ON VIDEO GAMES: THE VISUAL POLITICS OF RACE, GENDER AND SPACE

Soraya Murray

Today over half of all American households own a dedicated game console and gaming industry profits trump those of the film industry worldwide. Soraya Murray's insightful study examines issues of gender, race, and space in relation to a range of popular contemporary games. She explores blockbusters including The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid, Spec Ops: The Line, Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed to show how they are deeply entangled with American ideological positions and contemporary political, cultural and economic conflicts. As quintessential forms of visual material in the twenty-first century, mainstream games both mirror and spur larger societal fears, hopes and dreams, and even address complex struggles for recognition. Murray examines the elaborately constructed characters and densely layered worlds of these popular games, tracing how their social and environmental landscapes reflect ideas about gender, race, globalization, and urban life. In this emerging field of study, Murray provides novel theoretical approaches to discussing games and playable media as culture.

PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE	BINDING	EDITION	ISBN	YEAR	PAGES
English	Hardcover		9781784537418	2017	336
English	Paperback		9781350217706	2021	336
English	eBook		N/A	2017	336