{"product_id":"playing-american-open-world-videogames-and-the-reproduction-of-american-culture-9783112215364","title":"Playing American: Open-World Videogames and the Reproduction of American Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003eVideogames have always depicted representations of American culture, but how exactly they feed back into this culture is less obvious. Advocating an action-based understanding of both videogames and culture, this book delineates how aspects of American culture are reproduced transnationally through popular open-world videogames. \u003cem\u003ePlaying American\u003c\/em\u003e proposes an analytic focus on open-world videogames' \"ambient operations\" and traces practices of \"playing American\" through the stages of videogame development, gameplay, and reception. Three case studies - concentrating on the \u003cem\u003eGrand Theft Auto\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWatch Dogs\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eRed Dead Redemption\u003c\/em\u003e franchises, respectively - highlight different figurations of \"playing American.\" Thematic foci range from public discourses on systemic racism and neoliberal capitalism to the justification of real-world surveillance practices and to the reconfiguration of the Western in the digital age. \u003cem\u003ePlaying American\u003c\/em\u003e provides those interested in either videogames or American culture with a fresh angle and new concepts regarding its subject matters. It demonstrates that videogames are agents of cultural reproduction that do distinct cultural work for American culture in the twenty-first century. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e de Gruyter Oldenbourg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/30\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9783112215364\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.78lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.56d","brand":"S\u0026#195;\u0026#182;ren Schoppmeier","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52774177931445,"sku":"9783112215364","price":18.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/playing-american-open-world-videogames-and-the-reproduction-of-american-culture-9783112215364","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}