Abstract
The following chapter surveys a number of ways in which video games may be studied from the perspective of multiculturalism in a way that benefits both video game studies and studies in multiculturalism. It strives to locate the multicultural perspective of study with regard to the general field of video games research, stressing the cultural status of video games and the centrality of the notion of multiculturalism to their functioning. It familiarises the reader with an existing model for studying video games with cultural diversity in mind, and provides a brief review of two important sources that provide information on the current state of video game research: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies and a selection of texts from DiGRA’s digital library. In so doing it strives to highlight both the diversity of perspectives already taken on the multicultural aspect of games and their functioning in culture, and the pressing need for further research.
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Notes
- 1.
For a discussion of serious games see e.g. Bogost (2007, pp. 54–59).
- 2.
As Frasca (2003a) notes, “[c]ertainly, formal approaches are limited—and ludologists should always keep that in mind—but they are probably the easiest way to uncover the structural differences between stories and games. I personally see this structural approach as a first, necessary step in game studies, which we will definitively outgrow once it helps us to better grasp the basic characteristics of games” (p. 222). For a discussion of the shortcomings of a formalist approach to games see e.g. Jenkins (2006), Warnes (2005), Pearce (2005), or Bogost (2009). For the benefits of narratological approaches, see e.g. Ryan (2001). For a critical overview of the so-called ludology vs narratology debate, see e.g. Bogost (2006, pp. 66–71); Bogost (2006) also discusses what he terms “functionalist separatism” in approaches to studying games, which he views as a result of early attempts at separating video games scholarship from literary studies (pp. 52–54). For a polemical response to those stances, see Aarseth (2014, pp. 185–189). For Fransca’s own comment on the debate, see Frasca (2003b).
- 3.
It is debatable whether the discipline game studies actually exists, has any chances of coming into being, or is, in fact, necessary. This, however, does not prevent multidisciplinary research from flourishing, the result of which is a continuing formation of a body of knowledge. See e.g. Aarseth (2015), or Mäyrä, Van Looy, and Quandt (2013).
- 4.
Interestingly, Taylor also points to the problematic status of MMOGs viewed from the perspective of game definition, and hence the possibility of viewing her own study as falling outside the limits of games research. However, as he writes, this points to the problems inherent in the definition itself, noting that “[t]here still seems to me something at stake in whether or not we bestow on MMOGs the label ‘game’” (p. 153).
- 5.
Huizinga writes in Homo Ludens, published in 1955: “A second characteristic [of play] is … that play is not ‘ordinary’ or ‘real’ life. It is rather a stepping out of ‘real’ life into a temporary sphere of activity with a disposition all of its own. Every child knows perfectly well that he is ‘only pretending’, or that it was ‘only for fun’” (2006, p. 103). For a polemical discussion of video games as only fun, see Bogost (2006, pp. 112–127).
- 6.
While game rules, or gameplay, may seem autonomous, Mäyrä himself notes that gameplay is regulated by internal as much as external, socio-cultural rules (p. 19), while Salen and Zimmerman emphasize that “the internal structures of a game—rules, forms of interaction, material forms—mirror external ideological contexts” (p. 516).
- 7.
On the “tiered” approach to video game components, see Bogost (2009).
- 8.
Mäyrä speaks of diversity at a point, stressing that games are nowadays played by people of different social background, gender and age. However, he performs a strange move describing this diversity in terms of “more diffuse gaming behaviors” (p. 26), often associated with casual gamers, that are different from “clearly identifiable gaming subcultures” (p. 26) apparently represented by hardcore gamers. Such a conceptualization of diversity as “casual” is suspicious, considering, e.g., the fact that both categories are gendered and associated with a superior/inferior dichotomy (Newman and Vanderhoef, 2014, pp. 383, 384–5). On the other hand, Mäyrä’s call for the study of casual gamers as “the ‘invisible majority’” (p. 26) of gamers, which significantly contributes to games cultures, is certainly valuable.
- 9.
In fact, she speaks of “the lack of existing work on cultural diversity in games” (p. 6).
- 10.
Kerr refers here to the work by Mia Consalvo (2006) on the Japanese Final Fantasy series, which Consalvo sees as representative regarding how the video game industry proves culturally hybrid in providing a mix of American and Japanese culture.
- 11.
McQuail’s categories of diversity in the media comprise diversity of provision, diversity of content/representation and diversity of audiences (2005, p. 197, cited in Kerr, 2010, pp. 2–3).
- 12.
Interestingly, Lukacs (2014) in “Sociology” stresses that sociological methodologies, while they have much to offer, have been so far applied only partially in game studies, and their potential is still greatly underestimated (p. 407).
- 13.
An attempt at linking aptitude, styles of play, motivation and game preferences to gender differences was made for example by Noble, Ruitz, Destefano, and Mintz (2014). They note that hardcore gamers constitute approx. 10% of gamers, dominate the designer sector (para. 1), and may be seen in terms of “early adopters” of technology (para. 2). As such, they have different preferences than casual players, but what needs to be considered are also such categories as age, ethnicity, gender (para. 17) and country (para. 18).
- 14.
Such research appears particularly pressing noting the ubiquitous biased representation of Muslims. This, in turn, points to a broader issue worthy of investigating: the impact of political ideologies and rhetoric on representation. See also e.g. Billingslea (2014) on the political aspect of enemies in games (pp. 92–93).
- 15.
See also e.g. Hitchens’s (2011) more detailed survey into First-Person Shooter (FPS) avatars and their characteristics concerning race, gender and background. For an earlier survey into the representation of gender and race/ethnicity in video games, see e.g. Jansz and Martis (2003). It should be noticed that while the possibility for the representation of the player’s actual identity is a crucial thing, the diverse ways in which players approach, play and experiment with identities in video games and online environments is equally worthy of attention.
- 16.
A more detailed account of Under Ash, a Syrian game featuring a young Palestinian hero who partakes in the struggle against Israeli soldiers and settlers, may be found in Gee (2004, pp. 148–152).
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Kliś-Brodowska, A. (2017). Multiculturalism in Video Game Studies: An Inquiry into the Current Research and Perspectives for Study. In: Mydla, J., Poks, M., Drong, L. (eds) Multiculturalism, Multilingualism and the Self: Literature and Culture Studies. Second Language Learning and Teaching(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61049-8_11
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