gameplay it would lead to them disrespecting each other with derogatory terms. Most of them were on the receiving ends of these comments whether they were women or members of the LGBT community. Unfortunately, there’s a limited amount of enforcement game developers could do because most of the multiplayer interactions are live online.

            In contrast, I honor the freedom of sexuality that Grand Theft Auto 5 offers gamers in the multiplayer online mode. The access to various options of character gender types lets players utilize women and queer character attire to express themselves however they see fit. This form of access lets users enjoy the gaming experience without limitations to the narratives they choose to adopt online. Based on Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler’s article on gaming “This tension marks a clear divide in gaming culture between a hypermasculine narrative at risk of being displaced and the struggle of minority players to find themselves in games. However, finding oneself in a game can be important for players. For example, designing and naming an avatar can create a safe space for players to explore gender. Prior work in game studies posited that the relationship between player and the main character is so strong that players are participating in “transgender play” when a male player controls a female character and vice versa, though players often have many different understandings of their relationship with the controlled character”. With that being said, it’s essential to acknowledge the effects of gender-based narrative that can affect the overall gameplay experience for users. The more freedom that game developers offer with avatars, characters, and sexualities; the fewer limitations you impose on the fun of a diverse community.

Work Cited

Dym, B., Brubaker, J., & Fiesler, C. (2018). “Theyre All Trans Sharon”: Authoring Gender in Video Game Fan Fiction. Game Studies.

Souley Coulibaly

3/16/20

            Throughout the history of video games many users develop life long memories with friends and families through experiences with classic throwbacks like Mario Kart, Pacman, and EA Sports Nba Live basketball series. Game developers help play a vital role in reestablishing nostalgic needs for long time gamers. Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. According to David Lowenthal “Mistrust of the future … fuels today’s nostalgia. We may not love the past as excessively as many did in the nineteenth century, but our misgivings about what may come are more grave…. Prospects of economic ruin, of resource depletion, of nuclear Armageddon make the past a crucial haven. Today we might add climate change, terrorism, and economic downturns to the list of factors informing a nostalgic longing for the past that Bioshock Infinite fully exploits.” Lowenthal’s excerpt is parallel to my belief that the nostalgic presentation of video games can fulfill the expectations of gamers that seek a nostalgic experience.

            Personally I’ve experienced the opportunity to pursue nostalgia from the remastered PlayStation 4 versions of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. During my time playing the California based game I virtually relived the times of massive gang violence and riots throughout the midst police brutality in the streets of LA. I remember learning about the history of the Rodney King case in California which resulted in a mass amount protest and anger amongst citizens and activists all across the country. According to the games wiki “The game features references to many real-life elements of the world, such as its cities, regions, and landmarks, with its plot heavily based on several real-life events in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, including the rivalry between real-life street gangs, the 1980s-early 1990s crack epidemic, the LAPD Rampart scandal, and the 1992 Los Angeles riots”. The main character is, “C.J.”, a gang member who is constantly harassed by police officers due to his environment which is surrounded by a lump sum of violence, drug utilization, and prostitution. The historical notion that is present in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas resembles what Buinicki conveys while analyzing 2k’s Bioshock Infinite.

            Furthermore, Martin T. Buinicki elaborates more stating that “The game seems to suggest a teleological vision, with the player free to look at the historically fictional Nostalgia and Bioshock Infinite 723 Columbia—in spite of its obvious resonance with “Columbia Gem of the Ocean,” the patriotic ballad of the nineteenth century—as “considerably worse” (Sargent 9) than the history of the United States and twenty-first century in which she now lives. While this could be an appealing reading of the game, its numerous intersections with real events underscores its indictment of actual US history, and as players learn of the protagonist Booker DeWitt’s involvement in the creation of Columbia, the game’s narrative ultimately forecloses any view of the past more hopeful than the fictional one it presents.” With that being said, as I mentioned before the impact of reliving crucial moments in U.S history can leave a long lasting effect on players. Alike media that are introduced in forms of movies and books, video games can generate a nostalgic experience that can take them back to a certain point in life.

