On Soulsring Worlds
On Soulsring Worlds

Author: Marco Caracciolo

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-02-26

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 1040018165

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The first book-length study devoted to FromSoftware games, On Soulsring Worlds explores how the Dark Souls series and Elden Ring are able to reconcile extreme difficulty in both gameplay and narrative with broad appeal. Arguing that the games are strategically positioned in relation to contemporary audiences and designed to tap into the new forms of interpretation afforded by digital media, the author situates the games vis-à-vis a number of current debates, including the posthuman and the ethics of gameplay. The book delivers an object lesson on the value of narrative (and) complexity in digital play and in the interpretive practices it gives rise to. Cross-fertilizing narrative theory, game studies, and nonhuman-oriented philosophy, this book will appeal to students and scholars of game studies, media studies, narratology, and video game ethnography.

Zombies, Consumption, and Satire in Capcom’s Dead Rising
Zombies, Consumption, and Satire in Capcom’s Dead Rising

Author: Connor Jackson

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-11-14

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1040268188

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This book explores the relationship between video games and satire through an in-depth examination of Capcom’s Dead Rising series, which alludes to, recontextualises, and builds upon George A. Romero’s filmic satire on American consumer culture, Dawn of the Dead. Proposing a taxonomy of videoludic satire, this book details how video games can communicate satire through their virtual environments, their characters, their audio, the way they frame the passage of time, and the outcomes of in-game choices that their players can make. By applying this taxonomy to the Dead Rising series, this book presents a compelling case for how video games can function as instruments for social commentary and indicators of ideological tensions. This unique and insightful study will interest students and scholars of media studies, video game studies, satire, visual culture, and zombie studies.

Asian Histories and Heritages in Video Games
Asian Histories and Heritages in Video Games

Author: Yowei Kang

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-08-28

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1040120997

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This book explores the representations of national Asian histories in digital games. Situated at the intersection of regional game studies and historical game studies, this book offers chapters on histories and heritages of Japan, China, Iran, Iraq, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, and Russia. The volume looks beyond the diversity of the local histories depicted in games, and the audience reception of these histories, to show a diversity of approaches which can be used in examining historical games– from postcolonialism to identity politics to heritage studies. It demonstrates various methodological approaches to historical/regional game studies: case studies of nationally produced historical games that deal with local history, studies of media reception of history/heritage-themed games, text-mining methods studying attitudes expressed by players of such games, and educational perspectives on games in teaching cultural heritage. Through the lens of videogames, the authors explore how nations struggle with the legacies of war, colonialism and religious strife that have been a part of nation-building - but also how victimized cultures can survive, resist, and sometimes prevail. Appealing primarily to scholars in the fields of game studies, heritage studies, postcolonial criticism, and media studies, this book will be particularly useful for the subfields of historical game studies and postcolonial game studies.

Central and Eastern European Histories and Heritages in Video Games
Central and Eastern European Histories and Heritages in Video Games

Author: Michał Mochocki

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-17

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1040164579

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This book explores the representations of Central and Eastern European histories in digital games. Focusing on games that examine a range of national histories and heritages from across Central and Eastern Europe, the volume looks beyond the diversity of the local histories depicted in games, and the audience reception of these histories, to show a diversity of approaches which can be used in examining historical games – from postcolonialism to identity politics to heritage studies. The book includes chapters on Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Estonia, Slovakia, Czechia, Finland, and (a Western guest with regional connections) Luxembourg. Through the lens of video games, the authors address how nations struggle with the legacies of war, colonialism, and religious strife that have been a part of nation-building - but also how victimized cultures can survive, resist, and sometimes prevail. Appealing primarily to scholars in the fields of game studies, heritage studies, postcolonial criticism, and media studies, this book will be particularly useful for the subfields of historical game studies and postcolonial game studies.

Living Life as a Sacred Practice
Living Life as a Sacred Practice

Author: Sharon Parris-Chambers

Publisher: Balboa Press

Published: 2018-10-05

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1504396227

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Living Life as a Sacred Practice is the author’s response to many years of trying to learn various methods of unifying mind, body, and spirit. She has captured the essence of life and greatness in this book with the inclusion of many practices to develop spiritual mastery. The approach requires choosing a theme from the table of contents that resonates with the reader or that the reader needs to work on. Examples of suggested sections are Abundance, Sacred Feminine, Beauty, Life, Light, Breath Consciousness, Healing, Wellness, and Inside Out. The process begins with reflecting on a quotation, reading a commentary, and reciting an affirmation. This can be repeated throughout the day to reinforce the message. You may choose a practice for twenty-one to thirty days to achieve spiritual transformation, or just use the suggested one that comes along with the quote for inspiration. The commentaries are unique, thoughtful, and out of this world. It teaches the reader to be an original thinker and to look at life from the vantage point of a creator, not as an object of creation.