2022
Apperley, Thomas H.
In: Ruotsalainen, Maria; Törhönen, Maria; Karhulahti, Veli-Matti (Ed.): Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch, pp. 179-197, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, ISBN: 978-3-030-82766-3.
Book chapter Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Gender, Misogyny, NSFW, Overwatch, Pornification, Sexuality
@incollection{Apperley2022,
title = {Overwatch to Oversnatch: The Mutually Reinforcing Gendered Power Relations of Pornography, Streaming, and Esports},
author = {Thomas H. Apperley},
editor = {Maria Ruotsalainen and Maria Törhönen and Veli-Matti Karhulahti},
url = {https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-82767-0},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82767-0_10},
isbn = {978-3-030-82766-3},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-10},
booktitle = {Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch},
pages = {179-197},
publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan},
abstract = {This chapter argues that the controversial policing of women’s bodies in esports and livestreaming is reflected in the pornification of Overwatch. This chapter makes three claims. First, mainstream heterosexual Overwatch pornography reinforces the assumed masculinity of esports. Second, the pornographic fantasies depicted reinforce everyday misogynistic attitudes to women in esports. Third, Overwatch porn also provides scope for more inclusive and diverse approaches to sexuality in emerging areas such as cosplay erotica. This chapter provides crucial insight into the porous boundaries between esports, mainstream pornography, and cosplay erotica which highlights how Overwatch pornography reinforces and reflects the discursive formations of heteronormative masculinity and misogyny in esports.
},
keywords = {Gender, Misogyny, NSFW, Overwatch, Pornification, Sexuality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
This chapter argues that the controversial policing of women’s bodies in esports and livestreaming is reflected in the pornification of Overwatch. This chapter makes three claims. First, mainstream heterosexual Overwatch pornography reinforces the assumed masculinity of esports. Second, the pornographic fantasies depicted reinforce everyday misogynistic attitudes to women in esports. Third, Overwatch porn also provides scope for more inclusive and diverse approaches to sexuality in emerging areas such as cosplay erotica. This chapter provides crucial insight into the porous boundaries between esports, mainstream pornography, and cosplay erotica which highlights how Overwatch pornography reinforces and reflects the discursive formations of heteronormative masculinity and misogyny in esports.
2021
Paasonen, Susanna; Karhulahti, Veli-Matti
Finnish Fuck Games: A Lost Historical Footnote
In: Navarro-Remesal, Víctor; Pérez-Latorre, Óliver (Ed.): Perspectives on the European Videogame, pp. 75-90, Amsterdam University Press, 2021, ISBN: 9789048550623.
Book chapter
Abstract | Links | Tags: Demoscene, DIY labour, Finland, Gameplay, Sexuality
@incollection{Paasonen2021,
title = {Finnish Fuck Games: A Lost Historical Footnote},
author = {Susanna Paasonen and Veli-Matti Karhulahti},
editor = {Víctor Navarro-Remesal and Óliver Pérez-Latorre},
doi = {10.1515/9789048550623-005},
isbn = {9789048550623},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-12-14},
booktitle = {Perspectives on the European Videogame},
pages = {75-90},
publisher = {Amsterdam University Press},
abstract = {Our chapter provides a qualitative analysis of four selected independently developed Finnish ‘fuck games’—a term we use for playable software typically implying or simulating sexual intercourse. These titles from the 1980s and 1990s offer regional evidence for the argument that, as it has historically been the case with other media technologies, sex serves as a creative space for both the development and play of early videogames. This opens a perspective from which to better understand the overall development and history of pre-Internet DIY labour within game design.},
keywords = {Demoscene, DIY labour, Finland, Gameplay, Sexuality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Our chapter provides a qualitative analysis of four selected independently developed Finnish ‘fuck games’—a term we use for playable software typically implying or simulating sexual intercourse. These titles from the 1980s and 1990s offer regional evidence for the argument that, as it has historically been the case with other media technologies, sex serves as a creative space for both the development and play of early videogames. This opens a perspective from which to better understand the overall development and history of pre-Internet DIY labour within game design.
Karhulahti, Veli-Matti; Giappone, Krista Bonello Rutter
In: Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 54, iss. 2, pp. 341-364, 2021, ISSN: 1540-5931.
