Edited by

The Computer Culture Reader

Judd Ethan Ruggill, Ken S. McAllister
and Joseph R. Chaney
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
QA
76.9
C66
C66
2009
Dedication
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This volume is dedcated to all the people who have presented their work
on computer culture at the Southwestffexas Popular Culture Association/
American Culture Association Conference !ou and "our work make the
communit" what it s
o
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The Cornputer Culture #cader
$dited %" &udd 'than #u((ill) *en S +cAl&ister) and &oseph # Chane"
This %ook first pu%lished 2009 %"
Cam%rid(e Scholars Pu%lishin(
1 , An(erton -ardens) .ewcastle) .$S 2&A) /*
$ritish 0i%rar" Catalo(uin( in Pu%lication 1ala
A catalo(ue record for 2his %ook is availa%le frorn the $ritish 0i%rnr"
Cop"ri(hl e 2009 %" &udd $lhan #u((ill) *en S +cA/iSlcr) &oseph # Chane")
and corurlbutors,
Al2 ri(hts for this %ook reserved .o part of this %ook ma" %e reproduced) stored in a retrieval
s"stem) or transmiued) in an" form or %" an" means) electronic) mechanical) photocop"in()
recordin( or otherwise) withoutlhe prior permission of the cop"ri(ht owner
2S$. 31 045 1 67891 76,,:67) 2S$. 31 ;45 9971 7891 7,S:;
Chapter Seven
Aesthetic Reproduction in Japanese
Computer Culture: The Dialectical Histories
of Manga, Anime, and Computer Games
Jennifer deWinter
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n its !cto"er #$$% issue, Playboy pu"lished a series of photographs)
computer images, actua'l()under the feature title *Gaming Gro+s ,p-*
,nli.e /la("o(0s t(pical pictorial spread, this one depicted nude or nearl(
nude computer game icons such as 1loodRa(ne 2from her epon(mous game3,
Mortal Kombat's Mileena, Tekken's 4ina, and man( others- !f course,
computer game characters have often left their -pi5ilated -environments
and appeared in the pages of gaming and ho""( 6St maga7mes, "ut s8ch
venues are dedicated lo cele"rating computer game culture, not purve(mg
digital erotica- ncreasingl(, ho+ever, computer 8ame icons- and irnages -are
appearing in mass and computer culture via comic "oo. spin)offs, rnov-les,
merchandise fan)created +e"pages that include still frames and fan)fiction,
maga7ines dedicated to single characters, advertisements selling ever(thing
from drin.s to cars, and (es, even mainstream pomograph(- These icons and
images are "ut one e5ample of the in9uence and penetr8tion of cornputer
garne aesthetics into computer and mass culture- !8hers include televisi:n
car commercials depicting game)li.e interfaces framing the ads; a Coca Cola
commercial parod(ing the Grand Theft Auto ranchise; and music tra8.s
that reference computer games, such as 'il0 <lip0s *Game- !ver,* +h8ch
"ases its "eat and sorne of its (rics on Pac-Man. 4ota"l(, this a +orld+ide
phenomenon: 'ara Croft drin.s 'uco7ade in German(, +hile /i.achu fiies
on the side of ever( 4ippon Air+a(s0 1oeing =%=)%$$-
The u"i>uit( of computer game aesthetics the +orld o8er c8,sfor greater
critical attention; aesthetic representations are al+a(s situational?()"ound
and culturall( value)aden- As @en S- McAllister argues, *the computer game
comple5 is dialectical, a complicated and ever)chang8g s(stem constructed
out of innumera"le relationships among people, things, and s(m"ols, al6
of +hich are in tum connected to other vast dialectical s(stems* 2#$$%,
6A3- Tracing the dialectical relationships that inform and shape computer
(
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Aesthetic Reproduction in Japanese Computer Culture 6$B
game aesthetics +ithin glo"al mar.ets is a difficult "ut important tas., n
researching the rise of computer game aesthetics, scholars must attend to
the local histories and cultures that give rise to certain artistic e5pressions in
visual, audio, and linguistic representations of the +orld- This is $$6 to sa(
that glo"al influences should "e ignored in favor of local influences; rather,
the production, circulation, and consumption of te5ts act simultaneousl(
in local and glo"al conte5ts, and therefore "oth conte5ts demand attention
simultaneousl(- This is especiall( true in computer cultures +here, for
e5ample, a person can access +e"sites created in China, lin.ed lo those in
South Africa, and read in the ,S +ith the aid of a +e"page translator-
As rnmanuel @ant notes in Critique 01 ud!ment" aesthetics provide
a +a( of artisticall( rendering and representing the +orld of ideas and
ph(s?cal o"Cects through general agreement:
:,--
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+hen Da manE puts a hing on a pedestal and calls it "cautiful, he demands
the same delight from others- He Cudges not merel( for himself, "ut for all
men, and then spea.s of "caut( as if it +ere a propert( of hings- Thus he
sa(s that the thin! is "eautiful; and it is not as ifhe counts on others agreeing
+ith him in his Cudgment of li.ing o+ing lo his having found hem in such
agreement on a num"er of occasions, "ut he demands this agreement of
them- He "lames hem ifthe( Cudgediffercnt(, and denies them taste, +hich
he still re>uires of them as something he( ought lo have; and lo this e5tent
il is not open l! men lo sa(: Fver( one has "is o+n taste- This +ould be
e>uivalent to sa(ing that there is no such thing as taste, i-e- no aesthetic
Cudgment capa"le of ma.ing a rightful claim upon the assent of all men-
26B#G,H#3
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While useful in pointing out the necessit( of agreement +ithin an audience,
@ant0s definition of aesthetic Cudgment relies heavil( on a universal concept
of "eaut( divorced from cultural differences, a concept presented as
ahistorical- Aesthetics are defined +hen previous concepts of"eaut( and art
are dialecticall( challenged "( ne+ lechnologies, philosophies, economic
s(stems, c6ass structures, and so on, raising a num"er of >uestions a"out the
nature of art 2Adorno 6BB=3- As a means of artistic representation, aesthetics
are also mimetic, carr(ing +ithin their endless resignifications a variet( of
cultural ideologies, "elief s(stems, and institutional po+er 2Taussig 6BBI3-
It is difficult lo define a single Japanese popular aesthetic, as each artist
and era has a different loo.- Scott McCloud 26BB%3 argues that Japanese
comic art is a"stract and iconie, +hich a,o+s audiences to identif( +ith
the characters and stories- Artistic st(les have "ecome s(non(rnous +ith
a mangaJanimeJcomputer game st(le, such as large e(es, +hite s.in, large
110 Chapter Seven
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breasts for women, and large musc1es for men. Super%deformed characters
(characters that are made diminutive for comedie emphasis) and shojo
characters (beautful men and women with long owing light hair, tall
with long legs, and sparling e!es) are also st!les that are attributed to the
"apanese drawing aesthetic. #ruce $ewis, however, would wam a non%
"apanese audience about tbe dangers of over%generali&ing the manga 'loo'(
manga has man! loos assocated with specific time periods in histor! as
well as with artists) personal st!les (*++,, *1).
