Asia Through Video Games

[Ian Nathaniel Cohen]

Among the many other things I am, I'm an adjunct professor at FIU, where I teach an online course entitled "Asia Through Film," which is basically about what we Westerners can learn about Asian culture, society, etc. from Asian cinema.

In honor of <a href="http://www.wintereenmas.com/">Winter-een-mas,</a> I'd like to have a discussion that week about "Asia Through Video Games" which would be discussed on the course's discussion board.

I have some ideas about what kind of stuff to talk about, but I'd be interested in hearing some of your suggestions for questions to raise about the way Asians are portrayed in video games - and Asian cultural points that come across in video games and RPGs.

Any thoughts on this?

[meg]

if you're doing that, boon-ga bon-ga must be included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boong-Ga_Boong-Ga

[exigence]

if you're doing that, boon-ga bon-ga must be included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boong-Ga_Boong-Ga

thats the crazyist thing iv seen yet from japan and iv seen quite a few crazy things from japan

anyways nate mabey somthing about why alot of the women in video games seem to be real busty and are always scantily clad

[meg]

uhh. i'm gonna take a wild guess here and say the busty scantily clad women are because games are very often made by men, for men.

that's not a japan thing. that's a male thing.

[exigence]

uhh. i'm gonna take a wild guess here and say the busty scantily clad women are because games are very often made by men, for men.

that's not a japan thing. that's a male thing.

i cant really get into pixels, besides games cant hurt you physicaly so it really dosent work if your into S&M

[Agawa]

uhh. i'm gonna take a wild guess here and say the busty scantily clad women are because games are very often made by men, for men.

that's not a japan thing. that's a male thing.

Seconded. I'm pretty durn sure that's not just limited to Japanese games.

I suppose you could bring up the difference between western and eastern RPGS. I thought the former was something more along the lines of an adventure game (say, Monkey Island) while the latter was something like Lunar. Correct me if I'm wrong on that, but I've certainly heard the name describe two distinct groups, depending on if the game is eastern or western. Cultural influences in a few games could be a interesting example, as well, whether subtle or outright. (e.g. Silent Hill (subtle) and Fatal Frame (outright).

[Sonic#]

Perhaps one thing you could talk about is the portrayal of Western modes.

Dragon Quest would be a big one, as a culturally important take on the fantasy genre. To varying degrees, Lunar, Ys, and others could also go here.

Another game I'd bring up would be Earthbound, for the viewpoint that Japanese might have of American culture, as well as the cliche Dalaam in the Far East, an amalgam of Indian (specifically the palace) and Chinese, and Scaraba as the near East.

Also look into Shenmue.

I'm suggesting specific games, but you might be asking for topics more than specific examples. There could be the focus on a central figure of life (The Tree of Mana being the prime example, Althena being another). Maybe you might discuss the repeated existence of an evil empire, and how these empires might model empires of the past. (Examples: The Valuan empire in Skies of Arcadia reflecting a colonial, Britain-like model, the empire in Final Fantasy 6 being... well, I'm not sure on that one, offhand.)

To get off of RPGs, what about the Asian portrayal in fighting games? Going from, say, Chun Lee (or whatever it is) and Rayden in Mortal Kombat to Yoshemitsu, Mitsurugi, Seung Mina, Kilik, and others in Soul Calibur, as well as others. Their typical mode of dress, their powers, even their perception by players.

I know there are others, but... hopefully that's good to jog other people's ideas, anyway. I know I focused a lot on Japan, but with video games that seems inevitable for at least half of the question.

I suppose you could bring up the difference between western and eastern RPGS. (...)

I would consider Monkey Island games adventure games. If you want RPGs, I would approach the main fare of American players, Forgotten Realms games, Everquest, and such. I'd also emphasize that the comparison between American and Japanese RPGs isn't as absolute as one being exclusively PC RPG and the other console RPG. Well, unless it is.

[ilovemyguitar]

What about the frequently recurring concept of the protagonist being a mundane teenager from a poor family in the middle of nowhere who dreams of a life of adventure, who one day learns that he must fulfill some sort of pseudo-religous birthright to become a legendary hero that has been foretold for centuries? It's a story mold that fits into both Eastern and Western ideas of what a hero is.

There's sort of a fundamental difference between Eastern and Western heroes. Western heroes are people who rise to greatness from humble beginnings, and live up to more than what's expected of them, usually in a "rags to riches" fashion. Eastern heroes are people who are given great responsibility, and fulfill that responsibility; their heroic duties have prophecized about, their long-lost fathers were heroes, they were born with some "mark" on them that makes them different and signifies that they're special and important (green eyes, etc). And in cases where the protagonist himself isn't the prophecized hero, his love interest is. Sometimes they both are.

This also applies to the concept of villainy in Eastern cultures. While heroes are characters who rise to greatness because it's expected of them, villains are characters who attempt to rise to greatness through unnatural means. Hell, look at Lunar for prime examples of this. Ghaleon sought to become god-like through the manipulation of a previous deity. Borgan was a ne'er-do-well kid with little to no magic abilities until he tapped into the Black Dragon's magic. Lunn was a karate student who wanted great power, so he formed an evil dojo of death. The idea here is that it's inherently evil to attempt to become something more than you're meant to within "the system."

[Ian Nathaniel Cohen]

What about the frequently recurring concept of the protagonist being a mundane teenager from a poor family in the middle of nowhere who dreams of a life of adventure, who one day learns that he must fulfill some sort of pseudo-religous birthright to become a legendary hero that has been foretold for centuries? It's a story mold that fits into both Eastern and Western ideas of what a hero is.

There's sort of a fundamental difference between Eastern and Western heroes. Western heroes are people who rise to greatness from humble beginnings, and live up to more than what's expected of them, usually in a "rags to riches" fashion. Eastern heroes are people who are given great responsibility, and fulfill that responsibility; their heroic duties have prophecized about, their long-lost fathers were heroes, they were born with some "mark" on them that makes them different and signifies that they're special and important (green eyes, etc). And in cases where the protagonist himself isn't the prophecized hero, his love interest is. Sometimes they both are.

This also applies to the concept of villainy in Eastern cultures. While heroes are characters who rise to greatness because it's expected of them, villains are characters who attempt to rise to greatness through unnatural means. Hell, look at Lunar for prime examples of this. Ghaleon sought to become god-like through the manipulation of a previous deity. Borgan was a ne'er-do-well kid with little to no magic abilities until he tapped into the Black Dragon's magic. Lunn was a karate student who wanted great power, so he formed an evil dojo of death. The idea here is that it's inherently evil to attempt to become something more than you're meant to within "the system."

Now THIS is something I can work with.

Thanks!