Journal article Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Adventure games, Close reading, Humour, Leisure Suit Larry, Puzzles, Sexuality
@article{Karhulahti2021c,
title = {Punchline Behind the Hotspot: Structures of Humor, Puzzle, and Sexuality in Adventure Games (with Leisure Suit Larry in Several Wrong Places)},
author = {Veli-Matti Karhulahti and Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone},
url = {http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202005153223
},
doi = {10.1111/jpcu.13011},
issn = {1540-5931},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-01},
journal = {Journal of Popular Culture},
volume = {54},
issue = {2},
pages = {341-364},
abstract = {Through the wide‐ranging catalog of text‐based titles in the 1980s, the graphic adventure boom in the 1990s, and ultimately the re‐popularization of the genre by recent independent developers, the comic element has always been central to the adventure game (Bonello Rutter Giappone). Nowadays, the premise also stands on empirical evidence; for instance, Anne‐Marie Grönroos’s study of videogame humor analyzed 659 gaming magazine reviews written between 2010 and 2012 and found that a quarter of the reviewed titles contained explicit humor. Of those, the adventure game genre was clearly the most humorous one, as almost “all of the adventure games were primarily comedic, and the quality of their jokes was often scrutinized in the review” (Grönroos 18). For further evidence, the present study commenced with a systematic review of the “Top 100 Adventure Games” list assembled by a leading community, Adventure Gamers. Despite the fact that high‐status critical rankings like this typically favor “serious” works over those with “comic” appeal (to employ a problematic cultural binary), more than half of the titles were explicitly humorous. For context, many of these titles belong to popular series such as Monkey Island (Lucasfilm Games, since 1990), Simon the Sorcerer (Adventure Soft, since 1993), and Discworld (Perfect 10 Productions, since 1995).2 With the above as a starting‐point, the goal of this study is to solve the persistent meta‐puzzle that has troubled critics, scholars, and popular culture experts within the field since Buckles: Why do adventure games, as a literary form with a history extending over seven decades, make use of humor as their means of expression to such a remarkable extent? Answers to the above are sought via a comparative analysis of two conceptual trajectories, humor and puzzles, that synthesize in the adventure game to a degree that has nowadays reached the status of substantial cultural convention. An argument is set forth as follows: humor and puzzles operate on similar structural principles and thus run on explicit enigmatic synergy that functions as one (yet not the sole) explanation for the adventure game’s inclination to treat its diverse themes through the comic. Methodologically, the argument relies on an analytical close reading of a well‐known adventure game series, Leisure Suit Larry (1987–97), selected for its clear thematic frame of sexuality, which resonates with humor and puzzles. The analysis maps out how Leisure Suit Larry’s humor and puzzles operate together and serve its thematics, thus exemplifying the mechanisms of enigmatic synergy that govern adventure game design in general.},
keywords = {Adventure games, Close reading, Humour, Leisure Suit Larry, Puzzles, Sexuality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Through the wide‐ranging catalog of text‐based titles in the 1980s, the graphic adventure boom in the 1990s, and ultimately the re‐popularization of the genre by recent independent developers, the comic element has always been central to the adventure game (Bonello Rutter Giappone). Nowadays, the premise also stands on empirical evidence; for instance, Anne‐Marie Grönroos’s study of videogame humor analyzed 659 gaming magazine reviews written between 2010 and 2012 and found that a quarter of the reviewed titles contained explicit humor. Of those, the adventure game genre was clearly the most humorous one, as almost “all of the adventure games were primarily comedic, and the quality of their jokes was often scrutinized in the review” (Grönroos 18). For further evidence, the present study commenced with a systematic review of the “Top 100 Adventure Games” list assembled by a leading community, Adventure Gamers. Despite the fact that high‐status critical rankings like this typically favor “serious” works over those with “comic” appeal (to employ a problematic cultural binary), more than half of the titles were explicitly humorous. For context, many of these titles belong to popular series such as Monkey Island (Lucasfilm Games, since 1990), Simon the Sorcerer (Adventure Soft, since 1993), and Discworld (Perfect 10 Productions, since 1995).2 With the above as a starting‐point, the goal of this study is to solve the persistent meta‐puzzle that has troubled critics, scholars, and popular culture experts within the field since Buckles: Why do adventure games, as a literary form with a history extending over seven decades, make use of humor as their means of expression to such a remarkable extent? Answers to the above are sought via a comparative analysis of two conceptual trajectories, humor and puzzles, that synthesize in the adventure game to a degree that has nowadays reached the status of substantial cultural convention. An argument is set forth as follows: humor and puzzles operate on similar structural principles and thus run on explicit enigmatic synergy that functions as one (yet not the sole) explanation for the adventure game’s inclination to treat its diverse themes through the comic. Methodologically, the argument relies on an analytical close reading of a well‐known adventure game series, Leisure Suit Larry (1987–97), selected for its clear thematic frame of sexuality, which resonates with humor and puzzles. The analysis maps out how Leisure Suit Larry’s humor and puzzles operate together and serve its thematics, thus exemplifying the mechanisms of enigmatic synergy that govern adventure game design in general.