-n -bis chapter, 1 trace the development of computer game aesthetics
as the! pertain to larger computer cultural practices, a development made
possible through the dialectic between newer computeri&ed technologies
and alread! established popular art forms. #ecause an! t!pe of aesthetic
development is situational, influenced b! an interpla! of local histories and
cultural practices on one hand and the global circulation of commodities
and media on the other, 1 limit m! focus to a histor! of "apan)s computer
culture with ts developed and developing computer game aesthetic. .ere,
- am detining computer culture as an! aspect of mass culture that cannot
be produced, distributed, or maintained without the use of computeri&ed
technologies, and the aesthetics that circulate within computer culture are ah
integral part ofthese practices ofwhich computer game culture is a subset.
Such a lirnitation enables me to spea of a locali&ed aesthetic development
that is simultaneousl! affected b! and affectng global trends in computer
culture and general intemational circulation. Specifica-l!, 1 trace the
dialectico%aestbetic e/change that is occurring between "apanese computer
culture generall!, and anime, manga, and other tertiar! entertainment
industries more speciticall!. 0ollowing this historical s!nthesis, - discuss
the relevance ofthis aesthetic as it relates to both the local conte/t of "apan
and to global conte/ts, especiall! those that e/tend to the 1So
2! argurnent has two parts3 tirst, the histories of manga, anime, and
computer games have and continue to coevolve s!mbioticall!. 4he mimetic
representations developed in one medium transfer to another, re5uiring
rigorous e/amination ofthe ideologies encoded into those representations to
understand certain subte/ts, and disrupting negative representations where
possible. Second, the 6oint histories of manga, anime, and computer game
aesthetics are also the 6oint histories of the econornies in which these three
media circulate. 7s a result, these aesthetics have developed such that the!
are both limited and limiting%limited b! the accepted and safe aesthetic
while limiting the development of new media aesthetics b! adding to the
bod! of accepted fonn%so that the! can wor s!mbioticall! in the maret
place. 7s will become apparent, a 'computer game' aesthetic cannot e/ist
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7esthetic 9eproduction in "apanese Computer Culture III
without mange and anime, and as such, it soon becomes impossible to tal
about an aesthetic that is uni5ue to a single medium. 9ather, what evolves is
a manga:anime:computer game aesthetic.
#efore brie! tracing the histories of manga, anime, and computer games,
(herepresentations the! create and perpetuate, and their effects on computer
culture at large, 1 first want to recogni&e the limitations of m! argurnent.
-n arguing that aesthetic reproduction evolved simultaneousl! within tbe
different media of manga, anime, and computer games, - mae it difficult
to tal about each medium separatel!. -ndeed, - must necessaril! simplif!
m! dscussion al certain points in this chapter to focus on a single medium.
;hile the aesthetics developed in these three media were s!mbioticall!
developing and circulating, and while the media%paper%based manga, cell%
based anime, and computer%based games%ofien informed the development
and techni5ues of one another, the fact remains that the! are distinct media
that need to be anal!&ed both individuall! and in relation to each other. -t is
also the case that 1 must limit the number of different influences - tae into
account during this dialectical anal!sis. ;ere - to try to include influences
such as specific political movements (e.g., the political and economic
climate of "apan), tertiar! industries (e.g., to!s, film, foreign animation, and
so on), and cultural revolutions (e.g., the rapid industriali&ation ofthe 1<=+s,
the parasite generation ofthe <+s, and the lie)%all ofwhich also helped
to shape botb the media and the related aesthetics that came to domnate
computer and mass culture in "apan%this contribution would be a boo, not
a chapter. Such is the trade%off of a dialectical ana"!sis.
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A History of Aesthetics: Producing the Japanese Look
7esthetics as both representation and art (whetber that art is mass
produced or is 'high art') are inherentl! political. 9epresentations, as Stuart
.all e/plains, are bound in structures of dominance that reif! and reproduce
political images e/emplif!ing differences that are ambivalent
lt can be both positive and negative. lt is botb necessar! for tbe production
of meaning, the formation of languagc and culture, for social identities and
a sub6ective sense of the self as a se/ed ob6ect%and al the same time, it is
-hreatening, asile of danger, of negative feelings, of splitting, hostilit! and
aggression towards the '?ther,' (1<<@, *AB)
7rt, too, sambivalent and often contradictor!, both within the representations
that art creates and the role that it pla!s as a cornmodit! within a maret
place. 0or e/ample, in his article '4he Croduction of #elief,' Cierre
112 Chapter Seven
Bourdieu explores the ways in which high< and low<brow art are created in
relation to capital:
h iti between "genuine" art and "commercial" art corresponds lo
Ie opposmon .. di me
the opposition between ordinary entrepreneurs seeking imme tate ec~~o 1
ro!it and cultural entrcpreneurs struggling lo accumulate spe"cl ica y
cultural capital# albeit al thc C$S% o!temporarily renouncing economic pro!it#
&1'()#2*(+
,he history o! manga# anime# and computer games is t~e history "o!
representation and art in modern mass culture" -s an evolvmg
h
aest~~t"%C#
the two<dimensional arts o! these three media are tied to both % e ~o %t.CS
o! representation and o! art# and these politics have long been amblvalent/
0or example# the nationalist !action o! .apan used manga ~s m"eans o
ro aganda during the 1orld 1ar Il. -t the same time# rev2l~t%$nanes ~sed
~a~ga to promote socialist and communist agendas" -s artisuc expressl"ons#
the aesthetic !orms o! manga# anime# and computer games are the Sllb.~ts
o! constant debate: Can manga be "genui"ne:3 art in the sa~"e way a " a2#
4ogh painting is or does it only reside within the realm o! com~ercl~lh
art because it is mass produced and pro5t driven2 -rtists working wt
these aesthetics complicate this 6uestion with art shows !eaturing statues o!
anime characters# photography with computer generated manga charact~rs
imposed on the image# and serious computer games &garnes that em7has~8e
education and enlightenment# such as Sep!emb~r J 2
1 h
!ro~ 7ow~r ~o ot
4ames 2))9+ that en:oya prominent place m vanous %rav~ll;g e~hlblts ""
,he !ollowing three sections o!this chapte~ provld~ a brte"! outline
o! this history in .apan# starting with manga# then introducing ant~e# and
!inally discussing the computer game" as a !inal element 1) developing and
reproducing a computer game aesthetic"
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Japanese Manga: From Edo Sexuality
to mperialist !ropaganda .
