Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The topic of this work is the early video game industry in the United States--covering from 1958 into the 1980s. The examination includes looking at the gender tensions in the industry, as well as how counter culture defined the industry in both negative and positive ways.
Synopsis
This work looks at the gendered nature of the US gaming industry, while also examining the dichotomies and tensions present within the industry until the crash in 1983. This analysis demonstrates how these tensions were firmly rooted into video gaming, and these threads continue into the current day. The short time period in which the US dominated the production of video games pitted creativity and fun vs profit, 1960s counter-culture lifestyle vs traditional business practice, and patriarchy vs feminism. The early 1980s saw a blip of hope that the counter-cultural industry would begin to include women, but after the crash of 1983, this free-wheeling freedom of the industry ended along with the beginnings of the inclusion of women.
Synopsis
This work looks at the gendered nature of the US video gaming industry. Although there were attempts to incorporate women into development roles and market towards them as players, the creation of video games and the industry began in a world strongly gendered male. The early 1980s saw a blip of hope that the counter-cultural industry focused on fun would begin to include women, but after the video game industry crash, this free-wheeling freedom of the industry ended along with the beginnings of the inclusion of women. Many of the threads that began in the early years continued or have parallels with the modern video game industry. The industry continues to struggle with gender relations in the workplace and with the strongly gendered male demographic that the industry perceives as its main market.