The History of the Gothic Video Game
The History of the Gothic Video Game

Author: Christopher Carton

Publisher: White Owl

Published: 2024-07-30

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1399069705

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Step into a world of darkness! Towering castles…magical spells…demonic creatures…certain DEATH. The gothic video game has crossed generations, from 8-bit computers to the most powerful 4K PCs and consoles, to deliver dark thrills filled with atmosphere and peril. Gathered in this book are some of the most prominent and enduring games to be developed under a veil of gothic presentation, from their gloomy settings to spine-chilling audio design. Follow the histories of some of gaming’s most popular franchises, such as the decade-spanning Castlevania series and FromSoftware’s “Soulsborne” titles (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Elden Ring). Packed with over a hundred screenshots that encompass all generations of gaming - with home console, handheld and PC gaming included - and featuring trivia and recommendations across a variety of genres such as strategy games, hack-and-slashers and first-person shooters, The History of the Gothic Video Game is an essential book for fans of all things macabre. The shadows await…

The History of the Gothic Video Game
The History of the Gothic Video Game

Author: Christopher Carton

Publisher: White Owl

Published: 2024-07-30

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 1399069721

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Step into a world of darkness! Towering castles…magical spells…demonic creatures…certain DEATH. The gothic video game has crossed generations, from 8-bit computers to the most powerful 4K PCs and consoles, to deliver dark thrills filled with atmosphere and peril. Gathered in this book are some of the most prominent and enduring games to be developed under a veil of gothic presentation, from their gloomy settings to spine-chilling audio design. Follow the histories of some of gaming’s most popular franchises, such as the decade-spanning Castlevania series and FromSoftware’s “Soulsborne” titles (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Elden Ring). Packed with over a hundred screenshots that encompass all generations of gaming - with home console, handheld and PC gaming included - and featuring trivia and recommendations across a variety of genres such as strategy games, hack-and-slashers and first-person shooters, The History of the Gothic Video Game is an essential book for fans of all things macabre. The shadows await…

Videogames and the Gothic
Videogames and the Gothic

Author: Ewan Kirkland

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-10-01

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1000453103

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This book explores the many ways Gothic literature and media have informed videogame design. Through a series of detailed case studies, Videogames and the Gothic illustrates the extent to which particular tropes of Gothic culture –neo-medieval aesthetics, secret-filled labyrinthine spaces, the sense of a dark past impacting upon the present – have been appropriated by and transformed within digital games. Moving beyond the study of the generic influences of horror on digital gaming, Ewan Kirkland focuses in on the Gothic, a less visceral mode tending towards the unsettling, the uncertain and the uncanny. He explores the extent to which imagery, storylines and narrative preoccupations taken from Gothic fiction facilitate the affordances and limitations of the videogame medium. A core contention of this book is that videogames have developed as an inherently Gothic form of popular entertainment. Arguing for close proximity between Gothic culture and the videogame medium itself, this book will be a key contribution to both Gothic and digital game scholarship; as such, it will have resonance with scholars and students in both areas, as well as those interested in Gothic novels, media and popular culture, digital games and interactive fiction.

Horror Video Games
Horror Video Games

Author: Bernard Perron

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0786454792

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In this in-depth critical and theoretical analysis of the horror genre in video games, 14 essays explore the cultural underpinnings of horror's allure for gamers and the evolution of "survival" themes. The techniques and story effects of specific games such as Resident Evil, Call of Cthulhu, and Silent Hill are examined individually.

Lost Souls of Horror and the Gothic
Lost Souls of Horror and the Gothic

Author: Elizabeth McCarthy

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-10-24

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 1476626537

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In recent years horror and gothic themes have penetrated mainstream popular culture in a manner unseen since the horror boom of the 1970s. Primetime television viewers who before might not have shown interest in such late-night fare now happily settle down after dinner to watch zombie or serial killer shows. This collection of 54 biographical essays examines many overlooked and underrated figures who have played a role in the ever expanding world of horror and gothic entertainment. The contributors push the boundaries of how we define these terms, bringing into the discussion such diverse figures as singer-songwriter Tom Waits, occultist Dion Fortune, author Charles Beaumont, historian and bishop Gregory of Tours and video game designer Shinji Mikami.

The Silver Bayonet
The Silver Bayonet

Author: Joseph A. McCullough

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-11-11

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1472844866

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As the wars of Napoleon ravage Europe, chaos and fear reign and the darkness that once clung to the shadows has been emboldened. Supernatural creatures – vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and worse take advantage of the havoc, striking out at isolated farms, villages, and even military units. Whether they are pursuing some master plan or simply revelling in their newfound freedom is unknown. Most people dismiss reports of these slaughters as the rantings of madmen or the lies of deserters, but a few know better... The Silver Bayonet is a skirmish wargame of gothic horror set during the Napoleonic Wars. Each player forms an elite band of monster hunters drawn from the ranks of one of the great powers. Riflemen, swordsmen, and engineers fight side-by-side with mystics, occultists, and even those few supernatural creatures that can be controlled or reasoned with enough to make common cause. The game can be played solo, co-operatively, or competitively, with players progressing through a series of interlinked adventures with their soldiers gaining experience and suffering grievous wounds, and their units triumphing... or falling in the face of the shadows. It is a game of action and adventure, where musket and sabre meet tooth and claw.

Game On, Hollywood!
Game On, Hollywood!

Author: Gretchen Papazian

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-02-06

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1476601852

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The 14 essays in Game on, Hollywood! take on several points of game and film intersection. They look at storylines, aesthetics, mechanics, and production. The book is about adaptation (video game to film, film to video game), but it is even more about narrative. The essays draw attention to the ways and possibilities of telling a story. They consider differences and similarities across modes of storytelling (showing, telling, interacting), explore the consequences of time, place and ideology, and propose critical approaches to the vastness of narrative in the age of multimedia storytelling. The video games and film texts discussed include The Warriors (1979 film; 2005 video game), GoldenEye (1995 film), GoldenEye 007 (1997 and 2011 video games), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000-2004, television show), Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds (2003 video game), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003 video game; 2010 film), the Star Wars franchise empire (1977 on), Afro Samurai (2009 video game), and Disney's Epic Mickey (2010 video game).

End-Game
End-Game

Author: Lorenzo DiTommaso

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2024-09-02

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 3110752867

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Video games are a global phenomenon, international in their scope and democratic in their appeal. This is the first volume dedicated to the subject of apocalyptic video games. Its two dozen papers engage the subject comprehensively, from game design to player experience, and from the perspectives of content, theme, sound, ludic textures, and social function. The volume offers scholars, students, and general readers a thorough overview of this unique expression of the apocalyptic imagination in popular culture, and novel insights into an important facet of contemporary digital society.

Video Games and Spatiality in American Studies
Video Games and Spatiality in American Studies

Author: Dietmar Meinel

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2022-02-21

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 3110675188

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While video games have blossomed into the foremost expression of contemporary popular culture over the past decades, their critical study occupies a fringe position in American Studies. In its engagement with video games, this book contributes to their study but with a thematic focus on a particularly important subject matter in American Studies: spatiality. The volume explores the production, representation, and experience of places in video games from the perspective of American Studies. Contributions critically interrogate the use of spatial myths ("wilderness," "frontier," or "city upon a hill"), explore games as digital borderlands and contact zones, and offer novel approaches to geographical literacy. Eventually, Playing the Field II brings the rich theoretical repertoire of the study of space in American Studies into conversation with questions about the production, representation, and experience of space in video games.