Day 10/10 of the anti-racist #gamestudies thread series

Thus ends my journey with a hot take on coloniality in game-based learning.

"I don’t think you’re going to have any aborigines in your world" by Ligia López López, @LarsdeWildt and @nikkimoodie_

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108… How is Minecraft used in Australian schools to reproduce colonial myths and erase Indigenous presence?

Using Indigenous observation methods, the authors “enter the classroom with suspicion” and in solidarity with youth potentially resisting against top-down curricular goals.

Day 9/10 of the anti-racist #gamestudies thread series

Today, I want to discuss a text which helped me start to think about global nuances of racism & sexism in hardware production.

It's from the brilliant book Gaming Globally by Nina Huntemann.

link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9… This is chapter 2 entitled 'Women in Video Games: The Case of Hardware Production and Promotion'. Before I read this I thought 'women in games' are underrepresented. Turns out there are plenty of WIG but they are where we don't wanna see them: In hardware factories, on showfloors

Day 8/10 of my anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

Today: 'The Work of Postcolonial Game Studies in the Play of Culture’ by @sorayamurray

olh.openlibhums.org/articles/10.16…

It’s one of the most thorough surveys of what postcolonial game scholarship actually does and why it matters. Why should we believe any theoretical analysis of games matters? Murray points to a ‘mock formula’ by @molleindustria in 2016:

“You think [pop culture artifact] is cool and progressive but here’s how it reinforces [capitalism/sexism/militarism]’.

Mic drop. Critical work done.

Day 7/10 of my anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

Today: Playing Subaltern: Video Games and Postcolonialism by @Prosperoscell.

It takes us to postcolonial game studies. How does colonialism infiltrate games? And how does it affect Indian players?

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117… First, it would be strange to believe that (post)colonial ideas don’t affect how we play and perceive games in general. But Indian players in particular are directly confronted with their colonial history when playing stuff like Empire: Total War or East India Company.

Day 6/10 of my anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

Today: @odaminowin's Self-determination in Indigenous games

taylorfrancis.com/books/e/978131…

It's an important text on ongoing efforts in Indigenous digital game dev in North America. How does it resist racist-colonial legacies? LaPensée positions herself as an Indigenous game dev with ties to Anishinabee and Metis communities. Her work on games is based on personal interactions, community gatherings, ceremonies, and learning and speaking Anishinaabemowin. Games become a tool for self-determination.

Day 5/10 of my anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

It's half time, folks ♥️😊

Time to continue talking about Indie games & our hopes that they will solve racism.

Today: "Precarity and Why Indie Game Developers Can’t Save Us from Racism" by @ssrauy journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11… This is an interview study in which Sam Srauy asks AAA devs from US and Canada about their views on racism.

Note: The data is different from yesterday: No industry statistics but a qualitative, narrative look at North American game dev culture. What do devs think, hope, expect?

What do games have to do w racism?

Any game dev should be able to answer this. Luckily there’s great research out there.

During 10 days, I break down studies on games & racism 1 thread a day. My words, random order, it's all useful stuff.


WIP thread collection:
✨👇✨

https://twitter.com/enibolas/status/1257240605018767361?s=20

It's already Day 4/10 of my anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

This is to highlight research for game devs who are interested in what's going in race, social justice & games research.

I discuss texts in random order, using my words. Feel free to share & discuss ideas 🌈🙏 Today, I'm introducing the text "Racial Diversity in Indie Games: Patterns, Challenges, and Opportunities" by @CalePassmore, Max Birk, Rowan Yates & Regan Mandryk. It gives a statistical foundation which proves our idea wrong that “indie games are more diverse” than AAA.

Day 3/10 of the anti-racist #gamestudies thread series

I’m looking at @lnakamur s text “Racism, Sexism and Gaming’s Cruel Optimism”, the afterword of the book Gaming Representation.

It's a great reminder to check what we mean when we say inclusion:

👇✨
lnakamur.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/nakamu… Nakamura starts by exploring common ways to think about sexism and racism in gaming, drawing on her experience teaching racially diverse games classes.

Minority students generally agree that there is sexism and racism in gaming. But they also have 2 solutions to fix this.

Day 2/10 of the anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

Today I take a look at a fantastic study by @KishonnaGray on the way Black gamers get harassed in online gaming (XboX Live) based on the sound of their voice.

link to article 👇✨ tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… The study method was an 8 months ethnography of XboX live games, including Halo Reach, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Being present at these sites allowed the researcher to interact as observer and participant in the community.

Day 1/10 of my anti-racist #gamestudies thread series.

My aim is to highlight research in the intersection of race, social justice & games. No hierarchies, I discuss them in random order, using my own words

It's all stuff that I blew my mind and I find worthwhile discussing ✨ today: 'Habits of whiteness’ by @heyouonline. I focus on chapter 2, in which Young explains how fantasy role playing games create ‘habits of whiteness’ & why they do that.

Spoilers: racism in fantasy isn’t just ‘the way things are’. It is constructed over time. How?