,he term "manga#" !rom the Chinese ch"aract~rs mean~ng "randorn" &~
man+ and "picture" ( iiID ga+# includes cormc strips# coml~ books# graphic
novels and other !orms o! pictorial stories" ,he !orm en~oys tre~endous
larity in .apan# dominating the print<based entertamment industry#
~~~~on =insella asserts that manga is a "strikingly cont.empot:ary cultural
h "&2))) 2)+ in making her point that manga %S a um6ue !orm o!
p enomenon # " " ! .
cultural express ion grounded in the material condltlons o post<w~r" apan"
,o support this claim# she traces the means o! production and the poltttcs that
-esthetic >eproduction in .apanese Computer Culture
113
surround both the production and consumption o! manga in modem .apan#
arguing that manga has been a largely nationalist pro:ect that is enabled by
cheap printing technologies and the !ast consumption o!the medium" 1hile
=insella 3s argument about the ways in which politics and technologies
have given rise to modern manga is undeniable# her implicatioo that manga
is predominantly limited to a contemporary .apanese phenomenon that
evolved only within national borders with only brie!brushes with the rest o!
the world is shortsighted"
.apan has a long history o! text and images together" ?xamples o! what
might be called "proto<manga" include Bishop ,oba3s Toba-e, a series o!
illustrations !rom the twel!ih<century# and eighteen@h<eentury illustraled
tourist manuals &Aitschke . ''9+" ,he rise o! the printing press in ?do .apan
also saw the rise o! kibyosh i, pictorial comic !iction" Kibyosh i, according
&o -dam =ern &1''B+# is a literary gen re that contains images# is markeled
lo adults# and contains re!erences lo contemporary persons# places# events#
and so !orth" %n addition to the care!ul symbolism and stylistics o!the word<
based text# kibyosh i's symbolie and stylistic pictures were in.1uenced by
the aesthetics o! kabuki &a lower<class !orm o!theatrieal per!ormance+ and
ukiyo-e &woodblock paintiogs+" %n order to understand the complexity o! a
kibyosh i narrative# audiences needed to be e6ually well versed in literary#
theatrical# and visual tropes# and also be aware o! the historical events o!
the time "
Kibyosh i would not exist in its current instantiation without the
simultaneous development o! ukiyo-e. Citeral1y translated as "pictures o!
the !loating world#" these woodblock paintings en:oyed popularity among
the working c1asses o! .apan during the ?do 7eriodo -l the same time# ukiyo-
e were ridiculed by the cultural critics o! .apan as "not art" until ?uropean
painters and i%lustralors claimed otherwise" Ukiyo-e artists mass produced
images o! kabuki, prostitutes in their dressing rooms# and even sexual scenes
&a sub<ser o! ukiyo-e known as sh una!. Characteristies o! this art !orm
include a primary !ocus on the eharacters and !oreground materials that the
characters may inleract with# lDtEe<to<no attention paid to the background#
simple lines and shading techni6ues# and a simplislie rendering o! !acial
details" 1hile the charaeter representations in modem manga di!!er# these
basic aesthetic practices are still visible"
- manga aestbetic continued to develop with the opening o! .apan3s
borders in 1(F9# when !oreign comics and art styles entered the country"
>akuten =ita8awa &1(B*<1'FF+ and %ppei $kamoto &1((*<1'G(+ were
instrumental in populari8ing-rnerican cartoons and comic strips" =ita8awa 3s
cornie maga8ine Tokyo "uck &1')F+# in !aet# is an exeeHent iHustration o!
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Chapter Seven
how Japanese comic artists incorporated US and European ~omic styles
into their traditional aesthetic and effectively invented a hybnd style that
is now recognizable the world overoThis new style selectively retai~ed the
minimalist anention lo backgrounds characteristic of ukiyo-e, paid new
attention 1 the !details of the human form" and in some cases whitewashed
or blended racial characteristics #Shimizu 1$$$%& 'ith Japan!s entry into
the Sino(Japanese war" which subse)uently transitioned into& ''11 as& a
result ofthe *anchurian +ncident" manga!s pol,tical agenda shifted from +tS
liberal and democratic message of the *ei-i and early Taisho eras toward
nationalist and imperialist discourses that espoused Japanese supremacy
over the world& The aesthetic changed as well" with depictions of Japanese
soldiers as tall" pale(skinned people in heroic poses as opposed &to C~ine~e
people" who were drawn as grotes)ue" cowering .siatics with pigtails
#/uruma 01%& +n attempting to imitate the symbol,c power of Europe and
the US" Japan!s aesthetic became more generic(charact~rs were made to
look Caucasian" or" ifnot Caucasian" then al least non(.s,an&
(J
Manga and Anime: From Picture Books
to Moving Pictures
.nime(a Japanese abbreviation of 2animation2 and now us~d
worldwide lo designare animation originating inJapan(had an early start 1
Japan in the form of anirnated shorts& 3ten Shimokawa!s Muzuko Imokawa,
the Door Keeper (lmokawo Muzuko Genkanban no Maki), for e4ample" &was
a one(reel" five(minute short 5rst shown in 1$16 #7atten 08" 19$%& Silent
era animators like Shimokawa continued to produce one to three reel shorts
well into the 1$1s which usually included content derived from Japanese
folk tales or imitations of contemporary foreign cartoons& :ike manga"
anime became a 11 of the wwn propaganda machine" which produced
films that depicted evil foreign powers as either homed devils or *ickey
*ouse clones attacking peaceful parades of Japanese toys #Clements and
*cCarthey 01" 81;(1$%& So successful were these polemical shorts that
wartime propaganda money was allocated to make the 5rst full(length
Japanese animation feature film" Momo/aro s Divine Sea Warriors , an amme
that glorifies the Japanese navy against malevolent foreignpowers& &
<owever it was not until after the war during Japan !s rapid reconstructl3n
and industri=lization that anime -oined manga in making tremendous strides
in productivity and popularity& *any of these strides are attributed b~t
by no means limited to the work of 3sarou Te~ka" ~fte0 referred to In
the popular press as the 2>od of *anga and .nimat,on& Tezuka began
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.esthetic Aeproduction in Japanese Computer Culture
115
his career with Mainichi newspaper" where he developed the manga ew
!"eas ure#"lan$ (Shintakara%ima)& <is art style" heavily influenced by early
Blsn~y arum~tors" made prominent use of the large eyes now traditionally
associated with the Japanese manga and anime aesthetic& Tezuka used this
aesthetic to e4press greater emotion in his characters& +n addition to the
Bisney influence" Tezuka also used takarazuka-a performance group
made ~p& of women(as a source of inspiration" drawing on their 2gaudy
romantic,sm and spectacular staging2 #Schilling 1$$6" 098%& .fter the
success of the anime version of his manga 'lakazan the Great Tezuka
organized *ushi 7roductions" Japan!s 5rst television animation studio& The
studio!s first release was 's tro (oy t!ets uwan 'tom) #7atten 08" 06$=
~chodt +~$9" 016%& .lso attributed to Tezuka and his contemporaries is the
tntro~t1chon& a~d ~opularization of manga and anime themes that e4plore
post(tndustnahzatton" robots" cornputerized nations" humanity" and a host
o~other m&odem concems brought about by both a history intimately linked
with atom,c bombs and a future of rapid industrialization&
+n 1&$CD" the manga magazines Shonen Ma)azine and Shonen Sun$ay
revo~utto3lzedthe manga industry by eollecting a number of manga titles
totaling hundr~s ~f pages an~ selling for a pittanee" barely covering
the cost of publication& The artists who drew for these publications were
often young poor people from the countryside who had no other means of
supporting themselves after the war& The Shonen format became so popular
that many of these destitute manga artists became celebrities& This" in turn"
attracted more publishers and aspiring manga artists so that wheo Shonen
*ump st~ed in 1$9;" the weekly eomic!s editors began putting aspiring
manga art,sts on contraer" ensuring that when the artists becaroe popular
they would stay with the eompany #Schodt 1$$9" ;$%& !
