Video Games Beyond Play. Decolonizing Gamevironments

Abstract

The true impact of videogaming is far from being fully comprehended and properly evaluated in our hypermediated world. Through theory and exploration, our scholarship examining videogames have shown us the proverbial tip of the iceberg when it comes to unpacking the cultural and social impacts linked with this significant form of media. Videogame research demonstrates that the games we play often reflect our cultural value systems and reinforce narratives and themes linked with the dominant values and ideologies of society. However, research has also illustrated that video games provide opportunities for counter narratives that challenge the dominant ideology, including colonization, and present alternative ways of being. In this way, videogames have become a site of resistance against colonial structures and a source of hope for decolonizing societies. By expanding the focus of videogame studies beyond research that focuses upon the game, the game producers, and the game players and instead considering the gaming context within our current society, the gaming-related actants (including the non-human) and gaming-related media practices, the larger cultural impact of video games can be better evaluated beyond just play. Through this new gamevironments lens, it can be argued that videogames may be one of the most significant forms of new media for supporting decolonization and changing cultural perceptions about Indigenous identities and ways of being.