Introduction: Playing with the Rules

Introduction: Playing with the Rules

Introduction: Playing with the Rules

Richard Colby, Matthew S.S Johnson, Rebekah Shultz Colby

Abstract

“This chapter, written by the editors, identifies key moments in video game scholarship since 2013 which prove game-based learning, despite early criticism, is often productive, engaging, agency- and awareness-developing, and still fun. The gaming industry and communities continue to improve in terms of representation, accessibility, and sophistication, yet suffer still from sexism, homophobia, and racism at disturbing levels. In considering games as part of larger ecosytems, the presence of these harmful ideologies is no surprise (even while women gamers, gamers of color, and gamers with disabilities occupy an increasing percentage of overall players and, very slowly, industry positions). Studying the ethos of games, their creators, and their players, combined with the wealth of scholarship available in game studies, indicates hope: analyzing, playing, teaching, and learning with games helps to work against hateful rhetorics, ideologies, and behaviors that have tarnished gameworlds and the ecosystems they occupy”.

Reference

Colby, R., Johnson, M. S., & Colby, R. S. (2021). Introduction: Playing with the Rules. In The Ethics of Playing, Researching, and Teaching Games in the Writing Classroom (pp. 1-20). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-63311-0_1

Keywords 

Video game, ideologies, scholarship