*anga books ~d magazines became best(sellers with the help of the
televisiEn and toy industries" aod in fact would not have reached a level of
publication success without that help& Buring the 1$Cs and 9s" television
developed al the same rapid rate as manga" and the relevant effect this had
was the feasibility and profitability to produce and broadcast anime& The
broadcast of the 1$98 Tokyo 3lympics helped boost television set sales
to l3 million uDits& Finsella attributes the simultaneous development of a
popular manga tndustry and the rise oftelevision as the reason the two caroe
together@
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The acceleration of manga production from a monthly to a weekly cycle
enabled ~anga publishers lo keep up with the electronic pace of television
broadcasting" Aather than finding a formidable competitor in televisiEn
L_
116
Chapter Seven
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the manga and television industries expanded alongside each other and
developed a symbiotic relationship. Serialized man~a stores were ad~~ted
into televised animalion, which served to advertise further the original
manga stories and inflate manga boo sales. !"###, $%&
'nime often runs one season !"( episodes&, which mean s that i~ fans of
the narrative en)oy the series, they can then buy and rea~ the pnnt- b~sed
manga series. 'dditionally, manga and anime ofi. enhave different storyh~es
or different endings, providing additional expenences t~ fans and ensunng
revenue from fans who wanted to now all possible e~dl~gs *.
+f course, manga and anime did not develop m ,sola~l+n from the
broader entertainment maret. -ith the rise of manga and anime also c~me
the rise of commercial tie- ins, espeeially toys !e. g. , Astro Boy, Godzilla,
U/traman figurines&. 's 'nne 'l,ison notes, these ~oys *were crafted
more for the tastes of a burgeoning consumer population at home whose
youth were being raised on manga, anime, and ./ aetion . heroes* !"##(,
(0&. 1ua 2inaawa, in an interview wi~h ma~ga and anime author. and
pundit 3eter Carry, complicates the relationship between manga, ant~e,
and toys. 2inaawa explains 444.he most popular ma. ng~will be made into
./ animations and the sueeessful ./ animations will m tum spawn toys,
robots in particular . . . . .here was no 5uestion that people w~n~ed robots*
!Carry "##0, %%%&. -hen ased the reason for t~e rob#t. ~an. at. lclsmthrough
bistory, 2inaawa simply responded, ~*'s % said, toys !,bld. &. .~us, the
motivation for creating toys is closely eonnected to the success of amme and
manga as forros of entertaining advertisement. ' pri. me i~dust~ example
of ,bis is the anime Big O !Sunrise %666- "###&. 'n ntervrew with me~h~
designer 7eichi Satou and 8irector 7azuyos~i 7atayama. maes exp~lclt
tbeir re9ationship wilh the toy industry: 7eichi Satou explains that the ,~ea
for Big O *started first as a gimmic for a toy,* and once the pre- product~on
started, 7atayama explains, *;a&round that tune, there was a suggestton
that we needed more robots %# increase the %#y sales* !<ayward "##(&.
,nterestingly, because the production studio Sunrise was a subcon~ractor
for the =S production of-amer >ros. 'nimation4s Batman: The Animated
Series, producers adapted the >atman aesthetic style to Btg O. . .
+fcourse, the fusion ofmanga, anime, and even toys ,S ~ot ,mear?. ttdoes
not always start with the manga artist4s visiono .hese medlalentertamment
industries are closely related, and the people who wor in them often
collaborate with people from other media groups or ~ey move among the
different media productions, switching from manga art_ lstto c~mputer . game
character designer lo anime director. @or example, 2lyazai started %# tbe
e
'eslhetic Aeproduction in Bapanese Computer Culture %%C
anime industry in the (#s, and directed his first theatrieal release Lupin fIl:
Castle 01 Cagliostro in %6C6. >ased on that success, he was approached by
Animage, a popular monthly animation review magazine, to draw a manga
series. <e started his epic Nasi!aa 01 the "alley 01 the #ind $%aze no Tan&
no Nasi!ad' in %6D". .his manga series ran until %66E, though 2iyazai
stopped production on it in %6DE while he wored on the animated film
version of the tale. 2iyazai4s manga and anime aestbetic did not fit into
previously developed aesthetics? neither %6C#s era cutsy gir/muscular
man character type nor the androgynous (isho)o !beautiful girls*/(ishonen
!beautiful boys& character type appealed to 2iyazai. Aather, he sirnplified
animation lines and developed a minimalist aesthetic with an emphasis
on character development. 2iyazai4s films are now converted into
manga by taing screen shots, formatting the shots to a page, and adding
speech bubbles, again maing explicit the ways in which these are often
complementary media that constantly inform and change one another.
