Tag: digital games
Carbone, M.B., Ivănescu, A. 2020. ‘Games and Players’. In K. ROSS, I. BACHMANN, V. CARDO, S. MOORTI, M. SCARCELLI (EDS), The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication, WiLEY, doi:10.1002/9781119429128.iegmc015
The gender identities of players, the representations of video game characters, the state of diversity in the gaming industry, and the specific characteristics of the medium represent key issues for gender studies approaches to digital games. Looking at the history of representation of characters in digital games, the entry discusses the prevalence of heteronormative representations and dominance of cisgender, White, and male characters at the detriment of diversity, as well as tracing elements of change and inclusivity emerging in the game industries. Reporting about the Gamergate debacle as a backlash against emerging feminist critiques of gaming industries and cultures, the entry provides an account of players from a demographic perspective, tracing the prevalence of White, patriarchal heteronormativity to systemic issues of professional underrepresentation, and relating progressive views on gender identities in gaming to broader movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. Outlining approaches to the study of games and gender from an interdisciplinary perspective, the entry underlines the specific affordances of the interactive medium for the trying and affirmation of gender identities, including character customization, embodiment, the simulacrum aspects of representation, and inclusiveness as an emergent property of design. The rise of gender analysis in games is highlighted as a timely and political issue that concerns matters of research as well as industry representation and advocacy, requiring both interdisciplinary and games‐specific approaches.
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Editors and Contributors
A CURA DI
MARCO BENOÎT CARBONE & RICCARDO FASSONE
PREFAZIONE
PEPPINO ORTOLEVA
CONTRIBUTI
FELICE ADDEO, GIANLUCA BALLA, MATTIA BARRA, MATTEO BITTANTI, MARCO BENOÎT CARBONE, MICHAEL CASTRONUOVO, FELICE DI GIUSEPPE, RICCARDO FASSONE, DALILA FORNI, ENRICO GANDOLFI, IVAN GIRINA, FEDERICO GIORDANO,ANDREA PACHETTI, PAOLO RUFFINO, SIMONE TOSONI, MATTEO TARANTINO, FRANCESCO TONIOLO.
Disponibile via Mimesis e nelle maggiori librerie in formato cartaceo ed elettronico.
Blurb
Quali sono i videogiochi made in Italy? E che immagine restituiscono dell’Italia? Il videogame nel Belpaese esprime caratteri di cultura nazionale tanto nelle produzioni nostrane quanto nell’adattamento e nella ricezione culturale dei prodotti esteri. I contributi di questa raccolta, firmati da ricercatori italiani e internazionali, trattano della fruizione e della produzione italiana di questi prodotti, della rappresentazione del nostro paese, delle relazioni tra giochi, fumetti, cinema, sport e brand nazionali, delle comunità di giocatrici, critici e studiose e del crescente riconoscimento istituzionale del medium come veicolo per la promozione del patrimonio storico-culturale.
Presentations/Interviews/Previews
05/07/2021 – Featured on #MONTAG: Libri/Immagini/Fuoco – a podcast by Italian research association Consulta Universitaria Cinema.
24/05/2021 – “‘Spaghetti, ravioli, mamma mia!’: italianità e italianismi nel brand di Super Mario” – a talk and interview about Super Mario and ‘Italian-ness’ with Paola Scrolavezza at NipPop 2021.
30/3/2021 – Featured on Italian weekly print magazine FilmTV alongside an Interview with and Film&Games short reviews by the Editors:
27/03/2021 – Article on Italian newspaper Il Manifesto
24/11/2020 – TV coverage on RAI’s Wonderland:
15/12/2020 – Presentation @ ‘ABCinema – Blow Out. Frequenze cinefile’.
02/12/2020 – Presentation @ IULM Milano – GAME TALKS, organized by Matteo Bittanti.
24/11/2020 – Featured on television channel RAI4’s ‘Wonderland’.
Excerpts and Materials
This lecture presented results from the Edited Collection
Il videogioco in Italia. Storie, rappresentazioni, contesti.
It focused on two main issues: the historiography and state of the Italian video game industry, and the images and representations of Italy in the medium of the video game. Looking at these two, often intersecting themes, the lecture presented the case for framing the study of video games in Italian academia under a rigorous, non-celebratory perspective and for critically understanding its representations, characterisations, and national branding in the medium.