Atari to Zelda: Japan's Videogames in Global Contexts

Mia Consalvo

“The cross-cultural interactions of Japanese videogames and the West, from DIY localization by fans to corporate strategies of ‘Japaneseness.’ In the early days of arcades and Nintendo, many players didn’t recognize Japanese games as coming from Japan; they were simply new and interesting games to play. But since then, fans, media, and the games industry have thought further about the ‘Japaneseness’ of particular games. Game developers try to decide whether a game’s Japaneseness is a selling point or stumbling block; critics try to determine what elements in a game express its Japaneseness―cultural motifs or technical markers. Games were ‘localized,’ subjected to sociocultural and technical tinkering.”

In an increasingly globalized world, it’s nearly impossible to avoid encountering works of art crafted in foreign lands. Japan has been consistent in fastidiously exporting its culture overseas in a variety of mediums; including manga, anime, and most importantly, video games. Atari to Zelda explores what it means to create video games in this cosmopolitan world, and techniques we use to avoid getting “lost in translation.”

Book Details

Month July 2018
Meetup Date Saturday August 18 2018 18:00:00
Meetup Location Cyberspace
Referer zanneth
Amazon Link http://a.co/994h5QC