An interview (August 2006) with one of my friends, Babsi Lippe, who completed her PhD on girls, Japan and games last year.
Thursday, 8 February 2007
Game Boys for Play Girls!
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An interview (August 2006) with one of my friends, Babsi Lippe, who completed her PhD on girls, Japan and games last year.
Posted by
Gareth R. White
at
23:01
Labels: video game, women
2 comments:
An interesting article, and one that reminded me of the forthcoming 'Cooking Mama' on Wii which looks like it will get a European release. This is a great example of a Japanese game with cutesy graphics which one would assume is aimed at a female market (though I must admit I find the concept strangely compelling).
The cultural distinction between stylised and realistic graphics is also an interesting one. From my perspective as a 'gamer' I think the Japanese attitude is preferable as, perhaps perversely, it tends to favour substance (i.e. the gameplay that Juul refers to) over style.
Actually it strikes me that one way in which you can agree with Juul's suggestion that graphics are 'irrelevant' (and perhaps this is what led him to make this flawed assertion) is when you look at games in terms of innovation. The 'first person shooter' (FPS) is a good example of what is, in terms of gameplay, basically the same game which is being recycled again and again but disguised with different aesthetics. Though that's not to say that changing the aesthetics doesn't have any cultural impact. See:
- America's Army
- Under Ash
- Special Force
That's an interesting point, and it makes me think about remediation in a couple of ways. Firstly there's the belief that 'themed' graphics are just a bolted on extra to the essence of videogames, which is their gameplay (perhaps McLuhan would describe the theme as the content which distracts the dog from the burglar - the 'message' of this medium is virtual community). Secondly is the sense in which the gameplay is being remediated (recycled) in new skins (games, platforms).
FWIW I dig the graphic style of Ōkami (which incidentally is nominated for the International Game Developers Association's 'Developers Choice' award.)
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