'Return to Roots': An Examination of the Re-Presentations of Rurality Within Post-Apocalyptic Survival Video Games.

摘要

Post-apocalyptic survival (PAS) themed video games provide a virtual world that re-presents the realities of current society. Current studies have examined the existence of game culture (Aldred & Greenspan, 2011; Atkins, 2006; Kucklich, 2006), but limited analysis has focused on how these cultures relate to their real world counterparts. This study examines the re-presentations of rural culture, violence, and the production of rural stereotypes within PAS video games applying a cultural criminology foundation and elements of social control theory (Hirschi, 1969). Nine video games were examined for their setting; conflict; rural culture/stereotypes; and social structures using content analysis and coding frames. Results that PAS video games provide mixed views of rural life/culture, but skewed depictions of violence and a continual reproduction of socially constructed stereotypes.