Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version ZEYNEP TANES-EHLE & SARA SPEEDY Duquesne University Abstract Game developers can gain competitive advantage in the market by understanding current trends in video game advertising. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, this study examined the persuasive focus and video production quality of video game trailers. Content of 51 top selling […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version THEO PLOTHE Walsh University Abstract This article examines this boundary between the virtual and the real in digital game trailers and argues that the blurring of this boundary through live action footage creates a third space that encompasses the virtual world and the physical world, called  “gamerspace.” This study reports […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version LEANDRO AUGUSTO BORGES LIMA King’s College London Abstract The gendered marketing of videogames is an underexplored topic within the vast literature of games and gender. In this paper, I contribute to this body of literature a configurative analysis on gendered marketing strategies for the Mass Effect. I explore the genealogy […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version ESTHER WRIGHT University of Warwick Abstract Considering promotional materials as a source of information themselves, this article tracks how Rockstar Games position titles through cinema references. Referring to the relationship between video games and cinema, and tendencies to evaluate video games according to their “cinematic” qualities, it demonstrates Rockstar’s attempt […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version ED VOLLANS Bournemouth University Abstract An antecedent promotional practice, the film trailer has a history stretches from the formulation of the film industry itself. Yet no work found explores early videogame trailers. This paper tracks the early history of the videogame trailer exploring how it commuted from its use in […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version ANDRÉ FAGUNDES PASE & ROBERTO TIETZMANN Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) Abstract In the early 80s Brazil a host of small companies, sheltered from prosecution by local laws, resorted to industrial piracy as they released clone after clone of Atari consoles and games. In this text […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version THAIANE MOREIRA DE OLIVEIRA Federal Fluminense University Abstract This paper proposes an analysis of the aesthetic elements that permeate both pervasive gaming and pervasive advertising, a type of advertising that infiltrates urban spaces and allows for a ludic and tangible experience. This research discusses the aesthetic similarities between pervasive games […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version CARL THERRIEN & ISABELLE LEFEBVRE Université de Montréal Abstract This article introduces an analytical tool developed to study the content and historical trends of printed ads, a “blind spot” of current studies on the formation of game culture by video game magazines. Focusing on video game advertising, the paper argues […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version JAN ŠVELCH Independent Scholar Abstract Since the 1980s trailers have been influencing the promotional practices of video game industry, first aesthetically and starting from 1993 also discursively. Currently, they can be considered one of the most prolific and influential tools behind video game hype and marketing. Nonetheless, trailers still fuel […]

Volume 7, Issue 1, November 2017 PDF Version ED VOLLANS, STEPHANIE JANES, CARL THERRIEN & DOMINIC ARSENAULT Advertisements do not lie to us. They show the mediating role that commodities could play in the relation between individual and expectations. (Jhally, 1990: 18) [T]he pages of the specialist gaming press brim over with anticipation, communicating palpable longing and desire for […]

Special Issue, July 2017 PDF Version  GABRIELLE TRÉPANIER-JOBIN Université du Québec à Montréal MAUDE BONENFANT Université du Québec à Montréal Abstract Starting from the premise that feminist theory remains underutilized in game studies, the authors demonstrate that mobilizing concepts from feminist pioneers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Luce Irigaray, Betty Friedan, and Laura Mulvey contributes to a […]

Special Issue, July 2017 PDF VERSION  MEGHAN BLYTHE ADAMS University of Western Ontario Abstract Based on close textual analysis of Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015), this article uses Georges Bataille’s work on the role of ritual sacrifice to interrogate the video game industry’s depictions of women in need of rescue. […]

Special Issue, July 2017 PDF version BRIE CODE Tru Luv Media  Abstract Video games are a relatively new form of entertainment allowing for unprecedented interactivity, which has vast, untapped potential. Although an increasing number of gamers are now women, they are underrepresented both within games, and in the industry workforce. Diverse workforces show measurably increased […]

Numéro spécial, juillet 2017 Version PDF PASCALE THÉRIAULT Université de Montréal Résumé Le personnage FemShep de la série Mass Effect (BioWare, 2007-2012) est souvent considéré comme un personnage féminin particulièrement intéressant et apprécié par les joueuses et les joueurs. Toutefois, les discours l’entourant sont souvent contradictoires : alors que certains la perçoivent comme une copie féminisée et […]

Special Issue, July 2017 PDF version SORAYA MURRAY University of California, Santa Cruz Abstract Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (Ubisoft, 2012) is a stealth, open-world adventure game about chattel slavery. A third-person historical fiction, Liberation presents a rare example of an exceptional black female revolutionary, and the first heroine of the highly successful franchise. Modeling an […]

Special Issue, July 2017 PDF Version DAWID MATUSZEK University of Silesia Abstract In the present article, I describe Geralt of Rivia, the eponymous protagonist of both The Witcher novelistic cycle written by Andrzej Sapkowski and the computer game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED, 2015). My analysis offers a comparative examination of Geralt in the […]

Special Issue, July 2017 PDF Version ADRIENNE SHAW Temple University Abstract Most media studies arguments for the representation of marginalized groups have focused on exploring why more diversity in cultural texts is important. Points that have been made encompass everything from claims of direct media effects to analyzing how trends in representation reinforce hegemonic norms. Because of […]

Numéro spécial, juillet 2017 Version PDF GABRIELLE TRÉPANIER-JOBIN Université du Québec à Montréal Depuis le début des années 1990, plusieurs chercheurs et chercheuses féministes s’efforcent de mettre en évidence la prolifération de stéréotypes de genre et de trames narratives sexistes dans les jeux vidéo, de même que la marginalisation des joueuses et des conceptrices de jeux. […]