Representations of Poverty in Videogames

by Adam Crowley

Overview

This book argues that videogames address contemporary, middle-class anxieties about poverty in the United States. The early chapters consider gaming as a modern form of slumming and explore the ways in which titles like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and World of Warcraft thematize poverty. The argument turns to the field of literary studies to identify analytical frameworks for addressing and understanding these themes. Throughout, the book considers how the academic area of inquiry known as game studies has developed over time, and makes use of such scholarship to present, frame, and value its major claims and findings. In its conclusion, the book models how poverty themes might be identified and associated for the purpose of gaining greater insights into how games can shape, and also be shaped by, the player’s economic expectations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031001468
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	06/01/2022
Edition description:	1st ed. 2022
Pages:	163
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Adam Crowley is Professor of English and Director of Composition at Husson University, USA. He is author of The Wealth of Virtual Nations: Videogame Currencies (2017).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- 2. Relative Poverty and Slumming Simulations.- 3. Player Identity and the Conditions of Play.- 4. The Player and Game Studies’ Rhetoric of Inclusion.- 5. Human Subjects and Digital Poverty.- 6. Conclusion.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Professor Adam Crowley's Representations of Poverty in Videogames presents an important and timely engagement with the issue of poverty as it is represented in video games. Crowley considers this important issue primarily from two angles: a consideration of video game narratives about poverty and the embodiment of the player as a character experiencing poverty. He also contends with the field of game studies and its movement toward - and need for more - critical engagement with the representation of socio-economic oppression in video games. Crowley is an important voice in the field of game studies and presents here a deeply researched and compelling argument.” (Amy M. Green, Associate Professor of English and Game Studies Scholar, University of Nevada, USA)

“Representations of Poverty in Videogames is a must-read book for any scholar interested in the intersection of video games, poverty studies, and player experience. Crowley provides a compellingly precise argument that clarifies the often-murky concept of poverty as deployed in the study of video games. His insights will prompt all of us to rethink concepts like poverty, lore, slumming, romance, and economy in the games we play and study.” (Mike Piero, Professor of English, Cuyahoga Community College, USA, and author of Video Game Chronotopes and Social Justice: Playing on the Threshold (Palgrave, 2021))

“Adam Crowley provides a comprehensive structural analysis of game design and play states regarding poverty, the impoverished, and class representations. Impressive in its scope and coverage, Adam’s research is an astonishingly sweeping yet thorough framework for Game Studies in the early twenty-first century, noting the field’s signature research as well as salient predictions for Game Studies’ future as a discipline. Representations of Poverty in Videogames is certain to be referenced henceforth as a seminal work of scholarship that charts our path forward.” (Daniel Reardon, Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of English & Technical Communication, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA)