Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China
This thesis explores the role of historical strategy games as a platform for "keyboard politics" in contemporary China, where traditional channels for political expression are tightly controlled. Specifically, the study focuses on Victoria, a video game that allows one to "game like a...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152026 |
| _version_ | 1811086888248803328 |
|---|---|
| author | Wang, Jiaqi |
| author2 | Jarzombek, Mark |
| author_facet | Jarzombek, Mark Wang, Jiaqi |
| author_sort | Wang, Jiaqi |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This thesis explores the role of historical strategy games as a platform for "keyboard politics" in contemporary China, where traditional channels for political expression are tightly controlled. Specifically, the study focuses on Victoria, a video game that allows one to "game like a state" in its simulation of the long-nineteenth-century global history. By examining the game design and analyzing paratexts from the Chinese player community—including forum discussions, game reviews, video recordings, and user-created mods— this research investigates the interaction between the technological affordance and the players, who bring their experiences, memories, and cultural milieu into the game. The thesis further examines how the gameplay in the virtual world reflects and shapes the political tendencies of young Chinese players: grassroots leftism, nationalism, and cynicism behind the "lying-flat" culture. Finally, from this local encounter between a Swedish video game and the Chinese players, the thesis aims to shed light on the global circuit of techno-cultural artifacts beyond a Eurocentric perspective. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:36:27Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/152026 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:36:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1520262023-09-01T03:26:06Z Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China Wang, Jiaqi Jarzombek, Mark Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture This thesis explores the role of historical strategy games as a platform for "keyboard politics" in contemporary China, where traditional channels for political expression are tightly controlled. Specifically, the study focuses on Victoria, a video game that allows one to "game like a state" in its simulation of the long-nineteenth-century global history. By examining the game design and analyzing paratexts from the Chinese player community—including forum discussions, game reviews, video recordings, and user-created mods— this research investigates the interaction between the technological affordance and the players, who bring their experiences, memories, and cultural milieu into the game. The thesis further examines how the gameplay in the virtual world reflects and shapes the political tendencies of young Chinese players: grassroots leftism, nationalism, and cynicism behind the "lying-flat" culture. Finally, from this local encounter between a Swedish video game and the Chinese players, the thesis aims to shed light on the global circuit of techno-cultural artifacts beyond a Eurocentric perspective. S.M. 2023-08-30T16:01:38Z 2023-08-30T16:01:38Z 2023-06 2023-07-13T21:35:19.617Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152026 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Wang, Jiaqi Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China |
| title | Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China |
| title_full | Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China |
| title_fullStr | Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China |
| title_short | Gaming Like a State: Historical Strategy Game Victoria and "Keyboard Politics" in China |
| title_sort | gaming like a state historical strategy game victoria and keyboard politics in china |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152026 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wangjiaqi gaminglikeastatehistoricalstrategygamevictoriaandkeyboardpoliticsinchina |