Japanese Videogames as Cultural Artifacts

Abstract

What are we learning when we play video games from Japan? Rachael Hutchinson (University of Delaware) examines the cultural content of Japanese videogames through character design, background setting and environment, aesthetic style, thematic content, and game dynamics. We will consider how mid-1990s games converged around ideas of nuclear power and bioethics, making works like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid valuable windows into social anxieties expressed in the Japanese arts. This video was recorded on April 18, 2022.