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2anga, 'nime, and Computer Fames:
Foodbye 'nimation Cells, <elio $8
.he golden age of manga and anime, reputedly starting in the D#s
survived and even grew through the burst of tbe economie bubble in the
6#s, and remains an economie powerhouse. .hese decades also saw the
rise of the Bapanese computer game. .he computer game had a strong
start in Bapan with arcades hosting such titles as S+a!e ,n-aders !2idway
%6CD& and .a!/0an !2idwayGHamco %6C6&, and the industry only beca me
stronger in %6D$ with the release of the Hintendo @amicom. 3robably due
to graphic ,imitations, creators of early computer games did not draw from
manga and anime. Hevertheless, a strong manga inf,uence is seen from the
beginning of entertainment computer games, with arcade art, box covers,
and advertisements drawing from a manga aesthetic- ,arge eyes, s5uat
bodies, and aetion poses. 's eomputerized technology started to evolve,
computer games began to close the aesthetic gap toward manga and anime.
'nearly examp9eof this is Capcom 4s 0ega 0an !%6DC&. ' humanoid robot,
2ega 2an resembles in many ways the character art and narrative plot to
.ezua4s Astro Boy.
.he symbiotic relationships bctween manga, anime, and computer games
began to develop in the late C#s and early D#s witb Game Center Arashi
!the manga ran during %6CD- %6DE and the anime in %6D"&, an anime about
a boy who competes in tbe computer game world. Successful manga and
anime franchises were developed into action games built around popular
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118
Chapter Seven
characters: Macross (NamcolBandai 1985), Urusei Yatsura (Micro Cabin
1986), Dragon Bal/: Shenron no Nazo (Bandai 1986), Bikkuriman (Hdson
198!), and so on" Be#innin# in 1989, eompanies developed role9pla% #ames
(Hdson&s 1989 #ame Susanoo Densetsu), strate#% #ames (Me#atech&s
1991 #ame !o"ra Mission), shootin# #ames (Capeom&s 1989 #ame #rea
8 K > , and man% others" 's the poplarit% o( compter #ames rose, the nmber
o( man#a9 and anime9based #ames matched pace" )ame developers *e:e
#ettin# their eharacters, narrative devices, visals representanons, +nd" m
sorne cases their (ormats (rom man#a and anime" ,or e-ample, be#innin#
in the earl% 9.s, eompanies developed compter based semi9interactive
comics based on both man#a and anime, then mar/eted these di#ital comics
as #ames ((or e-ample, Hdson &s 199. #ame Urusei Yatsura and 1990 #arne
$ushtgi no Umi no Na%ia& and 1o/ma Shoten&s 1999 #ame !lickManga/
D'namic (o"ot )ar 2)" " ,
3n 4apan, thecompter #ame aestheticdeveloped becase o(the m5dim s
close relationship *ith man#a and anime" 's a reslt, *hen compter #ame
prodcers developed non9man#a and anime9based #ames, the aesthetic
*as alread% (irml% established in both the developers& e-periences and the
consmers& e-pectations" 6arl% pre90. 78) #ames had simple #raphics de
to hard*are and so(t*are limitations that onl% allo*ed a certain nmber o(
bits per ima#e" 's a reslt, these #raphics portra% movement and headsho+s
o( characters *ho are dra*n in a man#a9st%le *ith lar#e e%es and mlti9
colored hair" ,i#htin# #ames *ith similar #amepla% di((erentiate themselves
thro#h character9t%pes and (inishin# moves, almost all o( *hich are
borro*ed (rom or are borro*ed b% man#a and anime (e"#", Capcom&s Street
$ighter :198!; characters resemble $lst o*the North Star characters (rom the
man#a :1980; and anime :1986;), and sbse<entl% in(lence non94apanese
entertainment mar/ets (e"#", Street $ighter the movie:199=;)" 1hese cross9
in(lences are not >st bet*een 4apanese media? 4apanese and @S #ames,
(or e-ample, constantl% in(lenced one another (e"#", M'st :Brederbnd
199+,, -he .egen% o/ /el%a :Nintendo 1986;, .or%s o/ Mi%night :Be%ond
So(t*are 198=;, and so on)"
Moreover, as both hard*are and so(t*are technolo#ies improved as a
reslt o( an ideolo#ical determinism as *ell as innovations introdced b%
compter prodcers and developers, the interpla% bet*een anime, man#a,
and compter #ames became visible, its shared aesthetics more apparent"
89bit ima#es *ere rendered in 169bit as earl% as 198= in arcades and became
*idespread *ith the N6C 1rbo#ra(-916 in 1989" 169bit #raphics dobl+
and dobled a#ain in 1990, (irst *ith 029bit #raphics and then 6=9blt"
)raphics capabilit% contined to increase al an amaAin# rate, and b% 2..!,
'esthetic 7eprodction in 4apanese Compter Cltre
119
#ame consoles have the abilit% to render hi#h de(inition ima#es al p to
3.8.8" ,rthermore, the processin# speed o( the !.s has increased stead%
thro+ the %ea+, *hich, copled *ith increased memor% and sophisticated
#raphic proce+slB# mts, enables more comple- ph%sics en#ines, narratives,
character desi#ns, and so on" 6ven the #ame cinematics resemble *ell9
prodced anime, *ith comple- animations that are reminiscent o( anime&s
openin# and closin# credits (e"#", )il% #rms :Media"Cision399!4? Sha%o0
1 1the !olossus :1eam 3co 2..5;)" Compter #ames, *hich started in t*o
dim"ensions, are no* able to o((er 0D environments *ith photo9realistEc
setnn#s and "characters" Compter #ames ths have mltiple *a%s to
reciprocate *ith man#a and anime" 3n addition to the predictable move to
create anime and man#a based on sccess(l compter #ames (e"#", #re
the .a% (1"999)? $inal $antas' 233: #%4ent !hil%ren (2..5F, compter
#ames are 3ll(lenci"n# the technolo#ies sed to prodce man#a and anime,
sbsc<entl% a((ectin# the aesthetic loo/ o( all three media"
" CompteriAed technolo#ies allo* artists to maniplate, la%er, and rese
di((erent parts o( a pictre" Be(ore compters had moved into the consmer
mainst+eam on the tide o( compter #ames and prodctivit% so(t*are, man#a
and anime *e+e "dra*n b% hand, painted or shaded, and pieced care(ll%
to#ether, 's di#ital tools became more available, ho*ever, man#a and
amme artists developed techni<es and compter pro#rams to (acilitate their
*or/, a shi(t that ltimatel% a((ected their prodcts& aesthetics" 's compter
#ame developers be#an to inte#rate di#ital animation and 0D environments
into their titles, so too did man#a and anime creators" 1oda%, man% anime
prodcers se compter #enerated bac/#ronds *ith hand dra*n character
cells lb+t are then scanned in to a compter (or la%erin# a((ects (e"#", Blue
5u"mar65e G6 :19984? Bloo%: -he .aS3 2am7ire :2...)), creatin# *hat
15 #enencall% called Hdi#ital animation"H 1he se o( cornpter #raphics
and cell9based dra*in# is also emplo%ed in compter #ames" 1his shi(t
represents the last ma>or prodction9side di((erentiation bet*een anime and
compter #ame development, e-cldin# the ni<e (actors o( each medim
sch as interactivit% and e-hibition modes"
'nimation stdios have also started to prodce both shorts and (eatres
that se 0D #raphics ori#inall% developed b% the compter #ame indstr%"
,ore-ample, "oth#77lesee%891 1 :) an%$inal $antas' 233: #%4ent !hil%ren
(2..5) are 0D compter animated movies, one based on a comic and the
other based on a compter #ame" Both o( these movies se the 4apanese
character aesthetic developed in 2., the same aesthetic that traditionall%
has been s+d in man#a, :me, and compter #ames" In this ne* st%le,
ho*ever, animators combine the st%liAed 2. character aesthetic *ith 0D
) ,
1
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120 Chapter Seven
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photorealistic backgrounds, sometimes to arring and spectacular e!!ect
"#rikke $%%&). Combining traditional $' renderings (ith )' capabilit*
enables animators to overcome previousl* unsuccess!ul attempts to translate
all images completel* into )' photorea1ism; Final Fantasy: Spirits Withln
"$%%1) atternpted to use photorealism !or a science+!iction narrative, (hich
led critics and !ans alike to laud the technologieal !eats o!the !ilm as (ell as
critici,e the !ilm's characters !or being sterile. -s a result, a movie that cost
.1)/ million to produce ultimatel* grossed ust over .01 million (orld(ide
"2he 3umbers $%%/).