2020
Karhulahti, Veli-Matti; Saarenmaa, Laura; Brown, Ashley M. L.
Sexuality and Play: Introduction
In: WiderScreen, vol. 22, iss. 1-2, 2020, ISSN: 1795-6161.
Journal article Open access
Links | Tags: Digitaaliset pelit, Digital games, Gender, Leikit, Pelit, Seksuaalisuus, Sexuality, Sukupuoli
@article{Karhulahti2020c,
title = {Sexuality and Play: Introduction},
author = {Veli-Matti Karhulahti and Laura Saarenmaa and Ashley M. L. Brown},
url = {http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201911154892},
issn = {1795-6161},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-17},
journal = {WiderScreen},
volume = {22},
issue = {1-2},
keywords = {Digitaaliset pelit, Digital games, Gender, Leikit, Pelit, Seksuaalisuus, Sexuality, Sukupuoli},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2019
Karhulahti, Veli-Matti; Saarenmaa, Laura; Brown, Ashley M. L. (Ed.)
Special Issue: Sexuality and Play
WiderScreen, vol. 22, no. 1–2, 2019, ISSN: 1795-6161.
Special issue Open access
Links | Tags: Queer play, Sexual play, Sexuality
@collection{Karhulahti2019,
title = {Special Issue: Sexuality and Play},
editor = {Veli-Matti Karhulahti and Laura Saarenmaa and Ashley M. L. Brown},
url = {http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/2019-1-2},
issn = {1795-6161},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-11-08},
urldate = {2019-11-08},
booktitle = {WiderScreen},
volume = {22},
number = {1–2},
keywords = {Queer play, Sexual play, Sexuality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {collection}
}
Sihvonen, Tanja; Stenros, Jaakko
On the Importance of Queer Romances - Role-play as Exploration and Performance of Sexuality
In: WiderScreen, vol. 22, iss. 1-2, 2019, ISSN: 1795-6161.
Journal article Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Analog game, Digital games, Queer, Role-play, Role-playing games, Romance, RPG, Sexuality
@article{Sihvonen2019,
title = {On the Importance of Queer Romances - Role-play as Exploration and Performance of Sexuality},
author = {Tanja Sihvonen and Jaakko Stenros},
url = {http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/2019-1-2/on-the-importance-of-queer-romances-role-play-as-exploration-and-performance-of-sexuality/},
issn = {1795-6161},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-11-07},
journal = {WiderScreen},
volume = {22},
issue = {1-2},
abstract = {This article investigates various kinds of analog and digital role-playing games (RPG) from the perspective of queer romance. We are interested in finding out how ‘queer’ appears in the composition of role-playing games through analysing players’ explorations and performances, as well as the options for romance in these games. We will look into a variety of role-playing games as research material in this study, from non-digital play – such as traditional tabletop role-playing games to live action role-play, or larp – to single-player digital RPGs. We ask how queerness affects the options for romance, whether localised in an event or in the composition of a single character, and what kind of exploration it serves. Is queerness to be found in the romance mechanic, or crunch, of RPGs, or is it part of the fluff: the setting and character descriptions? This article’s orientation is theoretical, and the main reference material here comes from RPG studies as well as queer game studies.},
keywords = {Analog game, Digital games, Queer, Role-play, Role-playing games, Romance, RPG, Sexuality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article investigates various kinds of analog and digital role-playing games (RPG) from the perspective of queer romance. We are interested in finding out how ‘queer’ appears in the composition of role-playing games through analysing players’ explorations and performances, as well as the options for romance in these games. We will look into a variety of role-playing games as research material in this study, from non-digital play – such as traditional tabletop role-playing games to live action role-play, or larp – to single-player digital RPGs. We ask how queerness affects the options for romance, whether localised in an event or in the composition of a single character, and what kind of exploration it serves. Is queerness to be found in the romance mechanic, or crunch, of RPGs, or is it part of the fluff: the setting and character descriptions? This article’s orientation is theoretical, and the main reference material here comes from RPG studies as well as queer game studies.
2018
Brown, Ashley M. L.; Stenros, Jaakko
Sexuality and the Erotic in Role-Play
In: Zagal, José P.; Deterding, Sebastian (Ed.): Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations, pp. 425–439, 2018, ISBN: 0815369204.
