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The Barbie Store - From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games
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List Price: $62.50
Our Price: $45.00
Your Save: $ 17.50 ( 28% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.4870285
EAN: 9780262032582
ISBN: 0262032589
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 360
Publication Date: 1998-11-06
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Many parents worry about the influence of video games on their children's lives. The game console may help to prepare children for participation in the digital world, but at the same time it socializes boys into misogyny and excludes girls from all but the most objectified positions. The new "girls' games" movement has addressed these concerns. Although many people associate video games mainly with boys, the girls games' movement has emerged from an unusual alliance between feminist activists (who want to change the "gendering" of digital technology) and industry leaders (who want to create a girls' market for their games). The contributors to From Barbie to Mortal Kombat explore how assumptions about gender, games, and technology shape the design, development, and marketing of games as industry seeks to build the girl market. They describe and analyze the games currently on the market and propose tactical approaches for avoiding the stereotypes that dominate most toy store aisles. The lively mix of perspectives and voices includes those of media and technology scholars, educators, psychologists, developers of today's leading games, industry insiders, and girl gamers. Contributors: Aurora, Dorothy Bennett, Stephanie Bergman, Cornelia Brunner, Mary Bryson, Lee McEnany Caraher, Justine Cassell, Suzanne de Castell, Nikki Douglas, Theresa Duncan, Monica Gesue, Michelle Goulet, Patricia Greenfield, Margaret Honey, Henry Jenkins, Cal Jones, Yasmin Kafai, Heather Kelley, Marsha Kinder, Brenda Laurel, Nancie Martin, Aliza Sherman, Kaveri Subrahmanyam.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking and important
Comment: Would that every game development professional would read this book! Well written, thought provoking and presented in a straightforward, non-confrontational manner. Thanks!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Provocative, Challenging and Insightful
Comment: This collection is truly thought-provoking and insightful. It dares to tackle one of today's most challenging issues -- the relationship between gender and technology. The book is worth owning for the first chapter alone, Cassell and Jenkins' "Chess for Girls? Feminism and Computer Games."For video game programmers and toy designers, this book should be required reading, especially for those who wish to be conscious of their contribution to gender differences in society. And a must read for parents and video game enthusiasts alike.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very helpful for graduate class in computer games
Comment: I found the first few chapters very helpful when writing my final paper for a graduate class in computer games and simulations. I was surprised when I conducted a survey for my paper that very few of the mostly female respondents supported use of computer games designed for girls in the classroom. They thought software should be free of gender bias. Of course, they didn't realize that much of the software being used in the classroom now was designed for boys!Ann Williams
Customer Rating:
Summary: Videogames views from the other half of the sky
Comment: What a pretty fine job! I'm copiling my thesis at university about the topic of videogames. Well, if you are in the same conditions of mine do not miss this book. It is not only a good example of understandable writing but it focuses on important topics too many times left in a corner. Of course, everyone who would approach a study of videogames phenomenon should consider that since they see the light, videogames were full of masculine points of view (and the relative effects whose they carry with them). Despite some relatively non fundamental mistakes, I think that the book hit the bull's eye: attracting the reader inside a new perspective by which he/her can consider the whole subject. The result, in my personal opinion, was a more complete and clear idea about videogames world. After I've finished to read the last line my feeling was the awarness that I didn't miss any aspect of a topic (which still complex, from a social-cognitive point of view). [p.s.: I hope my English is enough understandable]
Customer Rating:
Summary: An important, excellent book
Comment: I enjoyed this book very much, and am glad I own a copy. It addresses a fundamental problem in the computer industry: the fact that computer games are almost exclusively made by and geared towards men. The book addresses this question through a variety of articles and interviews. The best point of the book, I felt, was that it left you pondering a fundamental question: is the small gaming industry that caters to "Girl Games" a good one, even though it possibly reinforces gender stereotypes that can be detrimental? Or is it better for girls to play "male" games, and be forced to bear the homosexual tags that go along with it? The book strives to find a balance to this problem and makes the reader wonder what, indeed, that balance is. As an afterthought, the recent demise of Purple Moon, a company well documented in this book, question what the future for girls and computer games is. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who has played a computer game -- it quite possible might make you see them in a different light.
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