4n addition to manga, anime, and computer game aesthetics being
a!2ected b* their s*mbiotic relationship, the narrative content o! the media
also has been a!!ected, Computer games use narratives that begin in
manga and anime, and manga and anime creators produce narratives that
directl* call upon computer game culture, such as characters using dating
game inter!aces as metaphors to understand their relatonships (ith others
"e. g. , Excel Saga "155/); Genshiken 6$%%78). 9roducers ha ve (orked to
!urther conoin the (orlds o! anime, manga, and computer garnes, creating
narratives that call on the audience to participate in all three in order to !ull*
engage in a stor* line. 2he best e:ample o! these multimedia narratives
is the .hacld/ !ranchise about multi+pla*er online games. 2his !ranchise
includes the !our part .hacld/ computer game "$%%1+$%%)), the anime
.hackl/sign "$%%$), the .hackllLegend of the Twilight manga "$%%$+$%%7)
and anime "$%%)), and tbe #adoka(a Shoten novel.hackl/A !"ster #$%%$&.
2he manga, anime, and 9la*Station $ games in the series (ere all produced
and released simultaneousl*, (ith each medium providing a di!!erent part
o! the stor* "de ;inter $%%7).
Aesthetic Popularity
J apanese manga, anime, and computer game aesthetics have developed
concurrentl*, and so too have their media. 9opular art st*les, oint
commercial ventures, and a committed !an+base have supported the gro(th
o! narratives told across these media. lndeed, seeing manga, anime, and
computer games as sep<rate entities that are merel* J inked b* their similar
visual st*le is problematical. 2o sa* that these media are =similar= is to
understate the historical relationship the* have (ith one another+the
evolution o! computer garnes, !or instance, (ould have !ollo(ed a ver*
di!!erent traector* in J apan had anime never e:isted. Sirnilarl*, the late
$%
111
Centur* e:plosion in popularit* o! manga and anime might not have
happened (ithout the massive marketing campaigns o! computer game
-esthetic >eproduction in J apanese Computer Culture
121
companies such as 3intendo, 2aito, and ?andai, all o! (hich produced
titles constructed around currentl* circulating manga and anime series.
@urtherrnore, the aesthetic st*le that developed simultaneousl* among these
three media is di!!icult to pinpoint de!initivel*.
2he J apanese aesthetic remains popular both in its local conte:t o!
J apan as (ell as globall*. AS sources attribute tbe popularit* o! anime and
manga to comple: stories and calligraphic art st*les "#rikke $%%&; #elts
$%%&; 3apier $%% 1). 2he dominant aesthetics are codi!ied and taught via
books "e. g. , Braphic+Sha's popular series 'ow lo (raw )anga&* (ebstes
"e. g. , Canga Aniversit* 2ok*o Dhttp: EE(((. ho(todra(manga. comF). and
so!t(are "e. g. , )anga St"dio +.% 6G @rontier8).
-dditionall*, manga, anime, and computer game !ans create (ebpages
dedicated to their !avorite titles and characters, interacting and a!!ecting
a broader computer culture. 2he anime turnpike "anipike. com) is one o!
man* international link collections that include articles about ne( manga,
anime, and computer games. @ans also create their o(n products that
the* then publish on the 4nternet, including music videos using clips !rom
manga, anime, and computer games. 2hese creations are o!len udged in
!an+based and pro!essional contests, such as the -nime G:po's music video
competition. -dditionall*, !ans use the 4nternet to distribute manga, anime,
and computer games to the greater !an communit* aHer having !irst paid
to have these media subtitled or scripted. 4ndeed, it (as the (ork o! tbese
!ans, ignoring international cop*right la(s, that started and tben supported
J apanese popular media coming into AS and other !oreign markets at a time
that J apan did not look at non+-san countries as possible markets "Ieonard
$%%1).
2he historieal relationship bet(een anime, manga, and computer games
in J apan has continued to have a global presence, a!!ecting and being a!!ected
b* global media !lo(s. 2he d*namic crossings bet(een J apan and the AS,
!or e:ample, can be seen in the cartoon Teen Titans. Jriginall* a 'C comic
!rom the ?atman universe, the te:t's character designs (ere changed to to
look more J apanese+big e*es, big !eet, and the same emotive markers used
in J apanese anime+(hen adapted !or television. 2he producers contracted
9u!!* -*umi, a J +pop duo, to per!orrn the opening theme song in both
Gnglish and J apanese. Cean(hile, the popular AS cartoon ,ower ,"ff Girls
is no( being redra(n and produced in J apan !or J apanese consumption.
2he -ingdo. 'earts !ranchise, a !usiKn o! J apanese character t*pes (ith
'isne* standards, is ama,ingl* success!ul both in the AS and J apan, (ith
the $%%& release o! -ingdo. 'earts / selling over a million units in tbe !irst
month "BameSpot $%%&). Computer game critiLues are even de!ining games
122 Chapter Seven
f . , ~ .
