About this item
Highlights
- No contemporary form of pop culture has as large a social impact as video games, an entertainment industry whose yearly revenues continue to rise.
- About the Author: Benjamin J. Chicka is Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Curry College.
- 235 Pages
- Religion + Beliefs, Christian Theology
Description
About the Book
For nonmarginalized players, virtual encounters are opportunities to listen to the call of the other and carry that lesson into the real world.Book Synopsis
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.
Review Quotes
...Chicka takes up an important topic with Playing as Others, discovers some exciting theological and ethical aspects in video games and provides several productive impulses.
--Max Tretter Erlangen "Journal for Evangelical Ethics"Chicka's book is one of the first to provide readers with an actual theological gaming method that not only provides a tool to analyze video games' depths and possibilities, but also a possible blueprint to use video games to promote meaningful ethical action in the world.
--Brad D. Hickey "Christian Scholar's Review"Chicka's book is one of those books that every theological scholar of game studies should have read. It will take its place in the emerging canon of theology and games.
--Frank G. Bosman "Studies in Christian Ethics"Playing as Others has a unique capacity to serve as an entryway into conversations around the relationship between the church and emerging subcultures. The themes and issues addressed herein could open up pathways of theological dialogue for ministry leaders seeking to establish relationships with video game enthusiasts.
-- "Evangelical Review of Theology"Christian contributions to the video game literature are sparse, and Chicka's book presents a fresh approach to the topic. Rather than addressing standard moral issues (such as linking video game play to violence), Chicka explores how video games can tell the stories of often-neglected people.
--Eddy Wu "Reading Religion"This unassuming book is packed full of great theological theories and philosophical debates on the concept of theological and ethical responsibilities in video games.
-- "Choice"About the Author
Benjamin J. Chicka is Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Curry College.