Work Cited

Buinicki, M. T. (2016). Nostalgia and the Dystopia of History in 2KsBioshock Infinite. The Journal of Popular Culture, 49(4), 722–737. doi: 10.1111/jpcu.12440

As I mentioned in class I strongly believe that narrative is the catalyst of video games and leaves the largest impression on users. There’s been constant debate regarding narrative being a beneficial necessity for games or it being detrimental. Based on my own personal experience as a gamer I’ve always looked forward to the unique storylines games possessed. Throughout my gaming experience with, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, I was able witness a campaign that revolved around emotional war scenarios with the beloved Captain Price. Captain John Price is known as a protagonist who is the main character in all of the Call of Duty games since the release of Call of Duty 4 in 2007. At the time of his initial debut I was only ten years old, so I truly felt as if I grew up with Captain Price in my life up until I graduated from high school. I outgrew Call of Duty by the time I was in 11^th grade, because of my increased interest in playing more basketball. Throughout many of the campaigns I’ve played I experienced various emotional moments where I had to save Captain Price’s life or him having to save mine under the mist of war. Every single year during the fall I would constantly anticipate the releases of trailers and YouTube gameplay, because I truly couldn’t get enough of the narrative. These detailed war story lines created so many memories for me as a gamer due to the adrenaline and excitement the missions were garnering for me. Pursing checkpoint after checkpoint was always risky with opposing armies that were meant to stop us from our war goal which was winning. Constant trial and error as a war soldier built a passion for being good at Call of Duty. With that being said, without this narrative it would be extremely difficult for me to feel nostalgia from the game and I wouldn’t have had the same emotional experience otherwise. According to Mejeur’s article, Too Narrative Too Queer, “If we’re going to attempt to excise stories from games, we might as well stop making games. Waypoint’s Patrick Klepek started down this road, saying, “The problem is that it doesn’t matter: games have no choice but to tell stories,” but abruptly veered away from the most obvious follow-up to that statement: games have no choice but to tell stories because they are made by humans, and humans think in stories. Precisely how that happens is debatable, and has been debated around theories like the narrative paradigm, but we order things and seek structure. We played Pong, assuming a wider world of players on a court or at a table, rather than just playing Move Ball With Physics (and even that can be argued as a narrative structure, i.e. the ball begins here and then goes there. Also, it was never literally a ball at all; that is its own story).” Overall, Klepek’s articles conveys how essential it is for video games to possess narratives, because as humans we can’t help it, but to enjoy storytelling. Alike films and books, video games should be allowed to generate good narratives with ease as long the storytelling intensions are good.

Work Cited

Batti , B., & Karabinus, A. (2017). A Dream of Embodied Experience: On Ian Bogost, Epistemological Gatekeeping, and the Holodeck.

Souley Coulibaly

DMS 448

3/4/20

            Based on an observation of multi player shooting games during class I was able to notice the gender wars amongst users. Most of the online game play consisted of a large amount of woman slander that wasn’t initiated by the female user. Throughout her online gameplay experience she was constantly verbally abused with taunts revolving around her being a woman. Personally, I found what I saw to be quite harsh and unnecessary because of the toxic environment that slander was causing. As a gamer I strongly believe gender wars are instigated by games developers at times unconsciously and consciously.

            One instance where the lack of sensitivity towards woman was ignored was with the game developers of, Dead Island, a survival game. It was reported that a data file for Dead Island consisted a string that was named “FeministWhorePurna”. The term “FeministWhorePurna” was utilized by the developers as a name for a skill power-up for a female character named Purna that would be given an extra damage boost when killing opposition of a different sex. According to Robert Yang “FeministWhorePurna is not just a rogue prank by a sole misogynist commercial game developer: it is a useful lens to articulate wider systemic problems of gender representation in video game culture. Specifically, there is a history of gendered combat “perks” in open-world RPG games similar to Dead Island, and it is very likely that many gamers would interpret the logic of FeministWhorePurna within the context of that history. What is the procedural rhetoric of gendered combat within these games, and how do these game-play systems and simulations enact a specific logic of “gender war” to be performed by players?”

            With that being said, it is becoming too common for video games to pin males and females against each other. The leaders behind the game responded to the matter stating that “To the developer’s credit, the company took substantial responsibility: “This has been inexcusably overlooked and released with the game…This is merely an explanation but by no means an excuse. In the end that code was made a part of the product and signed with our company name. We deeply regret that fact and we apologize to all our customers or anyone who might have been offended by that inappropriate expression.” They’re conveying that this issue has continued for years and has actually been perceived as wrongdoings by game companies themselves. Addressing women in an unfair manner through narratives is a concept that video games developers need to work towards avoiding. For example, assigning Purna with characteristics that align with inferiority, because she possess qualities that are consistent with the stereotypical black women with attitude. Purna in comparison to Xian Mei holds a much more contrasting set of qualities that are depicted through the actions and scripts from the game developers. Many games such as Dead Island may unintentionally reintroduce societal norms in their character’s narratives. Although game creators may not have that goal in mind when developing narratives, it is essential to acknowledge the potential of instigating a divide amongst male and female gamers/people.

Works cited

Yang, R. (n.d.). On “FeministWhorePurna” and the Ludo-material Politics of Gendered Damage Power-ups in Open-World Rpg Video Games.