" ' - , _
against the Japanese aestbetic, so influential has that aesthetic become. For
example, G4 awarded Star Wars: Knights ofthe Old Republic !ucas"rts#
Game of the $ear in 2%%& in part because it did not loo' li'e Japanese
anime.
(hile manga, anime, and computer game fans hail the Japanese
aesthetic, the faet remains that aesthetic reproduction is alwa)s embedded
in certain ideological understandings of the world. *bese media share a
histor) of imperial propaganda, xenophobic attitudes to non,Japanese
peoples, communal fear of a technological future based on a tragic past, and
exaggerated ph)sical and mental characteristics for males and females,
and these representations are being circulated worldwide. Furthermore, as
much as fans en-o) this aesthetic as something different, that difference
is superficial. (hile scholars have argued that these aesthetics grew up in
different historical situations !evi 1../0 1apier 2%%10 "lison 2%%%#, the
fact remains that these media have alwa)s been worldwide commodities
and thus have alwa)s interacted with other worldwide commodities and
entertainment e.g., Felix comic strips, 2isne), "tari, and so on#. "s such,
manga, anime, and computer games all became recogni3able as part of other
genres and media0 the homogeni3ation of the media is an integral element
of the dialectic of manga, anime, computer games, and ultimatel) computer
culture itself. *his, as "dorno and 4or'heimer explain, has lead to the
developmenl of connoisseurship5 6the difference between the Chr)sler
range and the General 7otors products is basicall) illusionar) stri'es ever)
child with a 'een interest in varieties. (hat connoisseurs discuss as good
and bad points serve onl) to perpetuate the semblance of competition and
range of choice6 1..&, &&#. *he appearance of difference between 2isne)
and Studio Ghibli, between S8uare 9nix and 9lectronic "rts, between
7arvel Comics and Shonen Jump not onl) perpetuates the semblance
of cornpetition, but also functions as an integral part of the expansi:n of
mar'ets both in Japan and global arenas. "s the range of choice decreases,
the reach ofsimilar products increases, whether those products are the media
themselves manga, anime, computer games, and so on# or the aesthetic
representations of those media.
"rtists have lo be careful not to be too different when creating their
6loo'.6 ;ublishers and producers 'now what has so<d well in the past, and
so long as artists approximate that st)le, then small differences are not onl)
allowable, the) are promoted. 7ore limiting than the idea of6tried and true
with a twist6 is the constant interpla) between the three media and their
tertiar) products to)s, merchandise, and so on#. <n his article 67anga Sells
"nime,and =ice =ersa,6 Calvin >eid 2%%4# traces the mar'eting practices
"estbetic >eproduction in Japanese Computer Culture 12&
of anime and manga companies inthe ?S, noting the wa)s in which the two
media industries not on<) en-o) tbe crossover from fans who li'e an anime
series and then move to the manga, but also the wa)s in whi@h tbe companies
promote this consumptive practice b) adding coupons for the anime in a
manga title or bundling manga and anime together to incite consurners to
bu) future dis's or boo's. *his ma'es good mar'eting sense and affects the
production of these series and franchises in Japan. <ncreasingl), Japanese
producers conceive of anime, manga, and computer games all selling one
another, not onl) in Japan but worldwide. *his means that executives need
to develop franchises that base their appeal on familiarit) as much as and
sometimes more than# 8ualit). *his business strateg) ma'es it unsurprising
that computer games resemble anime, and that anime resembles manga.
*he circulation of manga, anime, and computer garnes as a 'ind of woven
cornmodit) <imits creative freedom at the site ofproduction. *hus, computer
garnes are described as 6anime,li'e,6 and anime as 6manga6 movies.
Conservative production practices affect how these media are adapted
and used in computer culture as a whole. Computer culture can create
radical images and texts,the technologies exist. 7edia artists are creating
pioneering wor' in data visuali3ation, cultural representations, innovative
hardware designs, and so forth. "nd )et, the visual norm on Japanese
websites are either those perfected b) popular maga3ines,photographs of
beautiful people in particular poses,or the) adhere to the mangaAanimeB
computer game format, with caricatures that are generic enough to come
from an) one of a thousand publications. "dditionall), ?S and Japanese
fans of this aesthetic are not slri'ing out on their own to develop uni8ue
st)les0 rather, the) meticulousl) cop) the loo', learn it, and tr) to develop
an art st)le that is onl) recogni3able as Japanese. "n added complication
is that anime, manga, and Japanese computer games are on<) successful
if people with Japanese names create them. Consumption practices of
worldwide audiences dictate that attempts b) non,Japanese artists to brea'
into the manga field, for instance, rneet with failure or mediocre success in
the worldwide mar'ets. *hus, the <nternet is the onl) forum that ?S artists
drawing in a Japanese st)le can publish in, which affords liule profit except
that made b) merchandising ofCf,shirts, mugs, and so forth.
. *he popularit) of Japanese manga, anime, and computer games is not
without complications. "ccording to a 2%%4 report from the Japan 9xtemal
*rade Drgani3ation l9*>D#, manga, anime, and computer games are one of
JapanCs largest economic and cultural# exports. "s consumers, "mericans
are interacting wEth these cultural exports0 however, the relationships
between the ?S and Japan are political and often unbalanced, which gives
,.
124 Chapter Seven
. . . .
rise to a different semiotic reading of representations. For example, the
kimono is a cultural trepe often employed in Japanese popular culture, which
nostalgicay refers to a pre+glo"ali#ation history during which al$ women
wore kimonos. %hile this image, reproduced constantly in manga, anime,
and computer games, is im"ricated in ideological complexity, conflating
women with nationhood, it carries different meaning from the popular
readings of the kimono in the %estem colonial imagination. &he woman in
the kimono is often interpreted as 'geisha,' and not the performing artists
that they once were "ut the prostitutes that S military interacted with
during %orld %ar n. &his is merely one example ofmany in which different
cultural histories carry different serniotic codes to certain representations.
&his history, nevertheless, is important to consider, as power, ine(uality, and
cultural resistance are always em"edded in the representations that make up
the manga, anime, and computer game aesthetic in the So
&he practices of production, circulation, and consumptio)n of manga,
anime, and computer games are sym"iotically connected worldwide,
and in tum they directly affeet the ongoing dcvelopment of a transmedia
aesthetic. &he effects of anime on computer games, computer games on
technology, and so forth cannot "e overstated, for appealing to the aesthetic
representation of one automatically appeals to the aesthetic representation
of the other two. *s computer culture adopts computer game images,
interfaces, and characters, so too is it adopting these same things from anime
and manga. *s 1 have argued a"o ve, this adoption is not limited to Japan.
