How can videogames portray love and loss? Games and Bereavement answers this question by looking at five videogames and carrying out a participatory design study with grievers. Sabine Harrer highlights possible connections between grief and videogames, arguing that game design may help make difficult personal feelings tangible. After a brief literary review of grief concepts and videogame theory, the book deep-dives into examples of tragic inter-character relationships from videogame history. Building on these examples, the book presents a case study on pregnancy loss as a potential grief experience that can be validated through game design dialogue.
Price: $30.00
Pages: 274
Publisher: transcript publishing
Imprint: transcript publishing
Publication Date:
27 October 2018
Trim Size: 8.86 X 5.83 in
ISBN: 9783837644159
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies
Sabine Harrer (PhD), born in 1984, is a game designer and media artist based in Vienna, Berlin and Copenhagen. As a member of the Copenhagen Game Collective, she has created experimental games and performative play experiences since 2014. Previously, she worked as a lecturer in media and game studies at the University of Vienna and at the IT University of Copenhagen. She was also a research fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In her work, she blends cultural studies and game design to explore the workings of human experience, social power, and modes of intimacy.
Frontmatter 1
Table of Contents 5
Credits 7
Introduction 9
1.1 Videogame Representation 23
1.2 Understanding Bereavement 45
2.1 Of Limit Breaks and Ghost Glitches: Losing Aeris in Final Fantasy VII 69
2.2 "You Were There": Losing Yorda in Ico 85
2.3 Conjugal Love: Losing the Spouse in Passage 105
2.4 Losing Big Brother in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 121
2.5 "Let's All Be Good Mothers OK": Losing the Badger Cubs in Shelter 143
2.6 Designing for Loss and Grief: A Summary 161
3.1 Grief-Based Game Design: A Case Study on Pregnancy Loss 181
3.2 Ideation with the Bereaved: The Trauerspiel Workshop 193
3.3 Designing Jocoi: A Game about Pregnancy Loss 219
3.4 On the Question of Impact: Evaluating Jocoi 239
Making Space for Grief: Conclusive Thoughts 253
References 261
