Transnational Contexts of Culture, Gender, Class, and Colonialism in Play

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction

   • Alexis Pulos, S. Austin Lee Lee

   Pages 1-13

3. Part I Gamer Culture

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. Bullet Hell: The Globalized Growth of Danmaku Games and the Digital Culture of High Scores and World Records

      • Mark Johnson

      Pages 17-42

   3. Content Production Fields and Doujin Game Developers in Japan: Non-economic Rewards as Drivers of Variety in Games

      • Nobushige Hichibe, Ema Tanaka

      Pages 43-80

   4. From Pioneering Amateur to Tamed Co-operator: Tamed Desires and Untamed Resistance in the Cosplay Scene in China

      • Anthony Y. H. Fung, Boris L. F. Pun

      Pages 81-95

4. Part II Gender and Class

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 97-97

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   2. Making Masculinity: Articulations of Gender and Japaneseness in Japanese RPGs and Machinima

      • Lucy Glasspool

      Pages 99-125

   3. Living the Simple Life: Defining Agricultural Simulation Games Through Empire

      • Fan Zhang, Erika M. Behrmann

      Pages 127-151

5. Part IIIColonialism and Transnationalism

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153

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   2. Virtual Colonialism: Japan’s Others in SoulCalibur

      • Rachael Hutchinson

      Pages 155-178

   3. A Chinese Cyber-Diaspora: Contact and Identity Negotiation in a Game World

      • Holin Lin, Chuen-Tsai Sun

      Pages 179-209

6. Back Matter

   Pages 211-218

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This book examines the local, regional and transnational contexts of video games through a focused analysis on gaming communities, the ways game design regulates gender and class relations, and the impacts of colonization on game design. The critical interest in games as a cultural artifact is covered by a wide range of interdisciplinary work. To highlight the social impacts of games the first section of the book covers the systems built around high score game competitions, the development of independent game design communities, and the formation of fan communities and cosplay. The second section of the book offers a deeper analysis of game structures, gender and masculinity, and the economic constraints of empire that are built into game design. The final section offers a macro perspective on transnational and colonial discourses built into the cultural structures of East Asian game play.

• Video Games
• Transnational Gaming
• Gamer Culture
• Colonialism and Transnationalism
• Gaming, Gender, and Class

• Department of Communication, Northern Kentucky University, USA Department of Communication, Highland Heights, USA

  Alexis Pulos

• Department of Communication, Northern Kentucky University, USA, Highland Heights, USA

  S. Austin Lee

Alexis Pulos is Assistant Professor at Northern Kentucky University, USA and teaches games and culture, board game design, and video game analysis. He received his PhD from University of New Mexico where he studied rhetoric, new media, digital games, and film. His current work focuses on the ways player agency is structured through the design and social regulation of rule systems. 



S. Austin Lee is Assistant Professor at Northern Kentucky University, USA. He received his BA from Seoul National University, South Korea and MA/PhD from Michigan State University, USA. His areas of expertise include communication technology and culture and communication. His scholarly work has been published in top academic journals, including Journal of Applied Psychology. He also received the top paper award from the National Communication Association.

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