Playing with Religion in Digital Games
Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press (2014), ix, 301 pp.
Contains illustrations, index
Series: Digital Games Studies
ISBN 978-0-253-01253-1 (pbk); 978-0-253-01263-0 (ebook)
Signature commbox: 70-Religion-E 2014
"Shaman, paragon, God-mode: modern video games are heavily coded with religious undertones. From the Shinto-inspired Japanese video game 'Okami' to the internationally popular 'The Legend of Zelda' and 'Halo', many video games rely on religious themes and symbols to drive the narrative and frame the storyline. 'Playing with Religion in Digital Games' explores the increasingly complex relationship between gaming and global religious practices. For example, how does religion help organize the communities in MMORPGs such as 'World of Warcraft'? What role has censorship played in localizing games like 'Actraiser' in the western world? How do evangelical Christians react to violence, gore, and sexuality in some of the most popular games such as 'Mass Effect' or 'Grand Theft Auto'?" (Publisher description)
Introduction: what playing with religion offers digital game studies / Heidi A. Campbell, Gregory Price Grieve, 1
I. EXPLORATIONS IN RELIGIOUSLY THEMED GAMES
Dreidels to Dante's Inferno: toward a typology of religious games / Jason Anthony, 25
Locating the pixelated Jew: a multimodal method for exploring Judaism in The Shivah / Isamar Carrillo Masso, Nathan Abrams, 47
The global mediatization of Hinduism through digital games: representation versus simulation in Hanuman: boy warrior / Xenia Zeiler, 66
Silent Hill and Fatal Frame: finding franscendent horror in and beyond the Haunted Magic Circle / Brenda S. Gardenour Walter, 88
II. RELIGION IN MAINSTREAM GAMES
From Kuma\War to Quraish: representation of Islam in Arab and American video games / Vít Sisler, 109
Citing the medieval: using religion as world-building infrastructure in fantasy MMORPGs / Rabia Gregory, 134
Hardcore Christian gamers: how religion shapes evangelical play / Shanny Luft, 154
Filtering cultural feedback: religion, censorship, and localization in Actraiser and other mainstream video games / Peter Likarish, 170
GAMING AS IMPLICIT RELIGION
The importance of playing in earnest / Rachel Wagner, 192
"God modes" and "God moods": what does a digital game need to be spiritually effective? / Oliver Steffen, 214
Bridging multiple realities: religion, play, and Alfred Schutz's theory of the life-world / Michael Waltemathe, 238
They kill mystery: the mechanistic bias of video game representations of religion and spirituality / Kevin Schut, 255
I. EXPLORATIONS IN RELIGIOUSLY THEMED GAMES
Dreidels to Dante's Inferno: toward a typology of religious games / Jason Anthony, 25
Locating the pixelated Jew: a multimodal method for exploring Judaism in The Shivah / Isamar Carrillo Masso, Nathan Abrams, 47
The global mediatization of Hinduism through digital games: representation versus simulation in Hanuman: boy warrior / Xenia Zeiler, 66
Silent Hill and Fatal Frame: finding franscendent horror in and beyond the Haunted Magic Circle / Brenda S. Gardenour Walter, 88
II. RELIGION IN MAINSTREAM GAMES
From Kuma\War to Quraish: representation of Islam in Arab and American video games / Vít Sisler, 109
Citing the medieval: using religion as world-building infrastructure in fantasy MMORPGs / Rabia Gregory, 134
Hardcore Christian gamers: how religion shapes evangelical play / Shanny Luft, 154
Filtering cultural feedback: religion, censorship, and localization in Actraiser and other mainstream video games / Peter Likarish, 170
GAMING AS IMPLICIT RELIGION
The importance of playing in earnest / Rachel Wagner, 192
"God modes" and "God moods": what does a digital game need to be spiritually effective? / Oliver Steffen, 214
Bridging multiple realities: religion, play, and Alfred Schutz's theory of the life-world / Michael Waltemathe, 238
They kill mystery: the mechanistic bias of video game representations of religion and spirituality / Kevin Schut, 255
