Cultural Code

Abstract

How culture uses games and how games use culture: an examination of Latin America's gaming practices and the representation of the region's cultures in games. Video games are becoming an ever more ubiquitous element of daily life, played by millions on devices that range from smart phones to desktop computers. An examination of this phenomenon reveals that video games are increasingly being converted into cultural currency. For video game designers, culture is a resource that can be incorporated into games; for players, local gaming practices and specific social contexts can affect their playing experiences. In Cultural Code, Phillip Penix-Tadsen shows how culture uses games and how games use culture, looking at examples related to Latin America. Both static code and subjective play have been shown to contribute to the meaning of games; Penix-Tadsen introduces culture as a third level of creating meaning. Penix-Tadsen focuses first on how culture uses games, looking at the diverse practices of play in Latin America, the ideological and intellectual uses of games, and the creative and economic possibilities opened up by video games in Latin America—the evolution of regional game design and development. Examining how games use culture, Penix-Tadsen discusses in-game cultural representations of Latin America in a range of popular titles (pointing out, for example, appearances of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue in games from Call of Duty to the tourism-promoting Brasil Quest). He analyzes this through semiotics, the signifying systems of video games and the specific signifiers of Latin American culture; space, how culture is incorporated into different types of game environments; and simulation, the ways that cultural meaning is conveyed procedurally and algorithmically through gameplay mechanics.

Artists as cultural icons: the icon myth transfer effect as a heuristic for cultural branding

“…In contrast, perception of brands as national and authentic products may be a potential strength. Penix-Tadsen (2009, p. 2) notes that many cultural producers in Latin America have effectively branded themselves for their “outsider” (i.e. not universally understood or available) qualities.…”

The Significance and Complexities of Anti-Corporate Gamer Activism: Struggles Against the Exploitation and Control of Game-Worlds in 2000s China

“…Aside from analyzing anti-corporate gamer activism, this study contributes to the emerging trend of investigating non-Western data in game studies (Penix-Tadsen, 2016, 2019; Rayna & Striukova, 2014; Wolf, 2015). It especially enriches the fledging subfield of Chinese gaming studies.…”

Postcolonial Play in the Orient's Sandbox

“…The content of digital games, from Europe and North America, and even from Asian countries, perpetuate colonial and orientalist stereotypes as shown in the earlier research of the editors (Mukherjee 2018;Rizvi and Chowdhury 2021;Rizvi and Mukherjee 2023). With the recent and much-belated postcolonial turn in games studies (see Lammes 2010;Penix-Tadsen 2016;Mukherjee 2017;Mukherjee and Hammar 2018;Harrer 2018), there is a heightened awareness of the need to reexamine the inherently orientalist constructions in digital games (see Šisler 2008;Zeiler and Mukherjee 2022) in the ludic, narrative, player experience and industry aspects. From exotic characters and locales in, for example, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog 2017) and Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal 2014) to the scant attention paid to the video game industry in Asia (see CyberOrient, Vol.…”