Abstract
This paper asks under which circumstances and in which ways, virtual game worlds can stimulate the acquisition of cross-cultural knowledge of players located within their specific cultural context, interacting with games potentially developed in another. This is grounded in the observation that playing a game can be conceptualized as a form of “traveling” and that players of (some) games frame their experience of a game as being akin to a tourist, experiencing a foreign locality. The paper outlines a theoretical framework that describes what kind of cross-cultural experiences are possible under which circumstances in which kinds of games. The framework juxtaposes the degree of “realism” in a game with the degree of cultural proximity between player and game contents. Realism is here defined by the degree of similarity of a game’s aesthetics, story, and mechanics to the non-virtual world. A high degree of realism in a game, that is a high degree of similarity to the non-virtual world, in concert with a low degree of cultural proximity, is argued to be an ideal configuration for cross-cultural learning experiences. Potential problems resulting from such a configuration, such as the possibility of players overestimating the verisimilitude of the game world are also discussed. Lastly, the framework is tested through an analysis of German and Japanese player reviews of four games.
Presenters
Stefan BrücknerLecturer, Faculty of Business Administration, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Video Games, Virtual Worlds, Cross-Cultural Experiences, Realism, Cultural Proximity
