Video Games and the Global South

Phillip Penix-Tadsen (ed.)

Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University;ETC Press (2019), viii, 290 pp.

ISBN 978-0-359-64139-0 (print); 978-0-359-64141-3 (online)

"The innovative research in Video Games and the Global South focuses on a range of topics including art games and serious games from the global south, postcolonialism and cultural representation, player communities, software modification (modding), intercultural communication online, racism and sexism in game culture, the global growth of eSports, social media use in relation to gaming and the use of games to connect users and communities across the globe. Some fifteen years ago, Uruguayan theorist and game developer Gonzalo Frasca spoke of the possibility of creating “video games of the oppressed,” using the medium as a tool for education, socio-political awareness and consciousness-raising. In short, Frasca advocated for the appropriation of the means of game production by actors in the global south, and the repurposing of these technologies in ways that would benefit the region’s inhabitants. A decade and a half later, we can see that many gamers and game developers from across the global south have taken up this challenge, contributing to game cultures and creating games that respond to the obstacles and affordances of their particular geographical, socioeconomic, political and cultural contexts. Video Games and the Global South brings together perspectives from a range of disciplines, critical methodologies and theoretical approaches. Together, the 20 contributing essays advance the critical methodology for analyzing the relationship between games and culture, as well as historically contextualized insight into the cultural impact of video games and the development of games and game cultures across Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, the Indian subcontinent, Oceania and Asia." (Publisher description)

Introduction: Video Games and the Global South / Phillip Penix-Tadsen, 1
PART ONE: SERIOUS GAMES AND THE POLITICS OF PLAY
Replaying the Digital Divide: Video Games in India / Souvik Mukherjee, 35
Serious Gaming: Critiques of Neoliberalism in the Works of Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga / Claire Taylor, 47
Playing Killbox: Didactic Gaming and Drone Warfare / Jenna Ann Altomonte, 61
Playing Beyond Precariousness: The Political Dimension of Brazilian Modding in Pro Evolution Soccer / José Messias, Diego Amaral, and Thaiane Oliveira, 75
Eurocentric Values at Play: Modding the Colonial from the Indigenous Perspective / Rhett Loban and Thomas Apperley, 87
Digital Masks and Lucha Libre: Visual Subjectification and Allegory of Mexico in Video Games / Daniel Calleros Villarreal, 101
PART TWO: GAMING COMMUNITIES AND SUBCULTURES
Not Waiting for Other Players Anymore: Gaming in the Middle East between Assignation, Resistance and Normalization / Pierre-Alain Clément, 115
National Cultures and Digital Space: Interpersonal Communication in World of Warcraft, from Latin to North America / Verónica Valdivia Medina, 129
Colonized Play: Racism, Sexism and Colonial Legacies in the Dota 2 South Africa Gaming Community / Jules Skotnes-Brown, 143
Ludic Solidarity and Sociality: The Impact of Dota 2 on Lima’s Youth / Jerjes Loayza, 155
Arab Gamers: An Identity Inclusivity Study / Bushra Alfaraj, 169
eSports Gamers in China: Career, Lifestyle and Public Discourse among Professional League of Legends Competitors / Boris Pun, Yiyi Yin, and Anthony Fung, 183
PART THREE: CIRCULATION OF GAMES AND GAME CULTURE
Digital Gaming’s South-South Connection / Thomas Apperley, 199
The Emerging African Video Game Industry: An Analysis of the Narratives of Games Developed in Cameroon and Nigeria / Rebecca Yvonne Bayeck, 211
Video Game Engagement on Social Media in the Middle East / Ahmed Al-Rawi and Mia Consalvo, 225
The Nuances of Video Game Curation: Lessons from Argentina / María Luján Oulton, 245
Mobility through Games: Asian International Students and Gaming Cultures in Melbourne / Joshua Wong, William Balmford, Larissa Hjorth, and Ingrid Richardson, 257
Whose “Game Culture” Is It, Anyway? Exploring Children’s Gameplay across Cape Town / Nicola Pallitt, Anja Venter, and Muya Koloko, 269

Topics:

Educational Games, Serious Games Gaming, Video Games Indigenous Digital & Social Media Communication

Countries:

Africa Argentina Australia Brazil Cameroon Global South, Developing Countries India Mexico Middle East Nigeria South Africa