This paper is concerned with the role that The Walt Disney Company’s licenses play within the Kingdom Hearts series, developed by Japanese company Square Enix and directed by Tetsuya Nomura. This...Show moreThis paper is concerned with the role that The Walt Disney Company’s licenses play within the Kingdom Hearts series, developed by Japanese company Square Enix and directed by Tetsuya Nomura. This franchise has been a major success worldwide, and it is not only because of Disney’s presence; the game displays a large array of original ideas that have enchanted millions of fans worldwide. The aim of this research is to shine light upon the many nuances this video game franchise presents. This research demonstrates how Kingdom Hearts challenges the traditional notion of Disney as a cultural imperialist force. This is due to Square Enix commodifying the larger power, while denoting a deeper correlation between the methods of the two companies. Furthermore, the fact that Disney hands a generous portion of its licenses to a foreign company to be managed and adapted to a completely alien environment, is an occurrence rarely seen before/in the past. The research question reads: How does Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts video game series challenge the traditional view of Disney as a cultural imperialist force in East Asia? In order to answer this question the research explores the discourse of past research written on the topics of Japanese role-playing-games, Disney, cultural imperialism, as well as analysing the video game series itself. This paper argues that the Kingdom Hearts franchise is a one-of-a-kind representation of transnational cooperation, existing outside of the boundaries of cultural imperialism and which reflects the similitude of two different international actors.Show less
This thesis provides an analysis of three marginal historical movements from the inter-war period in the 20th century; German neocolonialism, Japanese Pan-Asianism and Pan-Africanism. All three...Show moreThis thesis provides an analysis of three marginal historical movements from the inter-war period in the 20th century; German neocolonialism, Japanese Pan-Asianism and Pan-Africanism. All three movements represent trends that present alternative views of the dominant ideologies of the century which they were ultimately suppressed by with the onset of the Second World War. Based on what documentation they left behind however, a model can be constructed that attempts to explain how these movements could have survived or otherwise have seen a resurgence in the absence of global liberalism and communism. Alternative histories found in video games, such as the popular Hearts of Iron IV expansion made by its (non-academic) community The New Order: Last Days of Europe provide an opportunity to put this model into practice, but the shortcomings in its existing narrative regarding Africa must first be addressed.Show less
This thesis compares contemporary definitions of Unreliable Narrators in literature with those found in video games. By exploring the first author-based definition of Unreliable Narrators put...Show moreThis thesis compares contemporary definitions of Unreliable Narrators in literature with those found in video games. By exploring the first author-based definition of Unreliable Narrators put forward by Booth, and a later reader-based definition, this thesis aims to provide proof for an additional definition being needed when it comes to video games. What this thesis mainly finds is that games offer a unique experience through how players control a narrative, which leads to a different experience of unrealibility in narrators, one that can contrast unreliability that other definitions might find.Show less
This study explores the impact of video gaming on the English vocabulary proficiency of Dutch teenagers from the ages of 11 to 16. Recent academic research argues that the beneficial impact of...Show moreThis study explores the impact of video gaming on the English vocabulary proficiency of Dutch teenagers from the ages of 11 to 16. Recent academic research argues that the beneficial impact of video games lies in the unintentional and natural acquirement of a second language, which is enabled by the element of interactivity in games (Plass & Jones, 2005). According to language acquisitional theory, language is most effectively acquired when the message is provided with context, as this enriches the apprehension of the subject (Krashen, 1989). Furthermore, intrinsic motivation to acquire a language is intertwined with the motivation to engage in play, which in turn leads to more linguistic confidence and eventually successful language acquisition (Melzi & Schick, 2012; Prince, 1996). This research contains a survey-based analysis on the linguistic impact of video games on Dutch teenagers. The survey was answered by 59 Dutch teenagers of the age group and consisted of a translation exercise and a sentence exercise. The answers of both exercises were analyzed on the basis of how often the participants engaged in the activity of video gaming. To avoid faulty analysis, the answers were also compared to the factor of age. The results of this study suggest that teenagers who game more frequently are linguistically more confidant as compared to the participants that did not game frequently and lack this confidence. More importantly, the results suggest that the frequent players are more proficient in English vocabulary than the non-players as they translated more words correctly. Besides this, the players with the highest frequency seemed to engage more often in English communication with other players. This all indicates that not only do video games have a beneficial impact on the vocabulary proficiency of Dutch teenagers, but they also contribute to the linguistic confidence and experience in English communication.Show less
This thesis consolidates the available literature on game localisation into a single, ideal localisation process and compares this ideal process to the localisation of the Massive Multiplayer...Show moreThis thesis consolidates the available literature on game localisation into a single, ideal localisation process and compares this ideal process to the localisation of the Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) game Final Fantasy XIV. The main purpose is to identify and discuss any MMO specific localisation issues. Information on the localisation process of Final Fantasy XIV was gained through an interview with the localisation staff, as well as previously available online material. The results show that the localisation of Final Fantasy XIV even exceeds the ideal localisation on several points, and indicates several MMO specific localisation issues: fluctuating team size, the need for uniformity of visual assets in all language versions, short localisation cycles, and how to incorporate player feedback. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the localised versions of the game have influenced the original version in several ways.Show less
What makes EarthBound (1994) such a landmark game, is its position as one of the first video games that consciously used the communicative potential of the medium. It did this to reflect on the...Show moreWhat makes EarthBound (1994) such a landmark game, is its position as one of the first video games that consciously used the communicative potential of the medium. It did this to reflect on the conventions of the video game medium, specifically the Japanese Roleplaying Game (JRPG) genre. This thesis analyzes EarthBound’s satire and situates it into a concrete paradigm, namely that of postmodernism.Show less
Most Lovecraftian adaptions merely scratch the surface, no matter the medium. They incorporate the aesthetic without any regard to the underlying themes central to H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror,...Show moreMost Lovecraftian adaptions merely scratch the surface, no matter the medium. They incorporate the aesthetic without any regard to the underlying themes central to H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror, most notably human insignificance. FromSoftware's Bloodborne, however, has taken on the challenge and this thesis argues through a transmedial analysis how the video game has been able to translate the genre of cosmic horror into a medium that incorporates visuals and interactivity - aspects that often clash with the genre itself.Show less
In the thesis Lore, Commands, and Strategy Guides: Reading as part of Gaming Culture the relation between text and contemporary video games was scrutinised in order to investigate whether video...Show moreIn the thesis Lore, Commands, and Strategy Guides: Reading as part of Gaming Culture the relation between text and contemporary video games was scrutinised in order to investigate whether video games contribute to the reading culture. This investigation was accomplished through the examination of twelve case studies that have been selected by the criteria of relatively recent release dates, broad spectrum of genres, and different gaming industries, i.e. AAA/mainstream and Indie developed games. Additionally, the background section of the thesis provides an insight in how text has played a role in the video game culture as well as to create an understanding of what video games are and what the reading culture entails. From this information and evidence it was concluded that contemporary video games contain sufficient amounts of texts to contribute to the reading culture, yet in varying degrees on account of the three factors, namely genre, industry, and realism that influence to what extent and in what manner text is incorporated in video games.Show less