&he popularity of Japanese popular culture as a soft export means that t"ese
media are affecting the production, marketing, and consumption of S+
produced media. *nime characters are in S gaming maga#ines, Japanese
game characters are used in ,&- advertising carnpaigns, and Japanese
manga now routinely appears in syndication in S newspapers .e.g., Von
Van Hunter and Peach Fuzz). *nime, manga, and computer games have
not only coevolved with each other, "ut are also coevolving with computer
culture in general.
Chapter /ight
++o
Fantasy and Finance0 1lay ,oney and
Computer 2ame Culture
Joyce 2oggin
*s computers "ecome an evermore+essential part of contemporary
3ife4the culture that surrounds thern has grown to fill, extend, and displace
nonons 5 f cultural spaces. Computer games are argua"ly among the most
5 ompelhng examples of this kind of extended cultural space, so compelling
In fact that they more or less arrived with the notion of addiction and
compulsive playing. 3n sorne cases this is relatcd to computer games)
capac4tyopen up 4r4ath+taking landscapes for players to explore, drawing
them 34to what %illiarn 2i"son descri"ed as 'the space games pro6ect...
Sornekind of actual space "ehind the screen' .Cava 11aro 2777, 89:. &his is
the sort of technological expansion to which ,arshall ,c;uhan referred as
an 'extension ofman,' "ecause technology "oth literally and metaphorically
extends human reach, perception, and capacities. %hile ,c;uhan wrote
at length a"out how human "eings "ecome increasingly technologically
extended, he saw games in particular as mean ingfu1 'extens<ons of the
animal organisrn' "ecause they provide 'faithful models of culture' and
pa4all4lpossi"le worlds or vistas in which to work through the challenges of
daily life .1=84, 27=:. >eferring likewise to games) capacity to push out t"e
param4ters of th.eexperiential 4orld, .?enry Jenkins cites a 1==@ advertising
campaign fo4L!,e by th~Sword 3A which the developers claimed that players
would "e privileged with 'complete freedom of movement' in the game
world .2777, 284:.
Such views of play and games as extensions of the real world that have
the capacity to give players a sense of freedom, can "e lraced to a tradition
that 4egan with lmmanuel Bant)s conceptuali#ation of games as self+
contained worlds that afford an extended arena in which lo play out des<res,
free of .external 4oals or purposes.) 3n Frederich Schiller )s famous essay on
aestheuc edu4a.tton, he. also took play seriously as a philosophical concept
an.das an activrty that 3S'autotelic,' free of purposiveness yet significant. 2
It 3Sthe dual nature of playas "oth without purpose and meaningful, which
..
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Contributors
Marlin Bates, IV is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Director
of Forensics at University of the Pacifico He has been involved in playin
and studyin video ames since his parents bouht him an Atari !"## in
$%&', and has been studyin the ur()eal *orld since $%%%+
Mararet Batschelet is an Associate Professor of Communication at the
University of,e-as at .an Antonio, *here she has been teachin /eb *ritin
and /eb pae desin since $%%0+ .he has also tauht courses in professiona1
*ritin, des2top publishin, and ne* media theory+ .he is the author of
several te-tboo2s, as *ell as artieles on rhetoric and desino In addition, she
has created /eb sites for both commercial and nonprofit elients+ Her most
recent boo2 is XHTMLlCSS Basics for WebWriters 3Prentice Hall4+
1ames 1+ Bro*n, 1r+ is an Assistant Professor of 5nlish at /ayne
.tate University, *here he teaches courses in rhetoric, *ritin, and ne*
media+ His research sits at tbe intersection of rhetorical theory, ethics, and
technoloy, and has been published in6oumals such as College Compositton
and Communication and Leisure Studies.
Andre* Chen is an Assistant Professor of Computer .cience and
Information .ystems at Minnesota .tate University Moorhead+ He obtained
his Ph+D+ in Computer .cience from Michian .tate University in !##0+
He has bloed and presented on bloin al popular culture conferences+
His dissertation topic *as raph theory, his research interests also involve
computer culture, and he *as formerly a yoa instructor+
Mary(7ouise Craven is an Associate Professor in the Communication
.tudies Proram at 8or2 University+ .he teaches courses in effective
communication across various enres, issues in critical technoloy, feminist
approaches to technoloy, and theoretical perspectives on interactive art
and entertainment+ Her ma6or areas of interest include studies in historie
and emerin literacies, and the impacts of various electronic interfaces
on users+ 7ately, she has moved beyond her enre analyses of electronic
media to loo2 bac2 at the messaes cootained on 5d*ardian postcards as
precursors ofte-t messaes+
1ennifer de/inter is an Assistant Professor of )hetoric at /orcester
Contributors 9$%
Polytechnic Institute and an affiliated faculty roember of the Institute:s
Interactive Media and Diital ;ame Development proramo .he brins
toether her interests in diital media theory, computer ame studies, visual
and spatial rhetorics, and 1apanese rhetorics and popular culture to study
both the intentional and unintentional effects of ne* media converence+
1oyce ;oin is an Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam,
*here she teaches literature, film, and ne* media+ .he has published
artieles on literature, film, and computer ames, as *ell as on amblin,
money, and the history ofplayin cards+ Her otber research interests include
intermediality, post %<$$ culture, ris2, finance, 7as Veas, and the leisure
industry+
Daniel ;riffin is a raduate student in the .chool of Information )esources
and 7ibrary .cience at the University of Ari=ona and an independent
scholar+ His research interests include the rhetoric and brandin *ithin and
surroundin media adaptations, the challenes of archivin diital media,
and the transformative potential of comedy+
>ylie 1arrett is a 7ecturer in Multimedia at the Centre for Media .tudies
at the ?ational University of Ireland Maynooth+ .he has an abidin interest
in the pol@tical economy of ne* media, *ith a particular emphasis on the
commercia1 /eb+ Her recent studies ha ve focused on podcastin as a forro
of broadcastin tal2, and she is currentIy embar2in on an investiation of
;oole and its e-ercise of media po*er+
Montea >6eUman(Chapin is an Assistant Professor of art history at
5mporia .tate University+ .he is interested in the dialoue bet*een
canonical and popular forms of the visual, as *ell as the implications of
diital reproduction+ Her essays ha ve appeared in such 6oumals and boo2s
as Art History, Konstistoris! Tids!rift, "artisan Canons, and Tomas
Kin!ade# Te Artist in te Mall.
>evin Moberly is an Assistant Professor of 5nlish at .aint Cloud .tate
University+ His research focuses on understandin ho* computer(enabled
manifestations of popular culture reflect, contribute, and transform
contemporary cultural and political discourses+ In particular, he is interested
in the *ay that contemporary computer ames represent labor, often blurrin
already uneasy distinctions bet*een *or2 and play+