Fear, Greed, and the Exclusion of the ‘Local’ in the Formation of a Global Gaming Industry in Israel


Gluzman Renard Pnueli Vered
2022 DiGRA ’22 – Proceedings of the 2022 DiGRA International Conference: Bringing Worlds Together

The digital games industry is predominantly helmed by giant game companies catering for unified global themes. Despite the rise of handy tools and online stores that provide more opportunities for independent developers, games contents rarely reflect Israel’s current lifestyle. This paper focuses on the volatile history of Israeli games culture as we explore the specific circumstances that deterred developers from creating games engaged with the local way of life. We observe how endogenous and exogenous factors encourage companies and creators to deliberately strip regional characteristics from their products while adhering to global trends. This tendency is widespread in the commercial and independent games industries. As gaming becomes a dominant media and art form, we urge new actions to promote games inspired by local culture, themes, and aesthetics

 

More Than A Craze: Photographs of New Zealand’s early digital games scene


Swalwell Melanie
2011 DiGRA '11 - Proceedings of the 2011 DiGRA International Conference: Think Design Play

"More Than A Craze" is an online exhibition consisting of 46 photographs of New Zealand's early digital games scene, in the 1980s. The exhibition includes the work of some of New Zealand's best known documentary photographers – Ans Westra, Christopher Matthews, Robin Morrison – with images from the archives of Wellington's Evening Post and Auckland's Fairfax newspapers. These photographers captured images of games, gamers and gameplay in the moment when these were novel. These images are significant in that they offer insights into the early days of digital games. They are an important primary source material for researchers interested in the history of play and interactive entertainment. The exhibition has been curated by Melanie Swalwell and Janet Bayly. It is an online exhibition, hosted by Mahara Gallery, Waikanae (http://www.maharagallery.org.nz). It is one of the outcomes of Swalwell's research into the history of digital games in New Zealand, in the 1980s.