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No contemporary form of pop culture has as large a social impact as
video games, an entertainment industry whose yearly revenues
continue to rise. Gamergate rocked the gaming industry when
isolated incidents of male gamers threatening female game
developers and critics grew into a sustained campaign of harassment
against minorities and the historically marginalized. These events
negatively revealed the political, ethical, and theological meaning
latent within video games and gaming communities, but constructive
reactions to the situation showed that video game creators and
consumers were interested in thinking about games differently. In
the wake of Gamergate, the voices of those marginalized and ignored
as the "other" became louder, and alternative gaming experiences
reflecting their perspectives more commonplace. Playing as Others
traces the development of video game culture in response to
marginalization and explores the ways in which the content of video
games can generate theological insight and positive ethical impact.
Benjamin Chicka shows how the interactivity and compelling
narratives provided by emerging styles of video games can provide
powerful lessons in listening to, accepting, and helping those
often harmed or outright neglected by society. Bringing Paul
Tillich's theology of culture into conversation with Emmanuel
Levinas' ethical concept of responsibility toward the other, Chicka
shows that video games as art form aid in the overcoming of
estrangement. If culture, art, and technology have the power to
reveal divine depth, video games offer a unique opportunity to
foster redemptive face-to-face encounters in a way that is
impossible for even the most practical discussions of philosophy
and theology. With their fully formed characters and morally
challenging stories, the games considered here, such as Gone Home;
Papers, Please; and 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, can become a
means to personal fulfillment and a desire for justice. For
nonmarginalized players, virtual encounters are opportunities to
listen to the call of the other and carry that lesson into the real
world.
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