Book chapter
Abstract | Links | Tags: Role-playing games, Sexual play, Sexuality
@incollection{Brown2018b,
title = {Sexuality and the Erotic in Role-Play},
author = {Ashley M. L. Brown and Jaakko Stenros},
editor = {José P. Zagal and Sebastian Deterding},
doi = {10.4324/9781315637532-25},
isbn = {0815369204},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-04-24},
urldate = {2018-04-24},
booktitle = {Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations},
pages = {425–439},
abstract = {This chapter focuses on three key areas of interest: sexual and erotic themes and imagery in role-playing games, erotic role-play and player interactions, and sexual and erotic role-play outside of game contexts. It focuses on how sex, sexuality, and the erotic have been represented in role-playing games. The chapter deals with both rules in games that allow for the playing out of sexual acts as well as the representation of character sexuality. It looks at erotic role-play and player interactions, examining studies of how role-players incorporate sex into their games and at sexual and erotic role-play behaviors in non-game contexts. The chapter encompasses activities that can be argued to be playful but do not revolve around a set game. By using these three key themes to discuss sexuality and erotic role-play, it provides a good introduction to contemporary research on the topic.},
keywords = {Role-playing games, Sexual play, Sexuality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
This chapter focuses on three key areas of interest: sexual and erotic themes and imagery in role-playing games, erotic role-play and player interactions, and sexual and erotic role-play outside of game contexts. It focuses on how sex, sexuality, and the erotic have been represented in role-playing games. The chapter deals with both rules in games that allow for the playing out of sexual acts as well as the representation of character sexuality. It looks at erotic role-play and player interactions, examining studies of how role-players incorporate sex into their games and at sexual and erotic role-play behaviors in non-game contexts. The chapter encompasses activities that can be argued to be playful but do not revolve around a set game. By using these three key themes to discuss sexuality and erotic role-play, it provides a good introduction to contemporary research on the topic.
Harviainen, J. Tuomas; Brown, Ashley M. L.; Suominen, Jaakko
Three Waves of Awkwardness: A Meta-Analysis of Sex in Game Studies
In: Games and Culture, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 605–623, 2018, ISSN: 15554139.
Journal article
Abstract | Links | Tags: Critical meta-analysis, Game studies, Methodology, Sexuality, Theory
@article{Harviainen2018,
title = {Three Waves of Awkwardness: A Meta-Analysis of Sex in Game Studies},
author = {J. Tuomas Harviainen and Ashley M. L. Brown and Jaakko Suominen},
doi = {10.1177/1555412016636219},
issn = {15554139},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Games and Culture},
volume = {13},
number = {6},
pages = {605–623},
publisher = {SAGE Publications},
address = {Los Angeles, CA},
abstract = {This article critically evaluates and questions the growth and maturity of game studies as a scholarly set of related approaches to the study of games, by providing an account of studies of sexuality in (mostly digital) games from 1978 to present. The main goal of this article is to highlight overarching themes and patterns in the literature, with a focus on theories and methodologies commonly used and the way game studies is still risk aware, even awkward in its discussions of sexuality. In addition to a review of 37 years of literature, the article employs a chronological and thematic metaphor analysis of past research texts to analyze whether game studies is growing up or in perpetual puberty and whether it really is exploring sexual maturity alongside the games we study. It finds that while different periods of time can be identified in research as far as approaches to sexuality in games go, game studies is still to a large extent engaged in the management of the stigma that discussing sexuality may cause. Rather than a maturation process, the waves are shown to be manifestations of different types of environmentally influenced risk awareness, consecutive risk avoidance, and a resulting awkwardness.},
keywords = {Critical meta-analysis, Game studies, Methodology, Sexuality, Theory},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article critically evaluates and questions the growth and maturity of game studies as a scholarly set of related approaches to the study of games, by providing an account of studies of sexuality in (mostly digital) games from 1978 to present. The main goal of this article is to highlight overarching themes and patterns in the literature, with a focus on theories and methodologies commonly used and the way game studies is still risk aware, even awkward in its discussions of sexuality. In addition to a review of 37 years of literature, the article employs a chronological and thematic metaphor analysis of past research texts to analyze whether game studies is growing up or in perpetual puberty and whether it really is exploring sexual maturity alongside the games we study. It finds that while different periods of time can be identified in research as far as approaches to sexuality in games go, game studies is still to a large extent engaged in the management of the stigma that discussing sexuality may cause. Rather than a maturation process, the waves are shown to be manifestations of different types of environmentally influenced risk awareness, consecutive risk avoidance, and a resulting awkwardness.