Poster Information
| Title | On the periphery of video game culture: Understanding Urban Latino gamers' experiences. |
| Presenter(s) | Gabriela Richard |
| Session | Conference Reception, Game Exhibition, and Poster Session |
| Time | Thursday, October 18, 7:00p-10:00p |
| Location | East Lansing Technology Innovation Center |
| Format | Poster Presentation |
| Description | There is increasing interest in understanding gamers and their experiences across culture and gender. However, relatively little is known about the experiences of Latino gamers. This poster will present case studies of 5 Latino gamers (3 male, 2 female) from a large, northeastern city. Through an extensive ethnography and interviews, these Latino gamers revealed the ways in which they are active consumers of games, but yet peripheral members of game culture. The poster will discuss issues of identity, agency and motivation to play, as well as levels of engagement and access within game culture. Specifically, the poster will discuss experiences of racism, sexism and homophobia, and the ways those experiences influence and shape their gaming participation and agency. Tensions will be discussed such as the desire for gender inclusion and recognition of sexism and misogyny as problematic, while simultaneously adopting homophobic gaming lexicon. Also, while popular belief tends to assume that Latino females are not encouraged or motivated to play video games, two case studies will challenge these assumptions and discuss the complexity of their participation. In particular, the two females discuss how video game playing was an encouraged and intergenerational family pastime. The poster will also discuss implications for increasing the agency of Latino gamers, as well as encourage cultural and gender-inclusive design. |