We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Sam Srauy, "Race, Culture and the Video Game Industry: A Vicious Circuit" (Routledge, 2024)

Sam Srauy, "Race, Culture and the Video Game Industry: A Vicious Circuit" (Routledge, 2024)

2025/3/1
logo of podcast New Books in Critical Theory

New Books in Critical Theory
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
S
Sam Srauy
Topics
Sam Srauy: 我在书中探讨了美国系统性种族主义如何塑造了电子游戏产业的文化、市场逻辑和生产实践，特别是在1970年到2010年之间。我提出了一个“恶性循环”的概念，它通过对‘玩家’形象的塑造，强化了种族主义，并维持了游戏产业的权力结构。这个循环包含三个阶段：经济力量（例如，不确定性）、行业实践（例如，模仿同构）以及对玩家形象的想象。这些阶段相互影响，不断自我强化。 我个人的经历也促使了我对这个问题的关注。从小我就玩电子游戏，但从未感到它们是为我而设计的，这让我感到困惑。一次与朋友母亲的谈话让我意识到，美国社会中存在着以白人为主导的种族偏见。 在游戏产业的早期，游戏面向的受众更广泛。但1977年和1983年的两次产业崩溃，导致产业开始重新定义目标受众，并塑造了‘玩家’的形象，这个形象最初是白人男性。任天堂进入美国市场时，迎合了当时里根民主党人的政治和经济力量，进一步巩固了这种形象。 AAA游戏和独立游戏在制作风格和商业模式上存在差异，独立游戏开发者拥有更大的创作自由。然而，即使是独立游戏，也仍然受到经济压力的影响。 在当代，‘恶性循环’限制了‘乐趣’的多样性，因为游戏产业仍然过度依赖于对特定‘玩家’形象的刻画。例如，《刺客信条》系列游戏的成功和演变，反映了这种依赖以及对创作多样性的限制。 为了打破这个恶性循环，我建议通过税收结构的调整，鼓励大型公司承担更多风险，支持更多元化的游戏创作。我的下一本书将关注边缘化游戏开发者的生活经验，探讨他们面临的挑战和困境。 Tom DeSena: 作为访谈主持人，我对Sam Srauy的著作《Race, Culture and the Video Game Industry: A Vicious Circuit》进行了深入探讨。我们分析了电子游戏产业的历史演变，以及种族主义如何通过对“玩家”形象的塑造，在产业的文化、市场逻辑和生产实践中得以体现。我们讨论了“恶性循环”的概念，以及它如何通过经济力量、行业实践和对玩家形象的想象三个阶段不断自我强化。我们还探讨了AAA游戏和独立游戏之间的区别，以及如何通过改变经济模式来打破这个恶性循环，从而促进游戏产业的多元化和包容性。

Deep Dive

Shownotes Transcript

My guest today Sam Srauy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations at Oakland University, Her research examines race, video games, and the political economy of the video game industry. Srauy’s work appears in various academic journals including Social Media + Society, First Mondays, Games and Culture, and Television and New Media. She teaches courses on identity, race/racism, digital media production, and video game studies/production. Prior to academia, Srauy worked for over a decade in the high-tech industry. Her experience in that field includes municipal wireless networks, open-source technology, and streaming media systems. About the book: 

Race, Culture and the Video Game Industry: A Vicious Circuit)* *(Routledge, 2024) offers a detailed and much needed examination of how systemic racism in the US shaped the culture, market logic, and production practices of video game developers from the 1970s until the 2010s.

Offering historical analysis of the video game industries (console, PC, and indie) from a critical, political economic lens, this book specifically examines the history of how such practices created, enabled, and maintained racism through the imagined 'gamer.' The book explores how the cultural and economic landscape of the United States developed from the 1970s through the 2000s and explains how racist attitudes are reflected and maintained in the practices of video games production. These practices constitute a 'Vicious Circuit' that normalizes racism and the centrality of an imagined gamer identity. It also explores how the industry, from indie game developers to larger profit-driven companies, responded to changing attitudes in the 2010s, where racism and lack of diversity in games was frequently being noted. The book concludes by offering potential solutions to combat this 'Vicious Circuit'.

A vital contribution to the study of video games that will be welcomed by students and scholars in the fields of media studies, cultural studies, game studies, critical race studies, and beyond.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices)

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory)