Women and Video Game Modding: Essays on Gender and the Digital Community (Studies in Gaming) - Softcover

Bridget Whelan (editor) & Matthew Wilhelm Kapell (editor)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1476667438 ISBN 13: 9781476667430

Publisher: McFarland, 2019

Synopsis

The world of video games has long revolved around a subset of its player base: straight, white males aged 18-25. Highly gendered marketing in the late 1990s and early 2000s widened the gap between this perceived base and the actual diverse group who buy video games. Despite reports from the Entertainment Software Association that nearly half of gamers identify as female, many developers continue to produce content reflecting this imaginary audience.

Many female gamers are in turn modifying the games. "Modders" alter the appearance of characters, rewrite scenes and epilogues, enhance or add love scenes and create fairy tale happy endings.

This is a collection of new essays on the phenomenon of women and modding, focusing on such titles as Skyrim, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and The Sims. Topics include the relationship between modders and developers, the history of modding, and the relationship between modding and disability, race, sexuality and gender identity.

About this title

About the Authors

Bridget Whelan is an assistant professor of English at SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Her research interests include children's literature, fan studies, game studies, and girl culture.

Matthew Wilhelm Kapell teaches American studies, anthropology, and writing at Pace University in New York.

Edition details

• Publisher: McFarland
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1476667438
• ISBN 13: 9781476667430
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 177