No homosexuals in Star Wars? BioWare,‘gamer’identity, and the politics of privilege in a convergence culture (original) (raw)
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2020
This proposal presents the question: Why do certain video games attract a large number of Queer players while others do not? By using Queer Theory and Media Studies, this proposal approaches this question through a theoretical framework in order to go beyond a simple answer of Queer representation. This project would examine video games and Queerness through several lenses, including Queer aesthetics, Queer coding, and ludology. Through a process of analyzing games as text and interviews, this paper proposes a research project to answer this question and understand the complexities and nuances of the Queer gaming community. As a final deliverable, the creation of a "zine" is proposed to showcase the findings of this research project through a medium which would showcase Queer aesthetics.
I Exist: Improving the Representation of Queer Perspectives in Videogames [EXTENDED ABSTRACT]
2016 Digital Games Research Association of Australia (DiGRAA) National Symposium, 2016
Queer representation in videogames is gradually becoming more prevalent, but even as the inclusion of queer perspectives in games increases, there is limited research being conducted in the area (Shaw 2009). Research that is being conducted seems focused on quantifying the amount of queer representation (Shaw & Friesem 2016), rather than on the qualitative impacts it has on those accessing videogames. In May 2016, I conducted a survey that aimed to identify the ongoing impact of positive and negative representation of queer characters and themes on both queer and non-queer audiences. This survey received 158 responses and allowed me to identify issues with representation, including the comparative prevalence of same-gender attracted characters, the way character customisation tools and pronouns are being used to depict diverse genders, and the use of ‘optional’ queer content and playersexuality in games as an attempt to appease queer players. Respondents provided insights into why these particular aspects of queer representation are problematic, and this paper presents a foundational analysis of these issues.
International Journal of Communication, 2016
With increasing popular and academic attention being paid to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) content in video games, the time has come for a thorough account of the history of this content in this medium. In the project reviewed here, we have documented more than 300 games and more than 500 examples of LGBTQ content spanning 30 years. Using a grounded theoretical approach, we were able to classify this content into nine large categories—characters, relationships/romance/sex, actions, locations, mentions, artifacts, traits, queer games/narratives, and homophobia/transphobia—each of which contains several subcategories. In outlining our classification system here, we will demonstrate the myriad ways queerness in gender and sexuality have been integrated into digital games.
Gaming Politics - Gender and Sexuality on Earth and Beyond
Phd Thesis, 2019
This thesis investigates the characters, plots, and images in BioWare’s videogame trilogy Mass Effect and its transmedia universe with the aim of informing what is political about videogames and where politics is found in videogames. By focusing on a critical assessment of gender and sexuality politics in the making and playing of videogames, this thesis highlights the configurative nature of interactions that inform videogames culture and discusses how the political appears in videogames content, production, consumption and media. I critically approach the extensive literature produced by scholars interested in videogames, particularly those of ludology, narratology and cultural studies, evaluating their theoretical and methodological contributions to the field. I expand the interdisciplinary nature of game and videogame studies through a) an interface with concepts from political sciences, and b) a dialogue with French-Brazilian perspectives of communication theory. Furthermore, I advocate that the current methodological approaches to videogames studies are insufficient to explore the complexity of videogames and, specifically, its political potential. Thus, aiming towards a comprehensive and in-depth study of Mass Effect as an example of ‘the political’ in videogames, I develop the configurative analysis framework. The framework proposes a holistic approach to videogames research based on the use of extensive sets of data and layered stages of analysis, accounting for the configurative dynamics within three spheres: medium-sphere, gaming-sphere and culture-sphere. This approach, built upon a theoretical refinement of the concept of configuration, allows the research to account for several instances of subject's interaction with gaming and the overall network of relations that encompasses and influences the industry, the gameplay moment, and videogames culture. The thesis concludes that videogames are a site where politics have persistently taken place since its origins. However, the use of videogames for political conversation of gender and sexuality is a movement that must emerge both from those involved in its production and the publics that consume it. Videogames can counter conservative discourses of hegemonic masculinity and heteronormativity, enabling new forms and stages for the voice of marginalised publics to be heard.
Gay Habits Set Strait: Fan Culture and Authoritative Praxis in Ready Player One
2016
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@odu.edu. Repository Citation Moberly, Kevin and Moberly, Brent, "Gay Habits Set Strait: Fan Culture and Authoritative Praxis in Ready Player One" (2016). English Faculty Publications. 63. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english\_fac\_pubs/63
Representations of Queer Identity in Games from 2013–2015 [EXTENDED ABSTRACT]
Proceedings of DiGRA 2017 International Conference, 2017
Representation of diverse sexualities and genders has traditionally been uncommon in games (Shaw 2009). As the influence of independent developers grows (Anthropy 2012) and interest in queer content increases (Gravning 2014), the heternormative nature of the medium is beginning to be challenged; however, gaps remain in the study of queer content in games. In collaboration with in-progress qualitative and quantitative studies that are attempting to holistically analyse the history of LGBTQ representation in digital games (Shaw, Lauteria, Persaud & Cole 2017), the research we are presenting examines titles featuring queer content in games released from 2013–2015. Prior research for an existing project (Queerly Represent Me 2017) revealed a statistically significant increase in titles featuring queer content in this three year period, highlighting this period as warranting further study.
From Camp to Kitsch: A Queer Eye on Console Fandom
G|A|M|E: The Italian Journal of Game Studies, 2014
Offering a queer perspective on video game fandom, this article considers the factors that fostered a subculture of Western devotees of Japanese video games in the 1990s. Focused on readers of the English publication Sega Saturn Magazine, it shows how, for these players, Japanese games became the basis of a collective identity founded on precisely the kinds of perverse over-attachment, projective identification and hermeneutic ingenuity that Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick identifies with camp. Citing this subculture as an example of how fans transform the texts they put to use, the article also addresses its implications for our understanding of fandom today, at a time when the proliferation of quantitative analysis techniques is transforming the production and consumption of games. Such techniques, I argue, threaten to compromise the contingency and ambiguity on which camp thrives, instead fostering the kinds of cynical calculation Sedgwick associates with kitsch.
Counting Queerness in Games: Trends in LGBTQ Digital Game Representation, 1985‒2005
International Journal of Communication, 2019
This article provides quantitative analyses of trends in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) content in digital games released between 1985 and 2005, including 162 games and 283 instances of content. We contextualize these findings within the literature on LGBTQ media representation and emphasize the unique forms this content takes in games. We also demonstrate the importance of looking beyond the game text in isolation in coding sexual and gender identities. We explore the statistical association among variables, including the intersection of race and character role with LGBTQ identities, country of origin, and year of release. Moreover, we demonstrate trends in this representation over time. In addition, we discuss the limitations of quantitative analysis of game content, particularly for this sort of historical analysis. Still, we can point to interesting quantitative trends in LGBTQ representation, which offer important context for understanding what ideologies are being replicated in digital games.